Wild Comanches - True Grit IX

"I will own I was somewhat afraid of them, although they were not, as you may imagine, wild Comanches with painted faces and outlandish garb but rather civilized Creeks and Cherokees and Choctaws. . .I though them on the cheerful side as they nodded and spoke greetings" (Portis 109).

The 1960's was on of the most pivotal times in the Civil Rights movement, with "numerous marches, rallies, strikes, riots, and violent confrontations with the police," as well as the assassinations of many of the leaders of these events ("Psychedelic"); yet in his novel, Portis generally uses white characters, except for the Native Americans Mattie meets in Indian Country, the black stable boy, and a few hispanic criminals.

When Portis does use "colored" characters, their race is a very understated facet of their character: after Mattie introduces the stable as being a "Negro," she goes on the converse with him the way one would converse with any stable boy; after the criminals are introduced using their race, they are spoken of as of any other criminal. Although Mattie is initially quite racist toward Indians, she soon realizes that they are just people with different colored skin, and states that fact in a very subdued way. Portis may be using race and the subtle way he approaches it to make a statement about how little it truly matters whether one's skin is black, red, yellow, or white. Although race can seem like something worthy of mass marches, and riots, Portis believes that at some point most people should come to realize that a person is a person no matter what color their skin.

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

"Psychedelic 60s: The Civil Rights Movement." University of Virginia Library. University of Virgina, 16 Dec. 2009. Web. 11 Jan. 2012. .