17 quotes
The Importance of Communication in Crisis
Merab
He ain’t likely to have time for you, child.
Ree
I’ve got to talk to him. If he don’t know, nobody does.
Merab
Nope. Talking just causes witnesses. And he don’t want for any of those.
Ree
I’ll wait.
Merab
You need to get yourself on home.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Struggles of Loyalty and Shame
Ree
What I really can’t stand is how I feel so ashamed--for Dad.
Teardrop
Well, he loved y’all. That’s where he went weak. Lots of us can be tough, plenty tough enough, and do it for a long stretch, too.
Ree
But snitching.
Teardrop
For lots’n lots of years he wasn’t. He wasn’t, he wasn’t, and then one day he was.
Ree
You always have scared me.
Teardrop
That’s cause you’re smart.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Offering Support in Difficult Times
Blond Milton
Ree, I know losing Jessup leaves y'all hurting over there. I know it's a lot to handle.
Ree
We'll make do.
Blond Milton
Sonya and me talked about it. We feel we could take Sonny off your hands. Not Ashlee, I don't reckon, but we could take Sonny.
Ree
You what?
Blond Milton
We could take him and raise him up the rest of the way.
Ree
My ass you will.
Blond Milton
We'd raise that boy way better than you and that nutjob mama of yours can. Maybe on down the line, we'd take Ashlee, too.
Ree
You go straight to hell, you son of a bitch. Sonny and Ashlee will die living in a cave with me and mama before they spend one night with you.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Negotiating for Assistance in Winter's Bone
Gail
He said no.
[about borrowing her husband's truck]
Ree
Did you tell him I’d spring for gas?
Gail
I told him. He still won’t.
Ree
Why not?
Gail
He never says why not to me, Ree. He just says no.
Ree
Man, that’s so sad to hear you say he won’t let you do something, and then you don’t do it.
Gail
It’s different once you’re married.
Ree
It really must be. Cause you ain’t never used to eat no shit.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Refusal of Offers in Winter's Bone
Little Arthur
You want a line?
Ree
No.
Little Arthur
You wanna blow some smoke?
Ree
No.
Little Arthur
Then I guess I got nothing for you. Go on!
[He waves his hand to dismiss them]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Blood Ties and Unspoken Truths
Merab
Thump knows you were in the valley, child. With Megan. And at Little Arthur’s. He knows what you want to ask, and he don’t want to hear it.
Ree
And that’s it? He ain’t gonna say nothing to me?
Merab
If you’re listening, child, you got your answer.
Ree
So, I guess come the nut-cutting, blood don’t really mean shit to the big man. Am I understanding that right?
Merab
Don’t you dare. Don’t! I want you to listen to me, child. You need to turn around, and get yourself on home. Don’t you make me come out here and tell you again!
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Seeking Help in Desperation
Megan
What are we ever gonna do with you, baby girl?
Ree
Kill me, I guess.
Megan
That idea has been said already. Got any others?
Ree
Help me. Ain’t nobody said that idea yet, have they?
Megan
I tried to help you some before, and this is what come of it.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Family Ties and Past Conflicts
Merab
You ain’t here for trouble, are you?
Ree
No, ma’am.
Merab
Cause one of my nephews is Buster Leroy, and didn’t he shoot your daddy one time?
Ree
Yes’m, but that ain’t got nothing to do with me. They settled all that theirselves, I think.
Merab
Shooting him likely settled it. What is it you want?
Ree
I got a real bad need to talk with Thump.
Merab
And he ain’t got no need to talk to you.
Ree
But I need to. I really, really got to ma’am. Please!
Ree
Some of our blood at least is the same. Ain’t that s’posed to mean somethin’ - isn’t that what is always said?
Merab
Ain’t you got no men could do this?
[irritated]
Ree
No, Ma’am, I don’t.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Uncertainty Surrounds Jessup's Disappearance
Blond Milton
This right here is the last place me or anybody seen Jessup.
Ree
He never blew no lab before.
Blond Milton
I know, but something must have jumped wrong this time.
Ree
He's known for never fucking up labs or cooking bad batches. He's known for knowing what he's doing.
Blond Milton
Well, you cook long enough, this is bound to happen.
Ree
You're sayin dad's up there burnt to a crisp?
Blond Milton
That's what I'm saying.
Ree
I'm going up there for a look.
[starting to climb out of the truck]
Blond Milton
No! That shit's poison. It'll rip the skin off your bones.
[pulling her back]
Ree
If dad's up there, I'm bringing him home to bury.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Caution Around Powerful Figures
Megan
Don’t tell nobody it was me who told you this, okay? But you’re going to have to go on up the hill and ask for a talk with Thump Milton. Now, I hope he’ll talk with you - he generally won’t.
Ree
That man scares me way more than the rest.
Megan
Well, scared ain’t a bad way to be about him, neither, hon. He’s my own granpaw, and I still make damn sure I never piss him off none.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Etiquette of Asking for Help
Sonny
Maybe they'll share some of that with us.
Ree
That could be.
Sonny
Maybe we should ask.
Ree
Never ask for what oughta be offered.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Confrontation Over Accountability and Reputation
Sheriff Baskin
I didn't shoot the other night cuz you were there in the truck. He never backed me down.
Ree
It looked to me like he did.
Sheriff Baskin
Don't you let me hear that's a story gettin around.
Ree
I don't talk much about you, man. Ever.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Confrontation Over Jessup Dolly's Status
Satterfield
I'm Mike Satterfield, A1 Bonds.
Ree
What is it you want?
Satterfield
We hold the bond on Jessup Dolly. Now he's a runner, it looks like.
Ree
Dad ain't no runner.
Satterfield
He didn't show for court. That makes him a runner.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Complexity of Knowledge and Responsibility
Teardrop
You ought not do that. Don’t go running after Jessup. Show or don’t show that choice is up to the one going to jail, not you.
Ree
You know where he’s at, don’t you?
Teardrop
Where a man’s at ain’t necessarily for you to know neither.
Ree
But you do...
Teardrop
I ain’t seen him.
Ree
Could be running around with Little Arthur and them, you think?
Teardrop
Don’t you ever go down around Little Arthur’s asking them people about shit they ain’t offering to talk about. That’s a real good way to end up et by hogs, or wishing you was.
Ree
We’re all related ain’t we?
Teardrop
Our relations get watered kinda thin between here and Little Arthur’s.
Victoria
You know all those people, Teardrop. You could ask.
Teardrop
Shut up.
Victoria
None of them’s gonna be in a great big hurry to tangle with you.
Teardrop
I said shut up once already with my mouth.
Ree
Jesus, Dad’s your only brother.
Teardrop
You think I forgot that? Hmm? Jessup and me run together for coming on forty years but I don’t know where he’s at, and I ain’t going to go around asking after him neither.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Burden of Family Loyalty
Sonny
Are you wanting to leave us?
Ree
I'd be lost without the weight of you two on my back. I ain't goin anywhere.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Confrontation Over Absent Family Responsibilities
Satterfield
Look, I don't want to kick your dad's ass, all right? I just want to keep the judge off mine.
Ree
Dad's dead. He didn't show for court cause he's lyin dead somewhere.
Satterfield
When was the last time you saw him?
Ree
A couple weeks.
Satterfield
Who's he running around with? Where they all hanging out?
Ree
He doesn't tell me that stuff, sir.
Satterfield
Now, you know I got the legal right to go in there hunting the man, anyplace I want.
Ree
I know you'd be wasting your time and pissing me off. Jessup Dolly is dead. He’s lying in a crappy grave somewhere or become piles of shit in a hog pen. Maybe he’s been left out plain in the open, but wherever he is, he’s there dead.
Satterfield
And you know this how?
Ree
You must’ve heard what Dolly’s are, ain’t you, mister?
Satterfield
Well, I’ve heard what some are anyhow, and I have bonded a few.
Ree
I’m a Dolly, bred’n buttered, and that’s how I know Dad’s dead.
Satterfield
How old are you?
Ree
Seventeen.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Family Loyalty and Responsibility in Crisis
Teardrop
What Jessup done was against our ways, he knew it. I know it, and I ain’t raised no stink at all about whatever became of him. But she ain’t my brother. She’s about all the close family I got left, so I’ll be collecting her now and carrying her on out of here to home. That suit you, Thump?
Thump Milton
You’re gonna stand for her, are you?
Teardrop
If she does wrong, you can put it on me.
Thump Milton
She’s now yours to answer for.
Teardrop
This is a girl who ain’t gonna tell nobody nothing.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.