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Ree Dolly tromps through the desolate landscape of the Ozark mountains in a pair of black combat boots. She dresses in delicate, weather-inappropriate dresses and skirts, threadbare hand-me-downs from her many relatives. She wears a coat passed down to her from her grandmother. Ree is outfitted in pieces of clothing that function as an outward expression of more than just a personal sense of style. Her hand-me-down pieces represent her oft-unwanted lineage and her duty to that tattered inheritance. Ree is a Dolly, and as such is bound to certain codes, burdens, and allegiances to family, to secrecy, and to the old ways and traditions of Rathlin Valley. Her boots, though, symbolize her own status as an iconoclast and rule-breaker. Her boots give her mobility, protection, and a toughness that might not be readily ascribed to her at first glance.
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Ree’s Clothes Symbol Timeline in Winter’s Bone
The timeline below shows where the symbol Ree’s Clothes appears in Winter’s Bone. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3
...splits wood in the yard as the snow finally begins to fall. Wrapped in her grandmother’s overcoat , she expertly splits timber for a fire, making up for the work her father...
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Chapter 5
...her.” Ree walks down the railroad tracks the three miles to Teardrop’s house, wearing an overcoat, a skirt, and combat boots.
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Chapter 24
Ree, back in Hawkfall, climps the hill to Thump Milton’s house once again. She wears her grandmother’s coat , but notes that it feels “heavy in the turning weather.” Nevertheless, she keeps herself...
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Chapter 25
...teeth are on the ground beside her, and she places them in the pocket of her grandmother’s coat . Merab approaches Ree calmly, telling her that she was “warned,” and asking why she...
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Chapter 32
In the middle of the night, Teardrop comes for Ree and wraps her in her grandmother’s coat . “Fuck this waitin’ shit,” he says. “Let’s go out’n poke ‘em where they live.”...
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Chapter 34
...hacks at the surface of the pond; once she’s opened it up, she takes off her grandmother’s coat and plunges her hands into the water. Soon, she feels her father’s body.
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...back to the car, strip her of her wet, freezing clothes, and wrap her in her grandmother’s coat .
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