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Rooster Cogburn Character In True Grit

765 Words4 Pages

Characters and humans in everyday life tend to find love in people they would least expect it to come from. The roughest and most callous people can sometimes have the biggest heart and provide the most important care. In Portis’s novel, True Grit, one of the main protagonist, Rooster Cogburn, has had a very violent past that has created an identity for himself that seems almost impossible to reshape. Even though Rooster is portrayed as an unsympathetic character, he acts as a father figure to Mattie while she is vulnerable after her father's death. Being a deputy marshall for the Western District of Arkansas, Rooster Cogburn has one of the toughest jobs out there. The Indian Territory was filled with violent, cruel criminals, as Fugitives from the U.S would flee there and police couldn't legally arrest them. Rooster, along with others, had to control one of the …show more content…

She is a stubborn, strong-willed girl who will not take no for an answer. A fourteen year old girl seeking personal revenge for her father’s death is something many would not expect. Although Mattie would much rather find and kill Tom Chaney herself, she knows deep down she needs someone to protect and care for her. With her losing her father, she encounters a rough time and looks for someone to fill his missing spot. Her voice is so strong on her own, but throughout the course of the journey, she finds a sense of nurture and safety within Rooster Cogburn. There is a side of Rooster that only Mattie gets to see. He shows signs of respect and care even in the very beginning when he's learning about Mattie’s situation. When bargaining about money, he concludes, “I don't believe you have fifty dollars, baby sister, but if you are hungry I will give you supper and we will talk it over and make medicine. How does that sound?” (61) That is something that Rooster would not say to anyone else. He feels as he needs to get on her good side because she really wants him to help

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Rooster is a buffoon by being foolish and not thinking before acting. As Rooster and Mattie are talking about their hunt for Chaney, Rooster forgets how much he is getting paid to do this and has to ask: “‘I forget just what our agreement was.’ ‘I offered to pay you fifty dollars for the job.’ ‘Yes, I remember that now. What did I say to that?’

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In the movie True Grit (1969), Rooster Cogburn (John Wayne) depicts the negative effects of violence when he fails to notice blood on his corn cakes or when he kills a young boy whose name he can’t remember without any emotion. This shows Roosters lack of concern for violence since he has seen and caused so much bloodshed. Violence is shown as a normal part of life in this film and Rooster seems to be used to this fact. When Mattie Ross (Kim Darby) notices the blood on the corn cakes and Rooster continues to eat them, Ignoring the blood, it is made clear that he has become indifferent to violence and bloodshed. As the two prepare a fire on their first night seeking to avenge the death of Mattie's father, Rooster hands her a corn cakes and she takes one bite and notices that they are covered in blood.

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