John Ortberg, an American author, once said, “Over time, grit is what separates fruitful lives from aimlessness.” In the novel True Grit by Charles Portis, the main character Mattie Ross, a fourteen-year-old girl, goes on quest to avenge the murder of her father. Along the way, Mattie teams up with the meanest Marshal, Rooster Cogburn and Texas Ranger Laboeuf. Together they hunt down her father’s murderer, Tom Chaney. A quest like this requires a lot of grit, which is fearlessness, determination, and passion for a goal. Mattie, Rooster, and Laboeuf all share these characteristics, while Tom Chaney does not. Each character displayed their grit differently and had different outcomes because of it. Mattie Ross is probably the grittiest character in this story. Mattie is gritty out of necessity. As a fourteen-year-old girl, Mattie is underestimated and disrespected, and without grit, she wouldn’t be able to get anything done. Because of this, she has to work twice as hard as anyone else to
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In order for someone to have grit, they can’t let their fear get the better of them. Whenever Tom had to fight someone, he always attacked from behind, or when victims had no way of defending themselves. One example was the murder that started this whole quest. Mattie’s dad had told the drunk Tom Chaney to “surrender the rifle as he was in no fit state to start a quarrel with a gun in his hand” (Portis 16). Tom instantly raised his gun and shot Mattie’s unarmed father. Her father had given Tom a home and he was killed for it. When Mattie is talking to Laboeuf, we learn that Tom had also killed a senator and his dog. He shot the dog out of “meanness… He claims the dog barked at him” (Portis 73). He killed a man and his dog because he couldn’t handle a little barking. After each of these murders Tom didn’t stick around to pay for his crimes; he ran and hid. Tom’s cowardice and lack of grit are what get him killed in the
In order for someone to have grit, they can’t let their fear get the better of them. Whenever Tom had to fight someone, he always attacked from behind, or when victims had no way of defending themselves. One example was the murder that started this whole quest. Mattie’s dad had told the drunk Tom Chaney to “surrender the rifle as he was in no fit state to start a quarrel with a gun in his hand” (Portis 16). Tom instantly raised his gun and shot Mattie’s unarmed father. Her father had given Tom a home and he was killed for it. When Mattie is talking to Laboeuf, we learn that Tom had also killed a senator and his dog. He shot the dog out of “meanness… He claims the dog barked at him” (Portis 73). He killed a man and his dog because he couldn’t handle a little barking. After each of these murders Tom didn’t stick around to pay for his crimes; he ran and hid. Tom’s cowardice and lack of grit are what get him killed in the