True Grit: The Question of Retribution

            True Grit, a Coen brothers’ film released this past Christmas, was hailed by Huffington Post as, “one of the best movies of the year.” After seeing the film, I agree without reservation. The casting for the film is phenomenal. One of the many delights that the film offers is the talent of child-actress Hailee Steinfeld who plays the heroine, Mattie Ross. Despite her young age for the part (she plays a fourteen-year-old girl at age thirteen), due to the ease, precision and authority with which she delivers her lines, she holds her own alongside Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon. 

This new Coen Brothers’ release is every bit as thought-provoking as their other films. True Grit speaks on the nature of retribution – an enduring theme of the Western genre – as the film follows Mattie Ross, a young girl who sets out to seek her father’s killer and bring him to justice. A character who deals “very little sugar with [her] pronouncements,” Mattie has an exact code of justice and she demands strict adherence to it. As she pursues her father’s murderer, we are led to wonder, does Mattie want justice or does she seek revenge? While she does not desire to “flay the soles of [Chaney’s] feet” as Cogburn recommends, Mattie is unwilling to let Chaney be brought to Texas to receive capital punishment. Rather, she is determined to see Chaney hanged in her hometown for the murder of her father. And, setting out, she believes that God is on her side.  

Reflecting upon her life, Mattie’s grown-up self narrates, “You must pay for everything in this world, one way and another. There is nothing free except the grace of God.” A close look at the film reveals that this comes true, not just for killer Tom Chaney, but for young Mattie. The kick of Mattie’s gun when she kills Tom Chaney thrusts her back into a pit of snakes. “I won’t rest until Tom Chaney’s barking in hell” Mattie remarks. The shot with which she avenges her father’s death throws her in a pit with a serpent, symbolic, if not of hell and Satan, at least of the poisonous nature of revenge and its deadly moral character. Mattie pays for her act of retribution with the loss of her arm.

Yet, we admire Mattie’s “true grit,” that is, the perseverance and fortitude she displays throughout the adventure. It is this display of courage that inspires Marshal Cogburn and Texas Ranger LaBoeuf to persevere and overcome their personal differences brought on by their pride. In one memorable scene, LaBoeuf asserts his superiority stating, “In my country […] I have lapped filthy water from a hoofprint and was glad to have it.” In another instance, Cogburn and LaBoeuf’s pride fuels their need to prove themselves by shooting cornbread. However, when Mattie’s life is in peril, the two set their pride aside. After contriving a plan to save Mattie’s life with Cogburn, LaBoeuf utters a prayer before he takes an impossible shot at Tom Chaney. Hitting him dead-on, LaBoeuf attributes the good shot, not to himself, but to his gun. Similarly, inspired by Mattie’s true grit, the hardened killer Cogburn casts aside his pride and displays self-sacrificing, paternal affection as he saves Mattie’s life. 

The miraculous success of LaBoeuf’s one-in-a-million shot leads the audience to believe that the Almighty is on Mattie’s side. However, the fact that she pays for her deed leaves us to question, what is the nature of man’s attempt to avenge himself against his neighbor? Must justice only be left to God? What distinguishes justice from revenge? As one more good Coen brothers’ film, True Grit leaves us questioning.

leslie.nagel@avemaria.edu