Revenge Theme Analysis

In True Grit, Portis demonstrates just how far people are willing to go for revenge. When fourteen-year-old Mattie Ross learns that her father has been killed by Tom Chaney, she yearns for vengeance. As the novel progresses, she develops an uncompromising thirst for retribution, one that illustrates the extent to which revenge can consume a person. Unsatisfied with the idea of LaBoeuf—a Texas Ranger—arresting Chaney for a different crime, she insists that the criminal must understand that his defeat is the direct result of having killed Frank Ross. To ensure this, Mattie puts her life at risk by coming along on the manhunt, refusing to be deterred despite the rugged conditions of the journey and the dangers of tracking down a violent criminal. In turn, Portis illustrates how obsessive people can become when pursuing retribution, suggesting that the mere idea of revenge is often enough to dangerously overshadow a person’s sense of self-preservation.

Mattie wants to bring Chaney to justice, but on her own terms. Although Chaney has committed many crimes over the years, none of these matter to Mattie, since she’s focused only on her father’s death. Because she wants Chaney to suffer specifically because of what he did to her father, she obsesses over the logistical details of his punishment, ultimately caring as much about this as she cares about catching him in the first place. When LaBoeuf first approaches her and suggests that he join Rooster Cogburn in his hunt for Chaney, Mattie makes her intentions clear, saying, “Well, it is nothing to me one way or the other except that when we do get Chaney he is not going to Texas, he is coming back to Fort Smith and hang.” By saying this, she expresses her desire to see Chaney die in the same town in which he killed her father. In turn, readers see Mattie’s emotional attachment to this case, as she yearns for a certain poetic justice regarding Chaney’s execution. She has invested herself so deeply in this vision of retribution that she rejects any other form of punishment. LaBoeuf, for his part, has been chasing Chaney for four months because of crimes he committed long before killing Frank Ross, including the murder of a Texan senator and his dog. For this reason, he simply wants to catch the man, but Mattie remains steadfast in her desire to see Chaney hang in Fort Smith, saying, “I want Chaney to pay for killing my father and not some Texas bird dog.” When she says this, it’s clear that she has already become unswervingly preoccupied with a very specific form of revenge, and her unwillingness to compromise only further demonstrates the kind of monomania that often comes along with this thirst for retribution.

Given her penchant for revenge, it’s unsurprising that Mattie hires Rooster Cogburn, a U.S. marshal known for his ruthless, uncompromising ways. Rooster agrees to track down Chaney because he wants to earn money, but it’s not hard to see that he’s well-acquainted with what it’s like to have a personal vendetta against someone. This becomes apparent when Rooster undergoes a cross-examination in court, which is the first time Mattie encounters him. As she watches, Rooster answers questions about his history with the Wharton family, a clan of criminals he has been tracking for years. Most recently, Rooster killed two of the remaining three Wharton men, and now Odus Wharton’s lawyer tries to demonstrate to the court that Rooster has used unnecessary violence because of his “bad blood” with the family. To that end, he uncovers the fact that Rooster not only killed two Wharton men without trying first to avoid violence, but also dragged one of their dead bodies into a fire—an act that illustrates his emotional investment in the case and his proclivity toward revenge. Later, when Mattie asks Rooster about this incident, he admits that he should have killed Odus (the one who got away), but that he was trying to bring him in alive to collect the reward money. “You will sometimes let money interfere with your notion of what is right,” he laments, making the morally backward insinuation that it’s better to kill a criminal than let him testify. Needless to say, this mentality resonates with Mattie, as it prioritizes revenge over legally regulated forms of justice.

Although Mattie eventually succeeds in avenging her father’s death, it’s worth noting that her fixation on revenge has consequences. When she first sees her father’s dead body, she makes a resolution to do everything she can to bring down Chaney. “I would not rest easy until that Louisiana cur was roasting and screaming in hell!” she declares. However, it just so happens that she doesn’t “rest easy” even after Chaney’s dead, since when she takes aim and shoots him in the head, the blast from her gun is enough to knock her over, sending her into a pit, where a rattlesnake bites her hand. Because of this, her arm is amputated above the elbow. This, it seems, is the price she has paid for refusing to let LaBoeuf and Rooster track down Chaney according to their own plan. Unwilling to accept the idea of Chaney being executed in Texas, she has put herself in harm’s way, thinking about nothing other than getting even with her father’s killer. Her crazed preoccupation with vengeance has consumed her entirely, eclipsing any concerns she might have for her own physical wellbeing. Because True Grit is narrated by Mattie in a straightforward, boastful manner, though, Portis doesn’t necessarily condemn this obsession with revenge. Instead, he simply presents a portrait of how strongly such convictions can take hold of a person, ultimately letting readers decide for themselves whether or not Mattie’s sacrifice is worthwhile.