Walter Miller asserted that lower-class culture as a whole-not subcultures within lower class areas-is responsible for generating criminality in urban areas. He saw evidence that supported a distinctive lower-class cultural system characterized by a set of six focal concerns. We can apply Miller’s focal concerns theory to criminality in the rural Ozarks of Winter’s Bone. Characters in the film demonstrate trouble, toughness, smartness, excitement, fate, and autonomy. According to class discussion, match the following focal concerns with the characters that best represent each concern.
table[[trouble,],[LChoose ],],[Little Arthur],[Ree Dolly],[,Merab, Alice, and Tilly],[,Jessup Dolly],[Smartness,Teardrop Dolly],[,Sheriff Baskin]]
excitement
q,
fate
?
autonomy ?
Leave a Reply