“Revenge is an act of passion; vengeance, of justice.” ~Samuel Johnson
It’s cold. Bitter cold, hard to believe anyone would be out in this weather. Hard to believe a young girl could leave home and go off in the winter to avenge her father’s death, but Mattie Ross always was a bull-headed gal. It may seem strange now. You don’t see it everyday, but Mattie hired herself the meanest, toughest U.S. Marshal to bring the coward Tom Chaney to justice. She aimed to see him pay for his crime. She aimed to see him dance at the end of a noose….
True Grit tells the story of Mattie Ross, who is just fourteen when her father is shot down in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and is robbed of his life, his horse, and $150 in cash. She leaves home to avenge her father’s blood, with one-eyed Rooster Cogburn, the meanest available U.S. Marshal, and pursues the killer into Indian Territory, which is present day Oklahoma. .
True Grit by Charles Portis first appeared as a serial in the Saturday Evening Post , and then was re-issued as a novel in 1968, and became the basis for two movies – the 1969 Western classic starring John Wayne, and the soon to be released version directed by the Coen brothers.
Reuben J. “Rooster” Cogburn is an aging, overweight, brutal man who “likes to pull a cork”, but “fear don’t enter into his thinking” and has true grit. Mattie, with a cash incentive, is able to persuade him to take on the job, and as part of the bargain, she must go along.
Before this odd, mismatched pair can take the trail, a Texas Ranger by the name of La Boeuf enters town. He too is tracking Chaney who is wanted for killing a senator in Texas. La Boeuf wants to take Chaney alive and back to Texas, where a big cash award and glory awaits, but Mattie wants to see him hang for his crimes in Arkansas.
Rooster and La Boeuf join forces in the hunt, even though they don’t care much for each other. They decide it’d be safer for the girl to stay in town, and they leave without Mattie, but she proves to be tenacious and resourceful, and shows that she too has true grit.
I found True Grit to be a stark, simple narrative that must be one of the most under appreciated novels in American Literature. I don’t know why I waited this long to read it. I’m not sure if it’s because the Western genre is often underestimated by the critics, or if I didn’t read the book because I watched the movie starring John Wayne, but I haven’t read anything that captures the American voice better since I read Huckleberry Finn . I’m now very much looking forward to the new film, which is suppose to follow the novel more than the first film, and book or movie…You’ll not soon forget Rooster or Mattie…
Revenge-the best way to get even? Or best to forgive? Comment and let me know!