Gail and Ree's Family

            Winter’s Bone is a novel with themes of family, independence, and poverty in the Ozarks. However, the novel also has an emphasis on the power of relationships between women. Through the novel, Ree’s only positive relationships are with other women, and her closest personal relationship is with her childhood friend Gail. Ree’s relationship with Gail would likely be read with romantic undertones had Gail been a man, but even as a woman Gail and Ree have a much deeper love than just friendship. Both women lack physical and emotional intimacy from anyone else, which further pushes them toward each other. Additionally, scenes with Gail, Ree, and Ned together paint a sharp picture of what a happy, supportive family could have looked like.

            Ree and Gail’s relationship was not simply a childhood phase; these women find a deep sense of love and happiness in each other. Ree and Gail have been friends since second grade (Woodrell 31), and Ree knows Gail better than anyone (Woodrell 36). Their childhoods were undoubtedly riddled with the drama that still plagues them, but their time spent together is portrayed in a very positive light. One passage states, “[T]hey took a shine to each other and since spent the idle hours of each passing year happily swapping clothes and dreams and their opinions of everybody else” (Woodrell 31). This description stands out from the often-stark descriptions of the rest of the novel. In an otherwise bleak and uncertain world, in childhood, Ree and Gail found happiness in each other which continues in the current events of the novel. Woodrell writes, “In Ree’s heart there was room for more. Any evening spent with Gail was like one of the yearning stories from her sleep was happening awake. Sharing the small simple parts of life with someone who stood tall in her feelings” (99). Gail and Ree’s relationship cannot be reduced to a brief, physical relationship (Woodrell 86) resulting from curiosity alone. Ree has a deep love and respect for Gail, and even cherishes the domestic life with her.

            Though Ned often serves to show the growing differences between Gail and Ree, interestingly, he is also used to show the cohesiveness of their relationship. Gail says, “I way, way love Ned” (Woodrell 160), and it is obvious that Ned is the most important person in the world to her. She cherishes her son and would do anything for him; so, it is significant that Gail allows Ree to enter their domestic life. After going grocery shopping, “Ree [hefts] groceries while Gail [hefts] Ned” (Woodrell 124). When they go to Bucket Spring,”Ree [carries] the shotgun, Gail [carries] the baby” (Woodrell 154). These scenes all bring to mind a family: the housewife—Gail—is responsible for the child and the husband—Ree—is responsible for the gun or the groceries. If you replace Ree with a man in, for example, the scene where Gail, Ned, and Ree go to the grocery store, the scene could easily become that of a normal family running errands. Even though, ultimately, Gail leaves Ree for the sake of Ned, his adjacency to Ree throughout the novel positions Gail and Ree as family, if not something more.