In his book Winter's Bone, Daniel Woodrell follows sixteen-year-old Ree Dolly as she struggles to help her family survive in the dark Ozarks. The protagonist must constantly maintain a crucial balance between caring for his mentally disabled mother and younger siblings while searching the harsh hills surrounding his dilapidated home for his incarcerated father who used their home to secure his bail. Since the idea of ​​the strength of family bonds is central to the text, the passage in which Ree prepares her brothers for school is key to the novel because it establishes her as the boys' mother figure. In this passage, Woodrell uses indirect characterization, shown through the lens of Ree's thoughts and actions, both to magnify the predominant idea of ​​the duties of the archetypal mother and to emphasize that those who choose to take on the role Mothers are responsible not only for ensuring the basics of survival for their children, but also for their mental and emotional well-being. Director Debra Granik carefully selects a poignant song to accompany Ree's interactions with her siblings in the film's opening scene, a device that effectively conveys Woodrell's idea of ​​maternal love and page responsibility on screen. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essayWoodrell uses indirect characterization in this passage, immersing the reader into Ree's consciousness to establish that Ree is much more than an older brother to her brothers and is in fact the archetypal mother. Before the boys go to school, she feeds them and makes sure they are ready to take the bus. Ree asks them to “finish eating” (6) and “put on these…socks” (7), cajoling them as mothers have done throughout the ages. As she performs these quintessential tasks, her biological mother rocks silently in a chair near the potbelly stove like a “breathing thing that stays near the heat and occasionally makes a sound” (6). The juxtaposition between Ree's family actions and the mother's calmness and inability to take on any maternal responsibility shows how easily Ree took on the role of the boys' mother. In this passage, Ree provides for the children's physical needs by giving them breakfast, while also providing for their intellectual needs by making sure they are ready for school, obligations normally fulfilled by a biological mother but which Ree easily assumed without complaint. Woodrell uses indirect characterization to further emphasize Ree's maternal role by showing the reader her careful observations of the boys' characters, comparing them to "galloping quotation marks" (7), as well as her desire that they "not be dead to wonder by age. twelve” (8). Ree's careful studies of her brothers are more akin to a mother's conscious reflections on her children than a sister's considerations of her siblings, which is further evidence that Ree has taken on the role of parent. Additionally, in hoping that they do not die, Ree demonstrates that she wants to protect her brothers' emotions and innocence, another example of her nurturing and protective maternal instinct. Throughout history, mothers who not only perform caregiving duties but also support their children are considered good mothers. Woodrell suggests that Ree is a quintessential good mother because she provides physical, intellectual, and emotional care to her children in a willing and loving manner. Opening scenes and Granik's choice of music highlight Ree's role.