Winter's Bone

In the close-knit communities of the Ozarks, naming has a fatalistic quality. As Ree notes, “Some names could rise to walk many paths in many directions, but Jessups, Arthurs, Haslams and Miltons were born to walk only the Beaten Dolly path to the shadowed place, live and die in keeping with those blood-line customs fiercest held” (62). Although the repetitive names began as a tactic to create a cover for illegal deeds, they became a symbol of the Dolly way of life, dedicated to blood and brutality. These names symbolize the lack of possibility the Dolly family face, the predetermined life of dullness that awaits them all. For this reason, Ree and Connie fought Jessup for Harold’s name; they wanted Harold to avoid becoming another Milton and, instead, “he was named to expect choices” (62). For Ree and Connie, the name Harold itself signified hope and potential. Ree and her family are constantly fighting against fate—against becoming a Dolly in a world that expects certain things of Dollys. Ree’s argument for Harold’s name articulates her innate need to hope for a world of choice and freedom.