In Cold Blood
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Legge 1 Nathan Legge WRI 010 Reading Reflections In Cold Blood Part I 02/05/12 The town of Holcomb is described as a peaceful if bleak town where very little happens. It sounds like the opening to a Western novel until you realize that virtually all Midwestern towns carry the same description. I will not provide a synopsis here. Suffice it to say that the two murderers are rather well-characterized, which shows clearly that this is more a dramatization than a police report. Here, I shall merely list several points that stuck out to me during the reading. On pages twelve and thirteen continues from a description of Mr. Clutter’s farming practice. I can relate (especially when it describes the plane crash incident). Owning a home garden myself, I know what care it takes, how much is invested, and how heartbreaking it would be for beautiful peach trees to be so damaged. On page sixty-nine, Mrs. Clare hears of the murders and tells her mother, “When Homer died, I used up all the fear I had in me, and all the grief, too.” This is an interesting little digression into the psychology of grieving. People have different ways of coping with misfortune. Some are expressive, some freeze, some bottle their grief and call it irrational, but all suffer to an equal degree. Mrs. Clare, perhaps only passingly, believes the pilot that crashed into the peach trees to be the murderer. It is interesting to note what she says on page fifty-three. “All the neighbors are rattlesnakes. Varmints looking for a chance to slam the door in your face. It’s the same the whole world over.” This, after all that narration about a peaceful and quiet, close-knit and loving community with a welcome sign proclaiming it “A Friendly Place.” Perhaps Mrs. Clare is a rare case, but I believe this points to a lesser-known axiom “Disaster brings out the worst in us.” The one major problem I have with this story is that it is not fiction. Books and lectures on literary theory have prepared me for dissecting fiction archetypes and story elements. But to judge nonfiction is to judge real events by the standards of fiction writing. This, to me, seems the wrong thing to do. This all revolves around a rather complex question; If “In Cold Blood” is based on factual details (at least as factual as after-the-fact investigation can produce) how is it that Capote can play up the elements found in fiction? Are there no archetypes typically found in fiction novels? For instance; the “Hero” (Bobby Rupp?), the “Princess” (Nancy Clutter?). Perry is not “The Monster”; he is a monster. I know I am searching too hard for these elements, but I see no other way of applying literary theory to nonfiction. Although this is nonfiction, it is one of the first of its kind. I cannot help but feel that— either deliberately or not—Capote might have added or exaggerated certain details to make Legge 2 the story seem more interesting or meaningful. Just how realistic was Capote aiming to be, here? We may never know. Part II 02/06/12 Part Two is almost entirely concerned with the actions of the two criminals after their crime. Their robbery of the Kansas City business district; their escape into Mexico; the faster- than-expected loss of money, and lack of “entrepreneur” success fishing and treasure hunting; and their desperate retreat into California where the chapter ends. There were several things I made not of in Part Two. The first was wondered by a man tasked with removing the “evidence of crime” from the Clutter house. “How was it possible that such effort, such plain virtue, could overnight be reduced to this—smoke rising as it rose and was received by the big, annihilating sky?” (Capote 79). A declaration of the irony of life and twists of fate. “Another reason . was that this hitherto peaceful congregation of neighbors and old friends had suddenly to endure the unique experience of distrusting each other . .” (Capote 88). Has reality finally descended on these happy people, or am I just being cynical? On a literary not, what appears to be the Hero (Al Dewey) and his trusted companions (Nye, Church, and Duntz) set out to capture the criminals; to “slay the monster” (Capote 80). We see this in many Overcoming the Monster plots; the faithful knight gathering his trusted men to slay the dragon. An in-depth character study of Perry begins on page 110, kicked off by his memories of the murder haunting him. Perry carries nothing with him but emotional baggage—physically. His father’s biography of him begins on page 125. Very enlightening (Capote 125). This “emotional baggage” was first introduced on page 14: “. All his worldly belongings: one cardboard suitcase, a guitar, and two big boxes of books and maps and songs, poems and old letters, weighing a quarter of a ton.” This suggests the failure of the two criminals to be “complete” Selves, as Booker would say. How has the Ego taken over? Is either of them too masculine or too feminine? I shall pay close attention to Willie-Jay’s “Impressions I Garnered from the Letter.” What does this man represent? The voice of the author explaining things for the audience, or the voice of reason; guiding Perry towards the Self—but missing the chance to complete the task? This analysis explains undercurrents of Perry’s isolationism, mistrust, and egocentrism (Capote 143). Virtually no progress is made with regards to Dewey and his investigators. During this chapter, it slowly becomes apparent that Al Dewey is not the Hero Figure at all—which means that this cannot be an Overcoming the Monster plot. Almost all characterization seems to be centered on Perry. All of the other characters receive perhaps a page of description. So far, Perry seems to be the protagonist and Hero. In this case, Perry would be what in literary theory is known as an “Antihero.” Legge 3 Part III 02/07/12 Finally, the momentum of the investigation shoots through the roof. A former cellmate of Dick’s named Floyd Wells is introduced on page 159. He presents the fateful lead that ultimately brings the two criminals to their doom. Things move very quickly from then on. The KBI learns everything they can about Dick, including the person he has most befriended; Perry. On page 167, the tragedy of Dick is not revealed. His family blames Perry for his corruption. This struck me as odd. Throughout the book, there are hints that Dick is manipulating Perry to his own will. Not to mention how Dick had not met Perry until both of them were in prison. On page 185 Perry’s sister Barbara Johnson recounts how Perry once drunkenly bore his sole. A very interesting revelation, perhaps closing the book on the tragedy of Perry (who by now is undoubtedly the “Hero” of the story). On page 207, Perry is shown to take pity on the hitchhikers, while Dick is reluctant. Could this small detail be foreshadowing the pillows and mattress box placed under their victims? Could it be that the boy and his grandfather mirror Perry’s younger life with his own father? Not that Dick lacks emotional problems of his own. “Envy was constantly with [Dick]; the Enemy was anyone who was someone he wanted to be or who had anything he wanted to have” (Capote 200). The next page features the first mention of Dick’s pedophilia (another something that later shocks his parents). On page 214, Dick prepares to abandon Perry in Las Vegas. Unfortunately for him, he is arrested on grounds of theft and parole violation. While being interrogated by two KBI agents, Dick is struck with the revelation that he is known to be one of the perpetrators of the Clutter slaughter (Capote 223). Knowing that Dick has betrayed him, Perry tells his side of the story (Capote 233). Al Dewey sits in the patrol car with Perry while heading to the courthouse jail. “. [H]e found it possible to look at the man beside him without anger—with, rather, a measure of sympathy— form Perry Smith’s life had been no bed of roses but pitiful, an ugly lonely progress toward one mirage and then another” (Capote 246). This is perhaps the first sign of pity shown for Perry and his past. This is also where I assume it snaps in the mind of the general audience that Perry is the Hero in a tragic story of his own life. The Clutter murders were the tragedy in the context of the story, but a second tragedy is revealed slowly out the book; the tragedy of Perry’s childhood, culminating in the education that his father denied to him. Part IV 02/07/12 Finally, the two criminals are tried in a Kansas court before a jury of their very unsympathetic peers. Feelings of hopelessness for the two hangs heavily in the air. Their lawyers (Fleming and Smith) aim for little more than a reduced sentence. A meek attempt that ends up utterly destroyed by the prosecution. During the trial, Perry’s father cannot be located in Alaska. Perry’s sister Barbara Johnson requested that her address be kept secret, as she claimed to be afraid of him. “When informed of this, Smith smiled lightly and said, ‘I wish [Barbara had] been in that house that Legge 4 night. What a sweet scene!’” (Capote 259). At this point, we realize how alone Perry was and is over the course of the book.