"It was ideal apple-eating weather; the whitest sunlight descended from the purest sky, and an easterly wind rustled, without ripping loose, the last of the leaves on the Chinese elms. Autumns reward western Kansas for the evils that the remaining seasons impose: winter's rough Colorado winds and hip-high, sheep-slaughtering snows; the slushes and the strange land fogs of spring; and summer, when even crows seek the puny shade, and the tawny infinitude of wheatstalks bristle, blaze" (10-11).
One
of the best passages in the first half of the book, in my opinion. Find
your favorite sentence or passage. What do you like about it? What
makes it great?
In the quote provided above, Capote’s dazzling description of the Kansas plains in autumn juxtaposed with the bleak depiction of the conditions that the region exhibits during the other, less forgiving seasons unify to produce one of the most stunning passages in the novel. Though the author primarily strives to maintain an air of journalism when recounting the truth of the horrific events (and, in doing so, creates what could be described as a “nonfiction novel”), he often disperses poetic, almost lyrical details of the setting into the story, much of which reads as a newspaper article or an investigative report. The tactic of contrasting tone is one of Capote’s most appealing strategies in his attempt to craft a narrative from the ghastly real-life chronicle of the Clutter murders.
ReplyDeleteIdyllic descriptions aside, my favorite passage is found on p. 79. Several close friends of the murdered family have cleaned the Clutter household, deeming it their “Christian duty” to purge the home of the family’s blood stained belongings. After accumulating all reminders of the Clutter’s gruesome fate, the troupe transports the relics to an open field on the property of River Valley Farm. Dousing the assortment in kerosene, preparing to ignite the remnants of the victims’ pasts, Andy Erhart, Mr. Clutter’s closest confidante, reflects on the merits of the family and speculates about the repercussions of the atrocity that has befallen the Clutters- “But that life, and what [Mr. Clutter] had made of it- how could this happen, Erhart wondered as he watched the bonfire catch. How was it possible that such effort, such plain virtue, could overnight be reduced to this- smoke, thinning as it rose and was received by the big, annihilating sky?”
The beauty of this passage and the simplistic metaphor it contains is found in its succinct and accurate reflection of the human attitude toward death. The Clutters were prominent citizens in Holcomb: Mr. Clutter was a successful and philanthropic farmer. Nancy Clutter was class president and future prom queen. With such esteem, it seems unnatural, even preposterous, that something as commonplace as death should have the power to desecrate the upstanding reputation that the family has built for itself. This ideal is neatly summarized in Andy’s thoughts. Furthermore, the symbolism of smoke as the Clutter family’s legacy is a clever rhetorical device employed by the author. Even the largest, most impactful fire is eventually reduced to smoke, much like the influential lives of the family. Lastly, the use of the word “annihilating” to describe the expansive sky adds an unexpectedly foreboding aspect to the passage, implying that the Clutters’ memory will dissipate just as surely as the smoke is obliterated by the sky.
“After rain, or when snowfalls thaw, the streets, unnamed, unshaded, unpaved, turn from the thickest dust into the direst mud. At one end of the town stands a stark old stucco structure, the roof of which supports an electric sign – Dance – but the dancing has ceased and the advertisement has been dark for several years. Nearby is another building with an irrelevant sign, this one is flaking fold on a dirty window – Holcomb Bank. The bank closed in 1933 and its former counting rooms have been converted into apartments” (1-2).
ReplyDeleteThere are many reasons that this passage struck me as I was choosing among my favorite passages in the book. Capote employs a complex style and uses many subordinate clauses in his prose. This technique creates a unique cadence, but the cadence of this passage stood out among the rest. He uses three past participles, “unnamed, unshaded, unpaved, to describe the streets of Holcomb. This clever device shows us that Holcomb is a small town that has not caught up with some modern conveniences such as paved roads without coming out and saying it blatantly. Capote subtly gives up some other interesting details about Holcomb, Kansas in this passage. He tells us that the Holcomb Bank closed in 1933, the peak of the Great Depression. He also tells us that there is a vacant dance hall in Holcomb. Presumably, the dance hall was a popular establishment in the 1920’s that went out of business during the Depression. These two details show the reader that Holcomb was hit hard by the Depression and is still recovering from its implications. The way that Capote delicately gives us detail makes this passage one of my favorites in the book. Another aspect of this passage that I thought was interesting was the foreshadowing at the beginning of the passage. He tells us that the streets of Holcomb turned from “the thickest dust into the direst mud” after it rains. The roads can be interpreted as a symbol for the Holcomb community, while the rain symbolizes tragedy for the community, such as the Clutter murders. The rain turns the roads into the “direst mud,” just like the Clutter murders turned the community into a disarray of fear and confusion. He uses the word “direst” to describe the mud, which is interesting because usually that word is used to describe a dire situation. By describing the situation of the roads after rain, he foreshadows the “dire” atmosphere of Holcomb after the Clutter tragedy.
Favorite passages are chosen for different reasons. The one above was most likely chosen for the style, the image it creates, or the lyrical value. Its picturesque style is not the often shown in this novel. The quote creates an immediate image in your mind. It gives a lasting impression of what the scenery would look like, would even feel like. My favorite, although just a single sentence is just as equally lovely, and perhaps is more about the deeper meaning than the passage above. “Imagination, of course, can open any door—turn the key and let terror walk right in.” (88)
ReplyDeleteI like it for several reasons. Although it takes more to conjure an image, it still creates one, just as the above does. The image created is not concrete, but rather abstract. Unlike the above, it won’t create the same picture for each person, but rather an individual one, perhaps even a different one at different times in the day. How does one picture imagination turning the key, opening the door, and allowing terror to walk? Everyone would picture it different. Everyone’s imagination and terror are different.
I also like how Capote fits the line into the story. A main problem occurring in the story is how the rest of the town becomes extremely nervous after the murder. The lights in every house are left on every night, the kids worry their family is next, and some even choose to move closer into town. They believe the murderer lives in town and is amongst them. This line accurately and succinctly sums this up. Capote easily blames their imaginations running wild for all the talk and lights left on all night. The following line describes the upmost confusion experienced by some hunters from out of town. They were described as “startled,” wondering “Of what were they frightened?” Easily answered by this line, simply what their imaginations were playing out.
Without the book, the line still makes sense, still proves a point. When one allows the imagination to take reign, one is allowing all terror in. Emphasis on the word “allow” should be made, as with some resistance terror isn’t allowed in. The characters in this story are given the choice to trust those they know, instead of pointing fingers at their neighbors, yet choose to allow their imaginations to run freely. Lastly, I find it great because it is simple and true. It is in no way over done, flowery, or presenting anything with false pretentions—the best type of writing.
"They went first to the furnace room in the basement, where the pajama-clad Mr. Clutter had been found sprawled atop the cardboard mattress box. Finishing there, they moved on to the playroom in which Kenyon had been shot to death. The couch, a relic that Kenyon had rescued and mended and that Nancy had slip-covered and piled with mottoed pillows, was a blood-splashed ruin; like the mattress box, it would have to be burned. Gradually, as the cleaning party progressed from the basement to the second-floor bedrooms where Nancy and her mother had been murdered in their beds, they acquired additional fuel for the fire--blood-soiled bedclothes, mattresses, a bedside rug, a Teddy-bear doll." p.78
ReplyDeleteFirst, let me oust any speculation that I am a twisted individual that only enjoys passages of this nature. Ms. Stone's passage was my favorite, but I also like the way this selection was written by Capote. As he describes the way in which the cleaning party moves through the house, he does not focus on the actual cleaning aspect of it. Instead, Capote reveals the way in which they found the victims and their belongings in a way that provokes pathos from the reader. By saying that Mr. Clutter was "pajama-clad", a greater degree of defenselessness is felt. The poor old man was comfortable in his likely favorite pajamas probably having sweet dreams of the rolling Kansas plains when he was rudely awakened by the murderers. Next, instead of just stating that the couch was "blood-splashed", Capote also adds history of how the couch was refurbished by Kenyon, and adorned by Nancy. The reader feels much sympathy after this sentence because of the inclusion of this sweet little past act the two siblings carried out together before they were brutally annihilated by the two men. Lastly, Capote adds at the very end of this passage that the party discovers a blood-soiled teddy-bear doll. A teddy-bear doll! Blood-soiled! The sweetest of all animals for a child to cuddle with soiled with the innocent blood of its former owner. If that does not kindle hatred for the killers and great sympathy for the victims, I have no earthly clue what is.
Powerful ending there, Sherman.
Deletelove that last line
DeleteThe passage above, found in the first pages of this astonishing novel, eloquently displays to the reader the unique writing style of Capote that will be present throughout the book by the captivating depiction of a simple Autumn day in Kansas strung together by thoughtful rhetorical devices, alliteration, beautiful cadence, varied syntax, and enthralling imagery. This exceptional and distinctive Capoteian writing style is a major component in what makes In Cold Blood the masterpiece it is, and what I personally felt most compelling about it.
ReplyDeleteThough there were an innumerable amount of passages within the text that caused me to halt my reading and circle, there was one in particular that I found especially salient: "It was midday deep in the Mojave desert. Perry, sitting on a straw suitcase, was playing a harmonica. Dick was standing at the side of a black-surfaced highway, Route 66, his eyes fixed upon the immaculate emptiness as though the fervor of his gaze could force motorists to materialize" (154). This passage occurs shortly after Dick and Perry left Mexico to return to United States and are awaiting the ideal car and person to come along that they can take advantage of. The rhythm and feel of the passage evokes feelings of desolateness and ennui with no place to go by the depictions of the scene such as the straw suitcase, harmonica, and black-surfaced highway that seemingly continues forever based on the syntax and diction in the text. The nominative absolute utilized in describing Dick's actions, separated by the mention of the road name Route 66, provides the syntax with interesting variety as well as a more prominent sense of his intense, focused gaze. Perry's playing of the harmonica is juxtaposed with Dick's silence, highlighting once again the kind of people they are and using examples to portray how they differentiate. Undoubtedly my favorite part of this passage, however, is the lovely and captivating cadence within the passage with similar assonance and alliteration such as in "immaculate emptiness," "fervor...could force," and, the most striking one, "motorists to materialize." The alliteration parallels the redundancy of their lives at this particular time and underscores the dearth of activity and human life, the intensity of Dick's gaze, and the strong desire for a driver to come along, as iterated with the comment about motorists, in turn causing the reader to feel the monotony of the desert and endlessness of the road stretch before them. Truly an immaculate passage.
“But the confessions, though they answered questions of how and why, failed to satisfy his sense of meaningful design. The crime was a psychological accident, virtually an impersonal act; the victims might as well have been killed by lightning. Except for one thing: they had experienced prolonged terror, they had suffered. And Dewey could not forget their sufferings. Nonetheless, he found it possible to look at the man beside him without anger – with, rather, a measure of sympathy – for Perry Smith’s life had been no bed of roses but pitiful, an ugly and lonely progress toward one mirage and then another. Dewey’s sympathy, however, was not deep enough to accommodate either forgiveness or mercy. He hoped to see Perry and his partner hanged - hanged back to back. Duntz asks Smith, “Added up, how much money did you get from the Clutters?” “Between forty and fifty dollars” (245-246).
ReplyDeleteI chose this passage because it, in a way, shows how conflicted one could feel about the murder and it’s trial while reading the novel. Although killing the Clutters was a completely cold and senseless act, Capote has a way of drawing sympathy from the reader for their murders, Dick and Perry. Although they committed this terrible act, through their stories you start to feel like you really know them. Dewey himself feels sympathy towards them, although he expresses the all-important point that it is not enough. The amount of sympathy it would take for most people to forgive this senseless slaughter is more than likely nonexistent.
In the passage, I really like the sentence dealing with the “psychological accident” and “lightning”. It brings up such a good point, for Perry killed Mr. Clutter and then didn’t realize he had until afterwards. It was done subconsciously, as he stated he didn’t really want to kill the man. However, after learning of his psychological problems, we see how he felt so little feeling in doing so. By comparing it to lightning it proves an excellent point. So many things had to fall into place, such as Perry not getting cold feet or the door being unlocked. It was almost a freak thing that everything did, and it was also extremely impersonal, as is lightning.
Then, though, Dewey provides the main difference. It hadn’t been lightning that killed the family. Death by lightning would have been extremely quick, yet the Clutters had to suffer and feel terror. Mr. Clutter, first, had to experience having his throat slit, which caused pain and suffering for the length it took them to shoot him out of his misery. Kenyon, next, had to hear the entire debacle that had taken place with his father, and then know he was about to face his own death, along with the rest of his family. Nancy knew they had both been shot, and that she would likely be next. She attempted to plead her way out of it, yet the killers would not concede. Mrs. Clutter, finally, had arguably the worst experience, yet that is hard to decide. She had just heard her entire family be slaughtered, and knew her impending doom was then soon to come. All of the family members, though, faced the trauma that they could not help the others, for they were gagged and tied.
I feel that what makes this passage is not its beauty or structure, but instead its revealing nature. It reveals facts that are hard to accept, such as the torture, and also things that most everyone was probably feeling yet could not admit. Dewey’s confession that he, nonetheless, still wanted them to be hanged also served as a sentiment the reader may feel in dealing with the development of the novel. I think, though, the most profound thing, in relation to the novel, that this passage has to offer is the price placed on the Clutters’ lives. The criminals had hoped to find ten thousand dollars at least, but instead they got away with merely forty dollars. Then, Perry’s irrational slaughter led to the deaths of the other family members, not because they had stolen a lot of money, but simply because they then couldn’t leave with witnesses.
My favorite passages usually are rife with imagery and positive emotions. Unfortunately my favorite passage of the book is discussed in another question therefore I will discuss the one you have provided above because it too is beautiful.
ReplyDelete"It was ideal apple-eating weather; the whitest sunlight descended from the purest sky, and an easterly wind rustled, without ripping loose, the last of the leaves on the Chinese elms. Autumns reward western Kansas for the evils that the remaining seasons impose: winter's rough Colorado winds and hip-high, sheep-slaughtering snows; the slushes and the strange land fogs of spring; and summer, when even crows seek the puny shade, and the tawny infinitude of wheatstalks bristle, blaze" (10-11).
The stellar imagery of this passage is unlike any other writing in the book. The carefree style of this passage within such a dark and sinister book allows the reader to step back and take a breath. As Capote transfers through each season seamlessly we see the sequence of seasons as if we are watching a movie autumn fades to winter, winter to spring, and spring to summer. Not only are we provided with crisp diction like rustled and sheep-slaghtering but also with wonderful cadence flowing with each season. When Capote describes winter his words are descriptive to the eye and to the ear. The sharp sounding words which mimic the sometime brutal winter like rough and again sheep-slaughtering are yet another way he describes the seasons while appealing to all the senses.
A deeper meaning perhaps from this passage is to be unwrapped. Almost in its entirety this book is menacing and rarely are we graced with a passage as beautiful as this. This passage is like a salvation; it shows there can be beauty in the midst of disaster. Hope floods the mind when reading a passage as dazzling as this and hope amidst all the darkness of the book does make this passage shine the brightest.
"Just gossip and talk - everything Nancy despised. Anyway, I don't much care who did it. Somehow it seems beside the point. My friend is gone. Knowing who killed her isn't going to bring her back. What else matters?" (95)
ReplyDeleteAs told by Susan Kidwell, Nancy’s best friend, this passage proved to be one of the most memorable and powerful pieces in the book for me. It is chilling to think that even attempting to bring the criminals to justice is not enough. Nothing can repair the damage that has been done. Finding the truth may ease sadness of this tragedy, but what’s done is done; “nothing” can bring them back.
It is interesting to think about how we deal with tragedy/atrocities. From the holocaust to 9/11, it is in our human nature to avenge and seek justice, which is completely normal, but how the extended Clutter family chose to deal with this situation by asking everyone to “forgive” the killers, I found absolutely remarkable. I don’t think I could do that. Personally, I think the Clutter family left the justice up to God’s judgment.
P. 291: “…Joe always liked me. Do you, Don?” “Yes. I like you.” Cullivan’s softly emphatic answer pleased and rather flustered Perry. He smiled and said, “Then you must be some kind of nut.” Suddenly rising, he crossed the cell and picked up a broom. “I don’t know why I should die among strangers. Let a bunch of prairiebillys stand around and watch me strangle. Shit. I ought to kill myself first.” He lifted the broom and pressed the bristles against the light bulb that burned in the ceiling. “Just unscrew the bulb and smash it and cut my wrists. That’s what I ought to do. While you’re still here. Somebody who cares about me a little bit.
ReplyDeleteThis passage stuck with me for a number of reasons, the most obvious being the profound and passionate meaning behind the words. This quote is of a man without any sense of hope left, a man that has lost absolutely everything – even the right to die on his own terms. Perry has been stripped of his free will for a crime that even he understands to be horrendously gruesome. Here, however, we see Perry standing up for his fate, challenging the sentence he knows is soon to be handed down. It can be argued that Perry seems almost honorable to want to die by his own means instead of by the wishes of a “bunch of prairiebillys” while at the same time honorable for resisting the urge to end his own life, an act that is considered, by many, to be worse than any crime. Capote also utilizes this passage to set Perry up, once again, as the victim. Perry is constantly being portrayed in the light of a martyr, the innocence, the prey, even though in reality it was he who was the cold blood killer with psychiatric tendencies and history of crime and violence. Theories claim that Capote was romantically infatuated with the killer while others debate that the author is trying to force the reader to think against the preconceived notions we are programmed with by the moral codes of the society in which we live. We are raised to view killers as two dimensional nut cases with nothing to offer the world; this is one reason why it is so easy for so many to justify the death penalty. However, Capote challenges the reader to see Perry as a human being, as someone yearning for the love and care of others, as seen in the passage above. This is an interesting concept that readers have, for the most part, shied away from; feeling sympathy or understanding for someone so vicious feels dirty and inappropriate in the reader’s mind and it is because of this feeling that this novel is truly a work of great literature.
“The river lay in this direction; near its bank stood a grove of fruit trees-peach, pear, cherry, and apple. Fifty years ago according to native memory, it would have taken a lumberjack ten minutes to axe all the trees in western Kansas. Even today only cottonwoods and Chinese elms-perennials with cactus like indifference to thirst- are commonly planted. However, as Mr. Clutter often remarked,’an inch more of rain and this country would be paradise-Eden on earth’. The little collection of fruit bearers growing by the river was his attempt to contrive, rain or no, a patch of paradise, the green, apple- scented Eden, he envisioned. His wife once said, ‘my husband cares more for those trees than he does for his children,’” –p.12-13
ReplyDeleteI love this passage. It shows the connection that a man can feel to his land, a connection that seems to be dying out in America today. It is beautiful how much pride Mr. Clutter takes in a piece of land that isn’t necessarily desirable, but it’s his. He takes pride in the few fruit trees that grow there. After the passage I have chosen it goes on to describe a plane crash that destroyed a few trees. Mr. Clutter becomes so angry he had a lawsuit against the pilot. I just think Capote does a great job of showing the bond, one that will soon be broken.
"Just gossip and talk - everything Nancy despised. Anyway, I don't much care who did it. Somehow it seems beside the point. My friend is gone. Knowing who killed her isn't going to bring her back. What else matters?"
ReplyDeleteThe first instinct when learning of a death is to mourn and then to seek revenge by punishing the killer. Yet, the ironic thing is that no matter how much the killer is punished, there is no bringing back the dead. I agree with JT, the fact that the Clutter family chose to forgive the attackers is remarkable.
“I didn’t want to harm the man. I thought he was a very nice gentleman. Soft-spoken. I thought so right up to the moment I cut his throat.” Pg. 244
ReplyDeletePerry says this right before he kills Mr. Clutter. I thought that this passage was very strange and further enforces the fact that Dick and Perry were not completely sane. No sane person would be able to describe some the way Perry did and then bluntly say that he cut his throat. This quote is like something a psychotic killer would say in a horror movie. The calm description of Mr. Clutter being "nice" and "soft-spoken" is juxtaposed with the very violent statement that he cut his throat. This juxtaposition has a strong effect on the reader because when Perry says he cut his throat, the reader is almost shocked because of the description made immediately prior.
I think each line from In Cold Blood is wonderful. It tells you in detail about what happened and the personality of the characters. One of my favorite lines are “He was an innocent as a little child, some kid with a Cracker Jack.” This is how Dick described Andrew. If someone had read this without context from the novel, they would have thought of a sweet natured and optimistic person. Andrew on the other hand seemed to be the exact opposite. He murdered his family without remorse and look down on everything about life. Instead, he lives through books which isn’t bad in itself with a healthy dose of reality but that’s all he took from “life”. He never experiences anything. This is why Dick calls him childlike because he associates adulthood with experience. In some ways, I agree with Dick on this observation. Andrew didn’t experience anything but I wouldn’t go as far as calling him innocent. He is eighteen and should know that killing people let alone your family is wrong. I suppose Dick didn’t notice it because he himself is very screwed up in the head. He even seemed to admire Andrew because of his lack of emotions. Andrew is a classic case of a psychopath which is what Dick first noticed in Perry. Is this a pattern I see? Dick didn’t have the guts to kill the Clutter family so maybe his admiration was a desire to become like them. Andrew had no hindrance. He simply did what he wanted with no fear.
ReplyDeleteI love Jenni Rivera
ReplyDelete