Uncle Teardrop Character Analysis in Winter’s Bone

Ree’s uncle and Jessup’s brother, nicknamed Teardrop for the teardrop prison tattoos on his face. A fearsome figure and crystal meth cook, Teardrop seems at first to be the novel’s antagonist. His violent demeanor and physical disfigurement (the result of a meth lab explosion) intimidate Ree, but as the hunt for her father intensifies and she finds herself delving deeper and deeper into the increasingly dangerous underworld of the Ozarks, Teardrop becomes her ally and protector.

Uncle Teardrop Quotes in Winter’s Bone

The Winter’s Bone quotes below are all either spoken by Uncle Teardrop or refer to Uncle Teardrop. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

“Don’t you, nor nobody else, neither, ever go down around Hawkfall askin’ them people shit about stuff they ain’t offerin’ to talk about. That’s a real good way to end up et by hogs, or wishin’ you was… Our relations get watered kinda thin between this valley here and Hawkfall.”

Related Characters: Uncle Teardrop (speaker), Ree Dolly

Page Number and Citation: 25

Explanation and Analysis:

To have but a few male names in use was a tactic held over from the olden knacker ways…Let any sheriff or similar nabob try to keep official accounts on the Dolly men when so many were named Milton, Haslam, Arthur or Jessup… Jessups, Arthurs, Haslams and Miltons were born to walk only the beaten Dolly path, live and die in keeping with those bloodline customs fiercest held.

Related Characters: Ree Dolly, Sonny Dolly, Harold Dolly, Jessup Dolly, Uncle Teardrop, Thump Milton

Page Number and Citation: 62

Explanation and Analysis:

“You own me now. Understand? You purty much own me now, girl. You do wrong, it’s on me. You do big wrong’n it’s me that’ll pay big.”

Related Characters: Uncle Teardrop (speaker), Ree Dolly

Page Number and Citation: 140

Explanation and Analysis:

This was how sudden things happened that haunted forever.

Related Characters: Ree Dolly (speaker), Uncle Teardrop

Page Number and Citation: 173

Explanation and Analysis:

Uncle Teardrop Character Timeline in Winter’s Bone

The timeline below shows where the character Uncle Teardrop appears in Winter’s Bone. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Family, Destiny, and Inheritance Theme Icon

Ree decides to start her hunt for her father’s whereabouts with her uncle Teardrop, Jessup’s older brother, “though [he] scare[s] her.” Ree walks down the railroad tracks the three... (full context)

When Ree arrives at Teardrop’s house, his wife Victoria opens the door. Ree is always surprised by Victoria’s beauty, and... (full context)

...need to “run [Jessup] to ground and get him to show.” As she says this, Teardrop comes out of his bedroom. “You ought not do that,” he says, and advises Ree... (full context)

Ree protests, reminding Teardrop that much of the Ozark community is related, and asking if he can reach out... (full context)

On the walk back from Teardrop’s house, Ree sits on a stump to think. She imagines her ancestors, moonshiners and their... (full context)

...couch. She falls asleep and has strange, unsettling dreams, though, and when she awakens, Uncle Teardrop is standing over her. He tells her that the authorities found Jessup’s car; it was... (full context)

Teardrop gives Ree money, and advises her to sell off the timber acres “while [she] can.”... (full context)

...hear the men by the door talking; a truck is pulling up, and it is Teardrop’s. One of the men goes to get a gun—“I ain’t standin’ here naked when [he]... (full context)

Teardrop enters the barn and asks who was responsible for beating Ree. Merab insists that no... (full context)

On the drive home, Teardrop gives Ree a shotgun to hold “for if they come.” He pulls a baby-bottle of... (full context)

...some more pills. When Ree gets up to go to the bathroom, she sees Uncle Teardrop sitting on the couch, a rifle propped up against the arm. (full context)

Teardrop tells Ree that she took her beating as well as a man, but that he’s... (full context)

Ree asks Teardrop if their family will be forever shunned from now on. He tells her that “The... (full context)

...[hospital and] leave her on the steps.” As for Harold, she plans to “beg Victoria’n Teardrop to take [him] in.” (full context)

In the middle of the night, Teardrop comes for Ree and wraps her in her grandmother’s coat. “Fuck this waitin’ shit,” he... (full context)

Teardrop drives Ree around back roads, lamenting that he is too high to sleep, and that... (full context)

...porch” the night before. Baskin tells Ree that, the other night, he didn’t shoot at Teardrop only because Ree was with him in the car. Ree tells Baskin that it looked... (full context)

A while later Teardrop arrives at the house, and Ree thinks that he looks tired and unshaven. He watches... (full context)

Mike leaves, and Teardrop tells Ree that he now knows who killed Jessup. Ree embraces Teardrop, and then he... (full context)