Ree Dolly, in Winter’s Bone,
displays a great amount of courage, resilience, and compassion. Specifically,
in the scene where she is showing her younger siblings how to hunt squirrels,
Ree’s personality really shines. This particular scene, Ree really proves that
she has had to grow up well before most other ladies her age. This scene opens
up with the three of them, sitting in the woods in the dark. Ree shows her
siblings the ropes of hunting squirrels to cook up for dinner. Though Sonny is
yearning to hunt for a deer, Ree informs him that it’s not time to hunt deer
that you must do so early in the morning, or late at night. This really shows
the amount of knowledge that Ree has about providing for her family. Waiting
diligently, Ashlee finally spots their dinner. Ree pulled up on the squirrel
and asked Ashlee to help her pull the trigger. A few seconds pass and then
BANG! Together, they got dinner. This really shows the amount of compassion she
has for her siblings. There is a saying, “Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a
day, teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime.” Ree took the
opportunity to teach an invaluable lesson to her siblings instead of simply
going out and shooting some squirrels by herself. After they’ve gathered their
bounty, they head home to the picnic table where Ree then teaches them how to
clean the squirrels for cooking.
Ree is
patient, she tells them step by step how to properly skin a squirrel. Instead
of doing it in a hurry, she takes the time to show them how it’s done. Once the
squirrel is properly skinned, thanks to Sonny’s quick learning, she tells him
to rip out the guts. Despite Sonny’s apprehension, Ree gives him maybe the most
valuable lesson yet, “There’s a bunch of stuff that you are going to have to
get over being scared of.” Not only did Ree show them how to hunt, clean, and
prepare dinner, she also took the time to teach him a life lesson.
Throughout
the entire film, Ree displays a copious amount of courage, resilience, and
compassion. She shows this several times, in several different scenarios but
this scene in particular seemed to stick with me longer than others. Ree is an
amazing individual and she has to overcome several devastating obstacles but
she does so with nothing but devoutness to her family.
This scene shows Ree's uncertainty. It's almost as though Ree knows she is sniffing around in the wrong area and something bad might happen to her so she is showing them how to feed themselves because if something were to happen to her the children would have to step up because their mother can't help them. I like the quote you put in about teaching someone how to fish. I think it is a great life lesson. Do you think that maybe Ashlee is too young too young to start fending for herself with a gun in the woods? Ree doesn't seem to have a normal life. She's 17 and taking care of two kids basically on her own and she doesn't seem to be in school. Like you said her compassion is shown many times throughout the movie especially in this scene.
ReplyDeleteThe scene in the movie where she teaches her younger siblings how to hunt squirrels for food, put a bad taste in my mouth. It felt as if she was going to leave them on their own while she left to search for their father. I think they are way too young to be able to operate a gun. I liked how you implemented the quote, “Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime.” I feel this fits very well to the scene in the movie.
ReplyDeleteI feel that in this scene it shows that Ree loves her siblings and is trying to teach them a useful life lesson for when they will need to hunt for food on their own which is a good thing. But, on the other hand it made me a little sad because I feel it showed that she doesn't really realize that they are still young kids and I believe that because she had to grow up so quick and didn't get much of a childhood herself that she doesn't realize that her siblings are maybe to young to learn how to hunt for dinner. I can't imagine being their age and having to do that. So because of that I feel it also shows her being blind to the situation. Overall I really enjoyed reading your blog and I liked your quote about the fish. It fit very well with what you were saying.
ReplyDeleteThe hunting scene really ties into the scene where she is teaching them how to shoot the guns. I like how when Ree was asked what she was doing instead of saying that she was teaching them how to shoot or hunt she replies " I'm teaching them how to survive". Her siblings from what I can remember never ask her to teach them how to hunt and skin a squirrel, Ree already knows that it is her responsibility to show them. I like how Ree made sure to show both her brother and sister how to hunt, not just Sonny. Just because Ashlee was a girl and the youngest Ree knew she had to be able to care for herself if she had too. You can tell that in the movie boys were favored. The men were very dominate and when Ree was looking for someone to take care of her sibling just in case something happened to her, they only wanted her brother and not Ashlee. So in a way I think the hunting seen showed equality for the expectations Ree had for Sonny and Ashlee.
ReplyDelete