Do you think you will be able to persevere despite many difficult obstacles without giving up? In True Grit by Charles Portis, fourteen-year-old Mattie Ross has her father murdered by a man named Tom Chaney. Throughout the book he has to overcome many hardships and overcome many obstacles to avenge his father's death. Mattie constantly talks about a person with “real grit” throughout the book. His definition of having true grit is not being brave and does not refer to dirt. Having true grit for Mattie means having a rough side and being fearless. After Mattie's father was murdered, she was determined to avenge her father's death at any cost. Before Mattie could go out and look for the man who killed her father, she needed to take care of some of her father's business. He needed to talk to a man named Stonehill about some ponies his father had purchased right before he was killed. In this scene from the book Mattie shows her grit because Stonehill didn't want to buy the ponies back and Mattie showed her tenacity and abrasiveness. Finally Mattie says she would get her lawyer involved and he offered her two hundred dollars but she didn't take it. Mattie wanted three hundred and fifty for the ponies, but told Stonehill she would settle for three hundred and twenty-five. Another scene where Mattie shows that she is fearless and has a great deal of grit is when she shoots Tom Chaney and the recoil of the gun sends her flying into a hole. During the fall Mattie manages to get stuck upright in a small hole, she tries to push herself out with her left arm and notices that her forearm was bent in an unnatural attitude and realizes that it is broken. While he was down there he saw... middle of paper... the boarding house and picked up his rifle. Frank tried to stop Tom from returning to the bar and Tom raised his rifle and shot Frank in the forehead killing him instantly. Tom Chaney has grit and doesn't care about anyone but himself. Having grit isn't always necessarily a good thing. Tom Chaney's definition of grit is different than Mattie's or Rooster's. The strength to persevere and move forward are traits that everyone should learn to have. No matter what you're going through, if you have that mindset or state of mind, I feel like you can accomplish anything you put your mind to. Mattie planned to avenge her father's death and wanted to do it at any cost and would not stop until she got justice. This was his motivation, maybe something can motivate you to continue to persevere despite the many obstacles in your life.