Carli Crowley

Professor Cline

English 102

25 March 2012

                                                                  Bree and Gail

      Weather it is the never far off idea in men’s minds of two women making out or Ree and Gail are truly so close as sisters that sleeping beside each other naked, swimming naked and rubbing each other’s shoulders is a common everyday occurrence. The relationship between Gail and Ree is an underlying current throughout Woodrell’s Winter’s Bone. The reader is drawn to wonder where Woodrell is going with this theme. Is Ree and Gail’s relationship typical of children of the Ozarks? Is it grown of children of methamphetamine using parents? Is it a special bond, something born of a lifelong friendship?

Woodrell starts off Ree and Gail’s relationship with a great deal of Sweet Peas and hugging and shoulder rubs. The bond between the two is obvious by the level of comfort Bree finds with Gail that she lacks with everyone else. In their first encounter of the book Gail picks cockleburs from Ree’s hair. These are pretty standard best friend actions. After Gail’s husband refuses to let her use the car she throws herself on the bed in frustration and Ree gives her a foot and calf massage. Woodrell then moves onto the scene where Ree decides to play with Gail’s hair. “Ree leaned to pick at her hair, pinched between the long riddled locks, brushed strands back with her fingertips, lowered her face and inhaled the smell ( Woodrell 36 ). She starts off picking at imaginary cockleburs in her friend’s hair but then leans in to smell Gail’s hair. This is an act that her friend Gail seems uncomfortable with. “Gail said in a low voice, “what you doin?” “ (Woodrell 36 ). Ree says pick sticky burrs; you have a mess of sticky burrs. Gail responds by saying “no I don’t. She pushed Ree’s hands away put did not raise her eyes” (Woodrell 36 ). She then tells Ree she has to go, pleading tiredness and the need of a nap. It is obvious that she is slightly uncomfortable with the actions of Ree.

Interestingly enough there is very little said about the underlying theme and relationship of the two, Ree and Gail, anywhere on the internet. Very few people seem to see or want to talk about the other theme in Woodrell’s book, the relationship of Ree and Gail. Maybe even more importantly no one wants to acknowledge this dynamic of the book. It is important to note that the makers of the film did not even want to add this aspect in to their movie. Did they believe they wouldn’t have the box office hit if they explored this unconventional relationship between the two girls? This to most of the world is an odd little bit of weirdness Wodrell wrote into his book. No one seems to know what to think of it, so it is best ignored. Actually a few did. Macabre Republic says “ her intimate quasi-lesbian relationship with her best friend Gail” (Macabre ). Macabre labels the relationship as quasi-lesbian, and later on in her article goes on to say “the solace she seeks in Gail’s arms only underscores the lack of acceptable make figures in Ree’s life ( Macabre ) So Macabre believes this relationship between Gail and Ree is a result of the lack of responsible worthy male figures in Ree’s life. It is as though the fact that Ree and Gail have this interesting relationship is a direct correlation between her lack of acceptable male figures in her life and the availability of Gail and her friendship.

      One of Woodrell’s greatest defining moments of Gail and Ree’s relationship is Ree’s flashback to their younger years when the two of them were experimenting with kissing and making out. He goes into fairly graphic detail. “and Gail acting the man roughed up her breasts with grabs and pinches, kissed her neck, murmuring and Ree said, “Just like that! I want it to be just like that!” ( Woodrell 87 ) and “there came three seasons of giggling and practice, puckering readily anytime they were alone, each being the man and the woman, each on top and bottom, pushing for it with grunts and receiving it with sighs ( Woodrell 87).  Interestingly enough the entire time Ree was imagining kissing a man so much so that “ Ree found herself sucking on the wiggling tongue of a man in her mind, sucking that plunging tongue of the man in her mind until she tasted morning coffee and cigars ( Woodrell 87 ).

      After Ellen on the other hand obviously feels the relationship to definitely lesbian “ I mean the author references a time when they were younger and experimented sure but that’s not just it. Even before the reader finds this out I thought perhaps there was something going on here that was unspoken in just the way the girls interact and how touchy feely they are. Also, Ree who is an extremely guarded character just opens up to Gail completely. There are also references to sleeping together …… naked” (After Ellen ). Gail gets sent back to Ree’s house late at night because her husband thinks she has come home too late. She obviously comes with no other clothes as he met her at the door took the baby to his parents and sent her out. Her boots are muddy and her clothes are most likely dirty, she drops them in a pile on the floor. Once again she seems nervous, not quite at the comfort level Ree is with the way their relationship was before. “She fidgeted on bare feet and rubbed at the skin of her shoulders and arms, looking down at the bed. Ree held the quilts pulled wide, patted the sheet “ ( Woodrell 101 ). It is as if Woodrell would like to portray Ree as this young girl who still lives in this world where they were best friends, a world where they were so touchy feely and slept together naked and all of this felt so normal. Gail on the other hand has had a baby and is now married and is starting to feel awkward in their closeness.

      It is plain to see that the author is striving for us to see that there is defiantly something in the way that Ree thinks about Gail. “ any evening spent with Gail was like one of the yearning stories from her sleep was happening awake. Sharing the simple parts of life with someone who stood tall in her feelings “ ( Woodrell 100 ). Gail is the only person who has ever been a friend to Ree it’s quite possible that Gail is the only person who has ever loved Ree. In return it is probable that Gail is the only person Ree has ever truly loved as well. She has her family but they are more of a responsibility to her than anything else. She never truly had a mom or dad that loved her and put her first in their life, she has had to be the one to look after them. Ree seems to only find comfort from her crazy world in her music and her friendship with Gail. “ Ree’s feeling could stray from now and drift to so many special spots of time in her senses when listening to that voice, the perfect slight lisp, the wet tone, that soothing hill fold drawl” ( Woodrell 82 ). The only happy moments in her life where she was free to be alive unfettered by the stresses and demands of her crazy family life seem to center around the moments she and Gail have spent together. It is no wonder that she clings to Gail so desperately, that is the only happiness and peace she has experienced in her life.

       In the final portrayal of the girls relationship Gail takes Ree to a spring with a pond of freezing water to help heal her body of all the bruises and pain inflicted upon her by the hateful women. They climb naked into the pool together in the freezing water. After Ellen believes this to be a completely lesbian part of the book the part that really shows you where Woodrell is headed with his thoughts. “But then after some time of living with Ree, Gail takes Ree swimming/wading in a spring…. Naked and when Gail says she has to return to her husband Ree responds with “you didn’t like it? You gonna tell me you didn’t like it?” “ To which Gail says “I liked it, but not enough”. This is pretty clear right? “ ( After Ellen ). The intent of the author is unclear. Is Ree asking about skinny dipping, living together, or just the freedom of being away from an over bearing husband? It is clear that Ree really loves Gail and would be happy if they could be together more. She has Gail and her wellbeing in mind, when it comes to the point of having to sale off the families coveted wooded land she says “If I’ve got to sell these woods Sweet Pea, I’d want it to be to youin and yours” ( Woodrell 161 ).

                                                      Works Cited

Woodrell, Daniel.  Winter’s Bone.  New York: Little Brown and Company 2006. Print.

Nazare, Joe. Book Vs Film Winter’s Bone. Macabre Republic. Web. 03 Mar. 2012.

UP. Anyone read Winter’s Bone. After Ellen. Web. 03 Mar. 2012