Rooster Cogburn was a tremendous failure. He was mean spirited alcoholic. Cogburn spent the majority of his life on the wrong side of the law. Even when he was with the law, he acted in an evil manner.
The first time we hear about Cogburn he is described as, ”The meanest one (of the US marshals)”. The first night Mattie is with Cogburn he drinks whiskey. This novel makes clear the dangers of alcohol when Chaney shoot Mr. Ross in a drunken rage. Now, Cogburn drinks the same liquor that Chaney did. Rooster goes so far as to offer Mattie, a fourteen year old girl, a drink. Later in the novel Rooster drinks while riding in search of Tom Chaney. He manages to destroy a good deal of the groups rations by shooting them for sport. Also, Cogburn had lead a horribly unsuccessful marriage. His wife had to leave him after his illiteracy and alcoholism became to much for her.
Before Rooster became a US Marshall, he was a criminal. He fought for the South during the Civil War. Afterward, instead of taking a loyalty oath to the Union he and Potter robber a government paymaster at gun point. The made it out with $4,000 of government money. Soon after squandering the money he robbed a bank.
After becoming a man of the law, Cogburn was still a violently evil person. He killed twenty-three men in his time as a marshal. Cogburn also killed Dub Wharton, who was armed with only a small piece of metal. Rooster also shot Aaron Wharton from a good sixteen feet away when he was armed with only a small ax. These events are typical of the people Cogburn killed.
These aspects make up Rooster’s mean nature. He was a failure through his entire life. He couldn’t read or write. He was a heavy alcoholic and he was cruel. These are the traits of a failure.

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