True Grit

by

Charles Portis

Frank Ross (Mattie’s Father) Character Analysis

Mattie’s father, and a veteran of the Civil War. Traveling from Little Rock to Fort Smith to buy a group of ponies from Stonehill, Frank Ross stays with Tom Chaney—his employee who accompanied him—at a local boarding house, where Chaney eventually murders him because Frank tries to stop him from chasing down a group of men who bested him while gambling. This is the event that sets the plot of True Grit into motion, as Mattie vows to avenge Frank’s death.

Frank Ross (Mattie’s Father) Quotes in True Grit

The True Grit quotes below are all either spoken by Frank Ross (Mattie’s Father) or refer to Frank Ross (Mattie’s Father). For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Revenge Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1  Quotes

People do not give it credence that a fourteen-year-old girl could leave home and go off in the wintertime to avenge her father’s blood but it did not seem so strange then, although I will say it did not happen every day.

Related Characters: Mattie Ross (speaker), Tom Chaney (Theron Chelmsford), Frank Ross (Mattie’s Father)
Related Symbols: Frank Ross’s Gold Pieces
Page Number: 11
Explanation and Analysis:

Tom Chaney raised his rifle and shot him in the fore­head, killing him instantly. There was no more provocation than that and I tell it as it was told to me by the high sheriff of Sebastian County. Some people might say, well, what business was it of Frank Ross to meddle? My answer is this: he was trying to do that short devil a good turn. Chaney was a tenant and Papa felt responsibility. He was his brother’s keeper. Does that answer your question?

Related Characters: Mattie Ross (speaker), Tom Chaney (Theron Chelmsford), Frank Ross (Mattie’s Father), The Sheriff
Page Number: 16
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 2  Quotes

We went to the man’s office and I signed some coroners papers. The charge for the coffin and the embalming was something over sixty dollars. The shipping charge to Dardanelle was $9.50.

Yarnell took me outside the office. He said, “Miss Mattie, that man trying to stick you.”

I said, “Well, we will not haggle with him.”

He said, “That is what he counting on.”

I said, “We will let it go.”

Related Characters: Mattie Ross (speaker), Yarnell Poindexter (speaker), Frank Ross (Mattie’s Father), The Undertaker
Page Number: 24
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3 Quotes

“I cannot make an agreement with a child. You are not accountable. You cannot be bound to a contract.”

“Lawyer Daggett will back up any decision I make. You may rest easy on that score. You can confirm any agreement by telegraph.”

“This is a damned nuisance!" he exclaimed. “How am I to get my work done? I have a sale tomorrow.”

“There can be no settlement after I leave this office,” said I. “It will go to law.”

He worried with his eyeglasses for a minute and then said, “I will pay two hundred dollars to your father’s estate when I have in my hand a letter from your lawyer absolving me of all liability from the beginning of the world to date. It must be signed by your lawyer and your mother and it must be notarized.

Related Characters: Mattie Ross (speaker), Stonehill (speaker), Frank Ross (Mattie’s Father), Lawyer Daggett, Mattie’s Mother
Page Number: 36
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 4 Quotes

“I want Chaney to pay for killing my father and not some Texas bird dog.”

“It will not be for the dog, it will be for the senator, and your father too. He will be just as dead that way, you see, and pay for all his crimes at once.”

Related Characters: Mattie Ross (speaker), LaBoeuf (speaker), Rooster Cogburn, Tom Chaney (Theron Chelmsford), Frank Ross (Mattie’s Father), Stonehill
Page Number: 73
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7 Quotes

I said, “If you refuse to go I will have to shoot you.”

He went on with his work and said, “Oh? Then you had better cock your piece.”

I had forgotten about that. I pulled the hammer back with both thumbs.

“All the way back till it locks,” said Chaney.

“I know how to do it,” said I. When it was ready I said, “You will not go with me?”

“I think not,” said he. “It is just the other way around. You are going with me.”

I pointed the revolver at his belly and shot him down. The explosion kicked me backwards and caused me to lose my footing and the pistol jumped from my hand.

Related Characters: Mattie Ross (speaker), Tom Chaney (Theron Chelmsford) (speaker), Frank Ross (Mattie’s Father)
Page Number: 179
Explanation and Analysis:

The bandit chieftain made no reply. He brushed the snow and dirt from my face and said, “Your life depends upon their actions. I have never busted a cap on a woman or anybody much under sixteen years but I will do what I have to do.”

I said, “There is some mix-up here. I am Mattie Ross of near Dardanelle, Arkansas. My family has property and I don’t know why I am being treated like this.”

Lucky Ned Pepper said, “It is enough that you know I will do what I have to do.”

Related Characters: Mattie Ross (speaker), Lucky Ned Pepper (speaker), Rooster Cogburn, LaBoeuf, Tom Chaney (Theron Chelmsford), Frank Ross (Mattie’s Father)
Page Number: 183
Explanation and Analysis:
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Frank Ross (Mattie’s Father) Quotes in True Grit

The True Grit quotes below are all either spoken by Frank Ross (Mattie’s Father) or refer to Frank Ross (Mattie’s Father). For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Revenge Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1  Quotes

People do not give it credence that a fourteen-year-old girl could leave home and go off in the wintertime to avenge her father’s blood but it did not seem so strange then, although I will say it did not happen every day.

Related Characters: Mattie Ross (speaker), Tom Chaney (Theron Chelmsford), Frank Ross (Mattie’s Father)
Related Symbols: Frank Ross’s Gold Pieces
Page Number: 11
Explanation and Analysis:

Tom Chaney raised his rifle and shot him in the fore­head, killing him instantly. There was no more provocation than that and I tell it as it was told to me by the high sheriff of Sebastian County. Some people might say, well, what business was it of Frank Ross to meddle? My answer is this: he was trying to do that short devil a good turn. Chaney was a tenant and Papa felt responsibility. He was his brother’s keeper. Does that answer your question?

Related Characters: Mattie Ross (speaker), Tom Chaney (Theron Chelmsford), Frank Ross (Mattie’s Father), The Sheriff
Page Number: 16
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 2  Quotes

We went to the man’s office and I signed some coroners papers. The charge for the coffin and the embalming was something over sixty dollars. The shipping charge to Dardanelle was $9.50.

Yarnell took me outside the office. He said, “Miss Mattie, that man trying to stick you.”

I said, “Well, we will not haggle with him.”

He said, “That is what he counting on.”

I said, “We will let it go.”

Related Characters: Mattie Ross (speaker), Yarnell Poindexter (speaker), Frank Ross (Mattie’s Father), The Undertaker
Page Number: 24
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3 Quotes

“I cannot make an agreement with a child. You are not accountable. You cannot be bound to a contract.”

“Lawyer Daggett will back up any decision I make. You may rest easy on that score. You can confirm any agreement by telegraph.”

“This is a damned nuisance!" he exclaimed. “How am I to get my work done? I have a sale tomorrow.”

“There can be no settlement after I leave this office,” said I. “It will go to law.”

He worried with his eyeglasses for a minute and then said, “I will pay two hundred dollars to your father’s estate when I have in my hand a letter from your lawyer absolving me of all liability from the beginning of the world to date. It must be signed by your lawyer and your mother and it must be notarized.

Related Characters: Mattie Ross (speaker), Stonehill (speaker), Frank Ross (Mattie’s Father), Lawyer Daggett, Mattie’s Mother
Page Number: 36
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 4 Quotes

“I want Chaney to pay for killing my father and not some Texas bird dog.”

“It will not be for the dog, it will be for the senator, and your father too. He will be just as dead that way, you see, and pay for all his crimes at once.”

Related Characters: Mattie Ross (speaker), LaBoeuf (speaker), Rooster Cogburn, Tom Chaney (Theron Chelmsford), Frank Ross (Mattie’s Father), Stonehill
Page Number: 73
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7 Quotes

I said, “If you refuse to go I will have to shoot you.”

He went on with his work and said, “Oh? Then you had better cock your piece.”

I had forgotten about that. I pulled the hammer back with both thumbs.

“All the way back till it locks,” said Chaney.

“I know how to do it,” said I. When it was ready I said, “You will not go with me?”

“I think not,” said he. “It is just the other way around. You are going with me.”

I pointed the revolver at his belly and shot him down. The explosion kicked me backwards and caused me to lose my footing and the pistol jumped from my hand.

Related Characters: Mattie Ross (speaker), Tom Chaney (Theron Chelmsford) (speaker), Frank Ross (Mattie’s Father)
Page Number: 179
Explanation and Analysis:

The bandit chieftain made no reply. He brushed the snow and dirt from my face and said, “Your life depends upon their actions. I have never busted a cap on a woman or anybody much under sixteen years but I will do what I have to do.”

I said, “There is some mix-up here. I am Mattie Ross of near Dardanelle, Arkansas. My family has property and I don’t know why I am being treated like this.”

Lucky Ned Pepper said, “It is enough that you know I will do what I have to do.”

Related Characters: Mattie Ross (speaker), Lucky Ned Pepper (speaker), Rooster Cogburn, LaBoeuf, Tom Chaney (Theron Chelmsford), Frank Ross (Mattie’s Father)
Page Number: 183
Explanation and Analysis: