TRUE GRIT AND AMERICA

My Dad owns a copy of True Grit and I remember seeing it around the house. Im not sure when, but I remember seeing it in the kitchen. Then it got moved to the bottom of the stairs. Then to the top of the stairs and was placed on some home goods magazines. Then the top of the stairs and finally ended up in the guest bedroom with all the other books on the bookshelf. I don't think it was my dad moving it rather it was my mom moving it inch by inch as she did things around the house.

True Grit means absolute unyielding dedication toward a goal. When my Mom wants something done she often does it herself. Often not trusting others to do things for her because she thinks she can do everything perfectly. When I was a kid the tree in our front yard dried up and died. My mom simply tied a rope around the tree and yanked it out with her car. This turned into a quite an event for all the neighborhood kids who cheered her on.  

The 1969 version of True Grit directed by Henry Hathaway had some fantastic moments showing what it means to have true grit. In the final scene when John Wayne's character tells his partner not to shoot as Mattie rides on her horse below, his partner ends up shooting this almost gets them killed by revealing that they are there and exposing them to gunfire. This shows how his partner does not have true grit meanwhile Mattie remained composed calm and collected under stress.

There is another book about what it means to have true grit that came out recently simply called Grit by Angela Duckworth.  I looked into what this book is about and came back with the impression that it takes a closer look at what it means to have true grit. The Author, Angela Duckworth did a Ted Talk where she talked in detail about what she believed it means to have true grit.

 ANGELA LEE DUCKWORTH TED TALK CLIP