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I loved Portis' portrait of young proto-feminist Mattie Ross, the narrator of this tale set in Arkansas and the Indian Territory circa the 1870s. No delicate little prairie flower, this girl. Determined and focused, she sets out to avenge the murder of her father by hiring one-eyed deputy marshall Rooster Cogburn, whom she has been told has “grit.�� Together, accompanied by a Texas ranger named LaBoef, they chase the father’s killer. Early in the adventure, the two men, seeking rewards of their own, try to lose Mattie, but she is unshakeable. Their attempts to ditch her or scare her away have no affect on her resolve. She’s sunk her teeth into the ankle of this mission, and she’s not letting go.

Sometimes she gets what she wants, only to find herself in a bit over her head. But she never flinches, whines or complains, just takes responsibility and keeps moving toward her goals. Some critics fault her lack of emotion. After all, she is a girl who has just lost her father. But the harshness of the environment and her complete dedication to the notion that justice must be served did not leave a lot of room for getting all teary-eyed. She has stuff to do, and none of it’s easy. I do wish she seemed even capable of having a little more fun, but then again, in the context �� her father’s just been murdered �� it’s really not the time to show that.

One of my favorite scenes shows a shrewd 14-year-old Mattie negotiating with a seasoned horse trader, trying to get him to buy back a string of ponies her father had bought before his demise. The guy doesn’t stand a chance. Another great scene has her trying to wrest the shirt off a skeleton which, even if the corpse had rotted away a long time ago, had to be nasty, but she needed the shirt as a tool to save her own life. Then she pulls off some smaller bones, for the same purpose. She doesn’t even barf.

The book is told as a remembrance by Mattie as an old woman, who has continued in character and become a successful businesswoman as an adult. She also took on the burden of caring for her elderly invalid mother. True to form, it’s all about duty and responsibility, but it’s hard to dislike her for that, even if she could stand to lighten up a little. She is a bit opinionated, but hey, so am I, so I don’t count it as a big fault (maybe a little one). And I wished for a little more happiness for her. But she always did what had to be done and I admired her grit, which exceeded that of anyone else in the book.