True Grit is a rather powerful piece of American mythology, however it feels strange to call the experience mythical. After all, the story is for the most part grounded in reality; referencing real world events and places as well as respecting the barriers of our physical reality.
So what makes this story mythical if there are no fire-breathing dragons? I would say the myth is in the characters. Rooster, LaBoeuf, and our narrator Mattie, are characterized by their uncommonly headstrong disposition of recklessness and courage. I think the strongest part of the myth, one that is now all too common throughout every medium of storytelling, is the myth of the underdog.
Whether it is pursued for heroism, vengeance, or personal gain our characters motivations drive them to a position where the odds are stacked against them. One horseman in the middle of four bandits, one youth girl beside a strong grown man, three wounded versus a pit of venomous snakes.
I think this book touches on a very traditional american ideal of self-reliance and self-mastery. That a person is defined more by their actions than by who they were born as. That regardless that Mattie is a young girl, she is shown to have true grit through her determination to see her father's murderer brought to justice, even though it would be easy to leave it to the marshal alone. I think also attached with this idealistic value is also one of independence, independence which leads to extremities.
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