How Does The Direct Characterization Of Perry Capote

Through diction, Capote strategically chooses his words to add normality to the characterization of Perry. As he walks out of a café, Perry looks like he is “...strutting on stunted legs that seemed grotesquely inadequate to the grown-up bulk they supported… like a retired jockey, overblown and muscle-bound” (Capote 15). Even when doing everyday tasks such as walking, Perry appears unexpectedly, unlike a typical criminal. The negative connotation of the words grotesquely inadequate, overblown, and muscle-bound aid the reader to grasp a depiction of the uniqueness of the character. Additionally, when Mrs. Hickock, Dick’s mother, meets Perry for the first time, she confirms that his looks do not necessarily match up to the crimes he commits.

While comparing the town of Holcomb before the tragedy and afterward, Capote switches his tone to relay the extreme effects of the murders of four human beings. The killings have affected the town in such a way that “the townspeople, theretofore sufficiently unfearful of each other to seldom trouble to lock their doors, found fantasy re-creating them over and again—those somber explosions that stimulated fires of mistrust…” (Capote 5). By using a morbid tone, readers comprehend that this is the first disaster that has happened in the innocent town of Holcomb and therefore, the people have no other choice but to confine all trust in anyone. Capote continues to change his tone when he depicts the effects of the murderous actions on the community of Holcomb. When Andy Erhart, a close friend of Herb Clutter, finds out about the loss of his beloved companion, he describes Mr. Clutter as having achieved the American Dream. Erhart contemplates to himself “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?” (Capote 79). The purposeful solemn tone in addition to Erhart questioning how such a thing to a highly successful man one can do, the theme of the lost American Dream comes about. The strategic changes in Capote’s tone allow for

Within the first few pages, it is clear that most of the novel switches between the Clutter family and the murderers: Perry and Dick. For example, there is one paragraph where a neighbor tells Mr. Clutter, “‘I can’t imagine you afraid,’” and the paragraph directly beneath that, Perry and Dick are on their way to murder him and his family. (Capote 36). This kind of structure, where the reader sees different perspectives, creates sympathy for the characters because it is known what is soon to happen. The narrative structure also allows for sympathy between the reader and those affected by the murders. When Bobby Rupp, Nancy Clutter’s boyfriend, describes her as “[making] everybody feel good,” during his testimony, it adds to her character, which makes the reader feel all the more saddened. In reading from different perspectives, such as Bobby’s, it is the goal for the reader to feel like they know the Clutters. This strategy helps Capote personalize his characters in a way that creates fictional elements to draw readers into a nonfiction