Man of Few Words

In Winter’s Bone, there’s one character who does not get much screen time. Due to this, he also does not have very many lines. The positive feature of this dilemma is that he really does not need to say much for the viewers to know about his personality. This character is Ree Dolly’s uncle Teardrop. There is one particular scene in which the viewers of the movie can see his personality as well as his particular approach to gaining knowledge.

            Earlier on in the movie, Ree was warned to stay away from Thump but natural, because it would not be a movie otherwise, she does not. As a result, she is beaten up by Thump’s wife and her sisters. The scene where Teardrop’s personality shows pretty clearly is right after this. He comes to the bloody girl’s rescue. The door opens and there Teardrop is; he just stands there silently for a moment, sizing up everyone in the barn before demanding to know where his niece was with his gravelly voice. The scene continues with him only saying things when he needs to. Throughout the scene, Teardrop gives the others really deep, inquisitive looks. Teardrop does not need to say much or ask that many questions (or more demanding answers in the case other characters in this movie) to gain any kind of knowledge. Teardrop is a man of few words and, as a result of that, he is an observer. He can gain all the information that he needs just from looking at other people’s faces.