“Institutional dourness and cheerful domesticity
coexist on the fourth floor of the Finney County Courthouse.” (Capote, Page
251)
I love Capote’s
use of diction here. This is the first sentence in the final section, and I appreciate
that the author jumped right into a description of the place Dick and Perry are
sent. The last thing the readers remember is our murderers being escorted
through a crowd of enraged citizens, and the killers’ overwhelmed looks of fear
and defeat as they’re taken to their final home.
But the
great thing about this quote is the great contrast between the cells, and the
home of the assistant sheriff and his wife. The rest of the prison cells may be
lonely, boring, and dreary, but the apartment attached to the “ladies’ cell”
seems perfectly normal. The Meiers seem perfectly content to live there, and
Josephine has made a nice home out of what most would consider a terribly
depressing place to live. She obviously isn’t allowing herself to be negatively
affected by the criminals with whom she must constantly share the space. She’s never mean or sour to them, and she
becomes good friends with Perry, whom she is sad to see leave. This contrast
shows two kinds of people: those who work hard and follow the rules, and those
who cheat, lie, and ultimately murder.
“Although the eyes of the nation were not
upon them…” (Capote, Page 272)
Here, the author
uses personification to portray the country as one unified being. When he says “the
eyes”, he means the way the people get their information, in this case, the
press or media. The rest of the sentence goes on to say that though they aren’t
being viewed by a large audience, the participants in the trial look and dress
well. They want to present themselves in a positive light despite the lack of
cameras and reporters.
The fact
that the author chose to generalize the entire nation as one person, is
actually a powerful theme in this novel. Most citizens didn’t follow the trial
and sentencing detail by detail, like the readers of this book had to. Very few
ordinary citizens paid attention to the actual case. Capote wrote this book to
inform the public of what had transpired on the night of the Clutter murders. And
obviously, there was interest in finding out the mystery of the quadruple homicide
in Holcomb, Kansas. At the auction, most people came simply out of curiosity.
I think this
use of personification was added in to show how much of the nation was
intrigued by the murderers, and curious to find out how two seemingly normal
men could commit a crime so horrifying.
“wild goose, aspic salad, hot biscuits, cold milk,
freshly baked cherry tarts, cheese, and coffee—seemed to concern him more than
the outcome of the trial…” (Capote, Page 289)
I find this
part extremely ironic. Perry is sitting on Death Row, and he’s more concerned
with a dinner than with the decision that could save his life. Now he says that
this is because he is sure that the outcome of the trial is a lost cause, and
there’s no way that the jury will vote in his favor. But you would think he
would still hope. Where’s the bird now, to change the jury’s mind? He thinks it’s
more likely that he’ll be happy by committing suicide, than the jury declaring
him an innocent, free man. In all fairness, he was right, and he was sentenced
to death, but you would think that, like Dick, he would be desperately trying
to save his own life. Instead, he worries about a feast.
This use of
irony made me question whether I really know this character at all. He felt no
remorse for the Clutter family, so I thought that he’d be more hopeful with
regards to the outcome of the trial, as opposed to someone who does feel
remorse and wants to face the consequences.
At this
point in time, food is the last thing Perry should be worried about. And the
irony of his situation makes us feel bad for him.
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