True Grit (Masterplots II: American Fiction Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Charles Portis
- First Published: 1968
- Type of Plot: Western
- Time of Work: 1878-1903 (narrated in the 1920’s)
- Setting: Arkansas and Choctaw Nation territory in Oklahoma
- Principal Characters: Mattie Ross, Reuben J. “Rooster” Cogburn, Sergeant LaBoeuf, Tom Chaney, Lucky Ned Pepper, Yarnell Poindexter, Colonel G. Stonehill, J. Noble Daggett, Mrs. Floyd
- Genres: Long fiction, Western fiction
- Subjects: Civil rights, Racism, South or Southerners, Nineteenth century, Slavery or slaves, Native Americans or American Indians, Civil War, Robbery or robbers, Revenge, Cowboys or cowgirls, Outlaws, Women’s rights, Vigilantes
- Locales: Arkansas, Indian Territory
The Novel
True Grit is a study of the indomitable spirit of three representative Americans: a hard-living, heavy-drinking lawman, Rooster Cogburn; young Mattie Ross, who hires Cogburn because of his reputation for grit and who proves herself to possess the same quality; and Sergeant LaBoeuf, a disciplined, clean-living lawman who is mercenary enough to contemplate maximum reward money. In varying degrees, all the characters in the novel, including the outlaws, either have “true grit” or show respect for it.
In seven unnumbered chapters, this short novel...
[The entire page is 2397 words long]
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