Charles Portis True Grit

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The Title Tells All: The Theme of True Grit Grit is “The firmness of mind or spirit; unyielding courage in the face of hardship or danger” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). In Charles Portis’ novel True Grit, this trait is displayed elaborately.. Through actions, words, or description, we can tell that all of the inhabitants of his fictional realm has the hardiness described. That being said, there are a few characters that are grittier than the others. In Portis’ book, LaBoeuf, Rooster, and Mattie show the most true grit. Starting off, LaBoeuf the Texas ranger shows his grit in unconventional ways. Though he may be creepy, selfish, and a showoff, deep down he’s more than his spurs and fringe. During the paramount battle with the robbers, LaBoeuf joins the action from afar. When Rooster and Ned Pepper are one to one, and Cogburn’s having trouble getting to his gun, it’s LaBoeuf who squatted down and killed Lucky Ned from his perch on the cliff. Mattie says, “The distance covered by LaBoeuf’s wonderful shot was over six hundred yards. I am prepared to swear an affidavit to it” (Portis 194). After…show more content…
As she narrates her hunt for blood in the novel, she doesn’t play around. When she gets stuck in a pit full of bats and snakes, and sees a skeleton, she doesn’t stop to get grossed out. Instead, she describes, “ I studied the arm. Bits of cartilage held it together at the elbow joint. With some twisting I managed to separate it at that place. I took the long bone of the upper arm and secured it under my armpit to serve as a cross-member” (Portis 201). Basically, the teenage girl uses rotting bones to hold herself up, and later, she uses the other part of the skeleton’s arm to fight off angry snakes, with a broken arm. Without fail, this is one of the hardiest things done in this novel. Mattie is a fighter, who stops at nothing. With this, Mattie has earned the title of
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