True Grit

Content Warning: This section of the guide features depictions of violence and death.

The next day, Mattie collects Lawyer Daggett’s letter from the post office. The letter finalizes the deal with Stonehill but also contains a message from Daggett, urging Mattie to allow him to handle these kinds of matters in the future. He suggests that she return home and then describes her father’s funeral. Mattie is not pleased to hear that the family picked the wrong preacher for the service. She is certain that if she wants anything to be done right, she must do it herself.

Stonehill is in his office, suffering from his annual bout of malaria. She refuses to accept a check, so he reluctantly agrees to give her cash, though she must wait until the bank opens. In the meantime, Mattie returns to the boarding house, but Mrs. Floyd’s intrusive questions annoy her. Mrs. Floyd reveals Mattie’s dealings with Stonehill to LaBoeuf, even though Mattie would prefer her business to be kept private. As soon as the bank opens, she collects the money from Stonehill. He regrets the current state of Arkansas, which has not turned into the “Chicago of the Southwest” (161), which people once believed it would be, and laments his bad luck.