Violence In Mud, Winter's Bone

Violence is never the answer, but it can reveal the problem. In, Mud, by Jeff Nichols, a man, Mud, tries to run from the law and find his girlfriend, Juniper, with the help of two boys, Ennis and Neckbone. In, Winter’s Bone, by Debra Granik, a young girl, Ree, takes care of her two younger siblings, Sonny and Ashley, and must prove her fugitive father, who put up their house for bond when he was arrested, is dead or risk losing her house; and in, Brokeback Mountain, by Ang Lee, two men, Ennis and Jack, fall in love while working together one winter, and must figure how to navigate trying to escape their normal lives to secretly see each other as gay men in a homophobic world. Mud, Winter’s Bone, and Brokeback Mountain use violence to reveal

When Ree goes to gang leader, Thump Milton, for the second time to get answers about her father, she is captured and beat up by the gang. Teardrop comes and saves Ree and makes the agreement with the gang that, “if she does wrong, [they] can put it on [him].” The violence in this film brings out Teardrop’s love for Ree as he selflessly agrees to put himself in the face of violence to save her from it. If he did not agree to do this, then Ree probably would have been killed, and her siblings would’ve been left with no one to take care of them. By accepting the future fury of this gang Teardrop essentially saves Ree and her siblings lives, revealing his protective nature. Later in the film, the women in the gang take Ree to see her father’s dead body, where she must cut off his hands to prove to the police that he is dead. Having to dismember her own father’s corpse will probably be the hardest mental challenge Ree will face in her life. However, she accepts and conquers the task because of her love for her younger siblings. If she does not prove her father is dead, then her family will lose their house and surely die trying to live on the streets. Ree clearly cares for her siblings as she mentally scars herself to make sure they have a place to