True Grit or Myth?

In the novel True Grit, written by Charles Portis and the 2010 film remake directed by the Coen brothers, there are American mythologies represented in both. The setting takes place in the old West, also referred to as the Wild West and the Frontier. Mattie is the main character of True Grit, and tells the tale of how she was able to avenge her father’s death. I think this is good example of American mythology because of how Mattie’s particular story can be comparable to other similar folklores about death and revenge.

Famous criminals are another example of American mythology. In True Grit, Lucky Ned Pepper is one of the antagonists in the story and someone Mattie was not intending to pursue, but just like folklore, everyone knew who Ned was through word of mouth and his notorious history. Ned’s portrayal of a criminal can be compared to the other Western myths of notorious criminals such as Buffalo Bill and Jesse James because of how they evolve into old legends.

Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) kicking ass

Something that I noticed from the movie that gave it more authenticity was the use of music. The soundtrack had a church music theme that gave the film a soothing and uplifting yet melancholic tone. I think the composer chose this type of music to show how the impact of religion such as Christianity shaped the way people lived in the west. For instance, Mattie mentions the “glory of God” in the beginning of the film. In a way, religion could be considered American mythology because of how manifest destiny has influences from Christianity as well as how people treated each other during this period of time.

I found it interesting during the scene where the three men were being hanged because two were white men and the other was a Native American man. The two white men had speeches to give before the hanging and when it came to the Native American man’s turn to talk, he was immediately muffled and hanged. I believe that it expressed the idea of racism during the Western times because of the historical relationships between White settlers and the Indians. I’m sure this had a mythological impact in the American Western culture because the fighting and bloodshed that occurred historically, led to exaggerated stories between both parties.

Comparing the novel to the movie, I think that Hollywood creates more of a myth to the old Western culture. The novel describes the frontier lifestyle in fuller and more raw context while the film portrays the events of the story in a glamourized viewpoint. Although both forms of True Grit contains ideas representing American mythology, I think the novel did a better job in telling the truth of the story while the film did not show the smaller details of Western folklore but rather the main idea.