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Chapter 8
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Winter’s Bone, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Silence and Secrets
Family, Destiny, and Inheritance
Violence and Decay
Isolation and Independence
Women and Matriarchy
Summary
Analysis
Ree washes Connie’s hair in the sink, showing Sonny and Harold how to properly care for her. While combing her mother’s hair dry by the stove, Ree reminisces about her childhood, and about watching her mother get dressed up to go out on dates while Jessup was in jail. Her mother had once been beautiful and engaging, and had an affair with Blond Milton that resulted in Sonny’s conception.
Ree continues instructing Harold and Sonny in the duties that they’ll one day need to perform, suggesting that there is little place in this community for a happy or carefree childhood. She feels badly that they cannot remember better days, when their mother was not just lucid but vibrant.
Themes
