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Peculiaritiest Character In True Grit, By Charlie Portis

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Grit is a term that gets thrown around alot; but rarely do people take time to think about what grit is and how it can help in everyday life. In Charlie Portis's True Grit, Rooster is portrayed as the grittiest character in the book for several reasons. First, he is known for being fearless; next, his relentlessness; and finally, his strength of character.

Rooster Cogburn's fearlessness in the face of danger is a crucial element of his character in the novel "True Grit" by Charles Portis. The Oxford Dictionary defines fearlessness as the "lack of fear" that is just skimming the surface of what it means and takes to be fearless. When diving deep into what it means to be fearless, you understand that just doing things without thinking of the …show more content…

He is showing the strength of character–an essential part of grit. One of the traits that help define grit is someone's strength of character. Throughout the novel, Rooster character development has come along ways and by the end it is one of the many factors that make him the grittiest character. In the beginning of the book, Rooster is portrayed as a marshall that will get the job and has no feelings. When Mattie asks about the marshals and the officer tells her about Rooster he says that Rooster is a "pitiless" man. But Rooster grows fond of Mattie and starts to become protective of her. The first we see of this protectiveness is when Labeouf whips Mattie, and Rooster interferes by pointing his gun at Labeouf and ordering him to stop. Labeouf refuses to saying "I am going ahead with what I started,." Rooster pulls his gun on Labeouf and says, "it will be the biggest mistake you ever made, you Texas brush-popper." The significance of this quote is that the Rooster shows here that just because he will do what needs to be done, he will not stand for harm to Mattie. Another time when Rooster shows his strength of character is when, without thinking about it, he tries to save Mattie when she is in the pit. This shows how courageous Rooster is and that he is willing to put his own life at risk to save someone

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