True Grit

’True Grit' is a novel written by Charles Portis in 1968. It is about a fourteen year old girl named Mattie Ross who avenges her father’s murder. Mattie’s father is killed by Tom Chaney, while on his way to buy some horses. After killing him, Chaney escaped by running onto Indian territory. Mattie meets Marshal Reuben Coburn and a Texas Ranger called LaBoeuf who are also looking for Chaney. They join together and long story short, they find Chaney. Mattie shoots Chaney in the chest and kills him. After her successful revenge, she is bitten by a snake which results in the loss of her arm.

This book was quite interesting because I was able to learn about several new things, such as American Western culture and cowboys. I noticed some words/terms I am unfamiliar with, such as ‘bunk-house’, ‘marshal’, ‘Henry rifle’ and ‘bottom land’. On the story side, it was interesting (find a better word for this, you’ve used it already) to read about this 14 year old girl who walked 75 miles to avenge her father’s death.  I think the title suggests Mattie’s persistence and her actions reveal the meaning of ‘True Grit’. Mattie never gave up and stayed true to her ethics and moral ideas. She was successful in her execution of her revenge, but in return, she lost her arm. Mattie’s fate reminds me of a quote from the book: “You must pay for everything in this world one way or another. There is nothing free except the Grace of God. You cannot earn that or deserve it.”

I think the author found it appropriate to use a young female to tell the story. In respect of understanding the Mythology of the text, I read an article on our course blog about ‘The Child Savior Myth’, where people identify the image of youth as innocent and incapable of dishonesty. In ’True Grit’, Mattie exemplifies this myth; to the common man, she did not look like a child on a murder mission. In ‘The American Eve Myth’, females use their own beauty as their attribute. However, in ‘True Grit’, Mattie has characteristics such as intelligence and bravery that are not generally talked about in the ‘American Eve Myth’.  I think this what makes ‘True Grit’ interesting in a Mythology perspective.

Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice is a novel by Jane Austen published in 1813. It is a text that describes the manners, education, social classes, money and marriage issues of England during that time, which are quite different from today. In comparison to today’s life, I think this novel has several interesting points to talk about.    

  The novel shows that there was an obvious social class difference based on occupation, wealth and gender. The Bennets are middle class while the Bingleys and Darcys are upper class. The upper class treated the middle class as inferiors socially. Women could not own properties. There was an idealized type of woman in England at the time. Elisabeth, who is protagonist of this novel, is a strong, independent and smart woman, was considered socially unacceptable in that time period. However, her personality is loved by millions of modern readers. Regardless of the gender of readers, they consider the character an attractive woman due to her philosophies and her actions/because she went against the norm. 

The concept of courtship is also really different from today. Modern conventions such as living together or having sex before marriage were banned and looked down upon. Courtship was considered as a step toward marriage as that was the ultimate goal. If we compare these ideals to the age we live in, people these days have relationships far more freely without thinking about marriage. 

            The main story of this book is that Elisabeth and Darcy recognize the error. Elizabeth misjudged Darcy based on a poor first impression, Darcy had prejudice on Elizabeth’s poor social class. They made these error based on their pride and prejudice, overcome all obstacles and achieved their love. I think people have issues or make errors caused by pride and prejudice all the time, not just in 18th century England. Judging people hastily for some reasons, even if not based on social class like the book, causes many issues in terms of human relationships especially those that are romantically based.

            I enjoyed reading story in different time period. It was interesting to understand the values they believed right at the moment and how peoples mind changed through the time.