True Grit Passage Analysis

True Grit Favorite Passages

My favorite passage from the beginning of True Grit is the very first passage of the book. “People do not give it credence that a fourteen-year-old girl could leave home and go off in the wintertime to avenge her father’s blood but it did not seem so strange then, although I will say say it did not happen every day. I was just fourteen years of age when a coward going by the name of Tom Chaney shot my father down in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and robbed him of his life and his horse and 150$ in cash money plus two California gold pieces that he carried in his trouser band,” (Portis 9).
This passage basically summarizes what had happened to Mattie’s father, Frank Ross. It also gives the reader an idea on what kind
of person Mattie is. Even though Mattie is only fourteen, she is willing to risk her own life to advange her father’s murderer, which says a lot about her character. She is a well-educated girl who is determined to find Tom Chaney. I like the way she described everything that Chaney robbed her father of. The tone of this passage is mostly casual. Mattie is perceived to be tough, as she states things as it is and does not dwell on the past. The dictation Mattie uses in this passage, and throughout the book, is very formal. She does not speak improperly or use slang, unlike Rooster and most other characters in the book. The syntax of this passage helps develop Portis’ tone, too. The sentence structure is not too short and not too long, helping portray that the tone is overall casual. This passage discusses what was stolen from Mattie’s father after he was murdered and this hints to what Mattie is needed to find, beside Tom Chaney. Mattie receives everything that was taken from her father, and this ties back to the very beginning.

My favorite passage from the middle of True Grit is when Mattie describes her encounter with Rooster in the morning.
“He stirred as I came through the curtain. His weight was such that the bunk was bowed in the middle almost to the floor. It looked like he was in a hammock. He was fully clothed under the covers. The brindle cat Sterling Price was curled up on the foot of the bed. Rooster coughed and spit on the floor and rolled a cigarette and lit it and coughed some more. He asked me to bring him some coffee and I got a cup and took the eureka pot from the stove and did this. As he drank, little brown drops of coffee clung to his mustache like dew. Men will live like billy goats if they are let alone,” (Portis 89).
This is my favorite passage because of how descriptive it is on Rooster’s character. The tone of this passage is formal, but also somewhat comical. Mattie is quite surprised how Rooster has slept in till 10 am, but for Rooster, waking up this late is normal. When Mattie compares Rooster’s bunk hanging to a hammock, it portrays that Rooster is very heavy. I like this passage because it does such a good job on describing the way Rooster is and how he acts. It also gives us an image of what Rooster looks like and how he lives. The passage has a lot of imagery and figurative language, which also helps set the tone. The dictation is formal along with the syntax. This passage stuck out to me because it is a cliche of a western Marshall, just like Rooster. When Mattie
compares men to billy goats, it shows how mature she is for a girl her age and how used to men she is.
My favorite passage from the end of True Grit is the very last passage of the book.
“I heard nothing more of the Texas officer, LaBoeuf. If he is yet alive and should happen to read these pages, I will be pleased to hear from him. I judge he is in his seventies now, and nearer eighty than seventy. I expect some of the starch has gone out of that ‘cowlick.’ Time just gets away from us. This ends my true account of how I avenged Frank Ross’s blood over in the Choctaw Nation when snow was on the ground,” (Portis 254).
I like this passage and overall the last few pages because it expresses Mattie’s feelings of her quest to kill Tom Chaney along with the people that helped her. The tone of this passage is very casual because of Mattie’s personality. The diction is formal, but Mattie uses the word “cowlick”, in reference to LaBeouf’s hair, which could be said to be different than her usual diction. The syntax is also formal. Mattie ends up the story in saying how fast time has gone by. The mood this passage creates is lethargic because Mattie is grown and no longer the fourteen-year-old teenager we have been accustomed to after reading the book. Mattie reminisces on her quest with Rooster and LeBoeuf and she is fulfilled by the death of Tom Chaney. This passage stuck out to me not only because it was the last we hear from Mattie, but in my opinion, ties up the story
perfectly.