One of the main laws in Ree Dolly's society seems to be that you shouldn't expect the regular law—the police—to help you. In Winter's Bone, the police play a nominal role. In the beginning, a police officer shows up and tells Ree if her dad doesn't appear at his court date, Ree and her family will be homeless. After that, Ree is on her own. She doesn't get help from the police in finding her dad. It's like the police aren't there to protect her and her family. She has to protect them. We might say that in the absence of law, she has to create and enforce her own laws.

But perhaps it's not an absence of law. Perhaps the community laws are just ones Ree doesn't care to follow. One Ozarks law seems to be that if someone goes missing, let them stay missing. No one in Ree's community seems eager to help her find her dad. In fact, they sometimes try to aggressively and violently stop here. Apathy and indifference seem to rule many of the Ozarks citizens. It's like hope is against the law in the Ozarks.

Another law seems to be that whoever is your enemy one moment might be your ally later on. Look at Teardrop. At first, Teardrop is against Ree's search, but then he turns into her ally.

While we could say the lack of common laws and rules allows for murder and violence, we could also say that the lack of rules and laws allows for people to switch which side of the law they're on. At first, Teardrop was on his own side of the law. He was apathetic and uncaring. Later, he switched to Ree's side of the law and was caring and concerned.