Drinking Silly - True Grit IV

"He drank even as he rode, which looked difficult. I cannot say it slowed him down any but it did make him look silly. Why do people wish to be silly?" (Portis 171).

Throughout the entire novel, Mattie seems to comprehend things in a very level-headed way; she approaches most things quite logically and does not tend to make a big deal out of issues like danger or race. But when it comes to drink, Portis has Mattie express an absolute disgust and incomprehension as to why people do it, especially since her father was shot in a drunken disagreement. Portis may be using Mattie's story and how drink affects it by always leading to mischief to portray his own feelings about the substance.

Portis, Charles, and Donna Tartt. True Grit. New York, NY: Overlook, 2010. Print.