During a hero’s journey, a hero must travel to the underworld to receive the knowledge needed to complete their journey. In Daniel Woodrell’s Novel Winter’s Bone, Ree Dolly must travel to her own Underworld to learn the truth about her father’s where about and save her home from being taken. Ree’s begins to enter her Underworld when she re-visits Hawkfall for a second time looking for Thump Milton, after being told to never return. Although Ree went through many Underworld like events, her Underworld is when she is almost beat to death by Mrs. Thump and her sisters, where she is reborn. When a hero travels to the Underworld they come out reborn and with new knowledge of their identity or of the world around them. While Ree is in her Underworld
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Ree receives multiple gifts after escaping her Underworld some small and some very large in importance to her journey. The first gift that Ree receives is immediately after Tear drop saves her from Thump Milton when he explains that her father has been killed. She receives the most significant gift from the same women that almost kills her by beating her nearly to death. Merab and her two sisters show up on Ree’s front porch during the dark and Merab says “Come along, child --- we’re goin’ to fix your problem for you” (Woodrell 179). The three sisters are going to solve Ree’s problem by showing Ree where her father is located which leads to the most important gift, her father’s hands. Receiving her dad’s hands “brought sorrow and a blessing” (Woodrell 187) because it was proof that her dad was truly dead to her and to the police. After the hands were turned in to the authorities Ree received a few more gifts because of the hands. Since she was able to prove that her father was dead Ree was allowed to keep the house and all their land. The final gift that Ree receives is a new-found appreciation for her family and especially her little brothers. Ree shows this new-found appreciation when her little brothers keep asking if she is going to leave and Ree says “Naw. I’d get lost without the weight of you two on my back” (Woodrell 193). This shows that Ree gives up on her dreams to go to …show more content…
The first trip was significantly different then the second trip in what the outcome was of Ree’s visit. During the first trip Ree was met by Mrs. Thump as soon as she walked up to the house. Mrs. Thump was relatively nice to Ree by saying “I expect I won’t. He’ll see you for himself. You go wait by the yard somewhere by that coop and I’ll tell him you’re here” (Woodrell 60). Even though Mrs. Thump had told Ree that Thump would not see her Mrs. Thump was understanding and gave Ree a chance. After a few more failed attempts to see Thump Milton, Mrs. Thump came outside with a cup of soup for Ree to warm her up before she left. As Ree was being instructed to leave Mrs. Thump said, “If you’re listenin’, child, you got your answer. Now, go, get on away from here . . . and don’t come back’n try’n ask him twice. Just don’t” (Woodrell 63). Mrs. Thump never said that Thump Milton didn’t know what happened to Ree’s father but instead that he wouldn’t tell. Ree didn’t get to meet Thump Milton on this trip to Hawkfall but she still knew that he was the only one who could tell her where her dad was. The importance of this journey to Hawkfall was that Mrs. Thump acted as a threshold guardian for the next time she came to
Ree receives multiple gifts after escaping her Underworld some small and some very large in importance to her journey. The first gift that Ree receives is immediately after Tear drop saves her from Thump Milton when he explains that her father has been killed. She receives the most significant gift from the same women that almost kills her by beating her nearly to death. Merab and her two sisters show up on Ree’s front porch during the dark and Merab says “Come along, child --- we’re goin’ to fix your problem for you” (Woodrell 179). The three sisters are going to solve Ree’s problem by showing Ree where her father is located which leads to the most important gift, her father’s hands. Receiving her dad’s hands “brought sorrow and a blessing” (Woodrell 187) because it was proof that her dad was truly dead to her and to the police. After the hands were turned in to the authorities Ree received a few more gifts because of the hands. Since she was able to prove that her father was dead Ree was allowed to keep the house and all their land. The final gift that Ree receives is a new-found appreciation for her family and especially her little brothers. Ree shows this new-found appreciation when her little brothers keep asking if she is going to leave and Ree says “Naw. I’d get lost without the weight of you two on my back” (Woodrell 193). This shows that Ree gives up on her dreams to go to …show more content…
The first trip was significantly different then the second trip in what the outcome was of Ree’s visit. During the first trip Ree was met by Mrs. Thump as soon as she walked up to the house. Mrs. Thump was relatively nice to Ree by saying “I expect I won’t. He’ll see you for himself. You go wait by the yard somewhere by that coop and I’ll tell him you’re here” (Woodrell 60). Even though Mrs. Thump had told Ree that Thump would not see her Mrs. Thump was understanding and gave Ree a chance. After a few more failed attempts to see Thump Milton, Mrs. Thump came outside with a cup of soup for Ree to warm her up before she left. As Ree was being instructed to leave Mrs. Thump said, “If you’re listenin’, child, you got your answer. Now, go, get on away from here . . . and don’t come back’n try’n ask him twice. Just don’t” (Woodrell 63). Mrs. Thump never said that Thump Milton didn’t know what happened to Ree’s father but instead that he wouldn’t tell. Ree didn’t get to meet Thump Milton on this trip to Hawkfall but she still knew that he was the only one who could tell her where her dad was. The importance of this journey to Hawkfall was that Mrs. Thump acted as a threshold guardian for the next time she came to