Chasing the Impossible

Ree grew up in a less advantaged part of Missouri with a father who has a drug addiction. We can easily see that at the young age of seventeen, Ree was forced to grow up fast; she takes care of her younger siblings and her mother. This alone can emphasize the courage that Ree holds. Ree’s courage is highlighted in the scene when she seeks her mother’s advice. With tears in her eyes, she requests that her mother look at her. Her mother, with her chin to the sky, ignores her. Desperation in this scene shows that Ree has been strong for too long. Ree’s tone shows that she has reached her breaking point of searching for her law-breaking father alone and needs help. I think this also shows her courage, however. Although she has admitted that this situation is too tough for her to handle, isn’t that hard to do? We can assume that Ree has been handling things on her own for the majority of her life, so her coming to her mother was very mature of her. She recognizes that her progression with finding her father and saving her family’s land would be much higher if she just asked for help. She knows that she will not get this from her mother who has been deemed “driven crazy,” but she still utilizes her mother as a potential solution. She is making sure that she is exhausting all of her resources, because her families land and health is completely in her hands.