She comes to life for the reader, partly because she is full of human faults. The reader accepts Mattie Ross both as writer-narrator and as a plausible character. In order to establish that Mattie is the writer, as well as the narrator and central character of the novel, he allows for her very personality to be revealed so completely that, before he is one quarter through the work, the reader feels as though he both knows, and likes, Mattie Ross. Portis’ command of the rhetorical equipage necessary to convince the reader so completely of Mattie's authenticity is formidable indeed. The novel succeeds, very early, in convincing the reader that it actually was written by its protagonist-narrator, Mattie Ross-a sixty-five year old spinster, missing one arm from the very adventure she is recounting, who is managing a bank in a small town in Arkansas. That is, it is not only enjoyable-and fast-moving-to read, but it is also satirically believable as well. This is so primarily because it is what might be called a “reader’s” novel. $4.95.) True Grit, Charles Portis’ second novel, is an important contribution to the genre of the western novel. In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:ġ58 Western American Literature True Grit.
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