The Connotation Of Perry In Truman Capote's '1984'

Perry is described as a “...normal sized man, a powerful man, with the shoulders, the arms, the thick, crouching torso of a weight lifter...but sections of him were not in proportion to others... his tiny feet...would have neatly fitted into a delicate lady’s dancing slippers... no taller than a twelve year old child…(15)” Just from the way Perry is described, he’s not seen as the stereotypical villain, but more of a tired and pained man with dreams and aspirations. With Dick as his “partner in crime”, the two contrast--making Perry look more good and innocent in light of Dick. Through Capote, the readers learn of Perry’s past: a father who beat his mother who in return drank until she died, a suicidal brother and sister, another sister who shivered at the very thought of him, life in a trailer, staying in an orphanage, and being denied education from his father. This causes more of a sympathetic approach--letting the readers potentially feel more sorrowful rather than

What the readers know of Dick’s past is very little, as Capote works to characterize him through flashbacks the readers know it was his plan to kill the Clutters and he does have some family “there were those Dick claimed to love: three sons, a mother, a father, a brother—persons he hadn’t dare confide his plan to(Capote 106).” But Capote characterizes Dick more so through descriptions of his habits than through his memories. “Inez was a prostitute…she was eighteen and Dick had promised to marry her. But he had also promised to marry Maria, a women of fifty who was a widow of a very rich banker(Capote 118-119)” Dick is shown throughout the book as someone who uses people to get what he wants, he calls on Perry to help him with his plan, he uses women for sex and money while making promises he never intends to keep. “If he knew Dick, and he did—now he did—would spend the money right away on vodka and women(Capote 119). Capote does not draw any sympathy from the readers, Dick is perceived as an emotionless man who pretends to believe in people and want the same

Although Dick and Perry may both be killers, Capote uses language to portray Perry as a victim of Dick;therefore, Perry is seen through the eyes of the reader as an innocent man who was simply taken advantage of and molded into a killer by Dick.

Dick, the main character in Ragged Dick, is a man that fits every trait Alger describes in the story. He is a man who has a mediocre job, and is a very hard worker. Throughout the story, signs show us that Dick is a man who has ambition and is very determined to one day get away from his poor

He verbally demands to be removed from the conversation. He also subtly bullies Perry by calling him a baby for mentioning his worries. Dick finds Perry’s confusion and commentary rather irritating because it is a reminder of the murder.

The most dominant strategy that Capote utilizes in order to achieve his purpose is pathos, as he plays on our emotions to get us to feel true sympathy for Perry Smith. This is strategy is overall the most effective one because it allows the viewers to perceive Perry differently. Capote mentions Perry’s abusive and neglectful childhood several times throughout the story’s course in order to make the readers feel empathic, and pitiful towards him. In one instance of the novel, Capote makes out Perry as a hero in a way. He sets up a picture of the killers at the beach, and he mentions how uncomfortable Perry is when he sees Dick talking to a young girl. He describes another instance like this when he says, “Hadn’t they almost got in a fight when quite recently he had prevented Dick from raping a terrified girl” (Capote 202). Perry is willing to stand up to his partner when he comes to situations like this. Readers can’t help but view Perry as a hero in his own way as he protects the young girls from Dick’s pedophilic mind. Capote plays on the assumption that everyone hates child predators, which is almost always true. In a way, Capote makes us feel admiration for Perry’s heroic effort in protecting the innocent, as he “prevented Dick” from doing something horrible. As Perry confesses his crime to Dewey and Duntz, he admits, “But I hoped we could do it without violence” (234). This is one of several moments where the readers get a sense of reluctance from Perry to commit the crime. Although Perry did eventually

The dynamic partnership between Dick and Perry stems from their egos, or lack thereof. Perry is especially self-conscious, and his behavior as presented in the book is due to his sense of lacking and

Although Perry commits a ghastly offense he still contains another compassionate side to him, Capote’s importance is to tell readers Perry can be sweet too, therefore; he contends even though a person commits a crime doesn’t mean they are inferior.

Although Perry can sometimes seem as a person who does not care about others opinions, his need for approval can be seen through how he got his relationship with Dick and the impression he leaves him with. While discussing the story of Perry beating up a colored man to death for no apparent reason, the author states, “It was a significant question, for his original interest in Perry, his assessment of Perry’s character and potentialities, was founded on the story Perry had once told him of how he had beaten a colored man to death”(109). By “his original interest in Perry”, the author is discussing Dick’s reason for getting close to Perry. Dick‘s sole reason for becoming Perry’s friend was because of the story he was told by Perry, which is

Throughout the passage told from Dick’s point of view, the syntax is surprisingly curt and choppy. As he is expressing his exasperation towards Perry, his sentences break off repeatedly. He states, “He was annoyed. Annoyed as hell”, which not only is comprised of two extremely short sentences, but also emits an aggressive tone (Capote 108). Dick’s attitude towards Perry becomes apparent quickly, as whenever Perry begins to speak Dick is filled with negative thoughts about his half-witted partner. The curtness and negative content of his thoughts show the annoyance and sheer contempt that Dick feels. Also, Capote uses the short and concise sentences when describing Dick to show his clear mindedness and his seemingly rational thought process. The simplicity of Dick’s thoughts make him seem more focused and reliable. He uses this contrast to emphasize the

motor company, "when I [Dick] had an automobile wreck with a company car. I was in the hospital several days with extensive head injuries" (Capote 278). The car accident caused his face to be slightly maligned, and, as concluded by Dr. Jones, caused residual brain damage and instability in his personality (Capote 286). Dick's father also confirmed that Dick had changed after the crash, expressing that "He just wasn't the same boy" (Capote 255). After experiencing the crash, many parts of Dick's life began to go downhill. His marital life twisted woefully, and when all was said and done, he had gone through 2 marriages. He did not have a steady job anymore, and he began to commit petty crimes, such as writing bad checks and stealing. The latter resulted in him being in jail, where he had met Perry, who was behind bars for burglary as well, among other charges. Dick and Perry had both agreed to kill the Clutters, however when the time came, Dick showed signs of doubt and lingered, while Perry had almost no hesitation. This seems to point back to each man's past, where Perry, who had a rougher childhood, did not seem to think twice about killing the family. His scarred adolescence points to a more cold-hearted, bitter, and lonely person, while Dick's more favorable youth showed signs of mercy and conscience.

Dick's ideal, was to marry the perfect woman, Nicole, write his fantastic book ‘psychology for psychiatrists' and be the best psychiatrist in the world. At the beginning of his career all of these things were attainable, but slowly each one of these things slipped away to falter his life. These things were not only just an ideal or a plan in life, they were a necessity for Dick. He dreamed of them all and it was from then on that it became an obsession. This lead to Dick's belief that his life couldn't be fulfilled unless all of these things were obtained.

The dynamic between Dick and Perry was always fragile and dominated by a need to determine who was more masculine, who was in charge. This is made easier by simply blaming the other one for any negative consequences. Dick and Perry weren't particularly fond of one another; they had differing hopes, long-term goals, and motives. A dynamic as fragile as this was easily shattered after their arrests, leading to quick confessions and a solution to the puzzling quadruple

Therefore, Capote successfully convinces readers that Perry’s nature is not completely guilty of the murder, but the way he nurtured was. To continue on, Capote utilizes diction to highlight positive side that Perry has in order to convince readers that Perry is not 100% evil. During the conversation with Perry, Dewey thought it is possible to see Perry 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”(Capote 246). In this quote, Capote utilizes diction to convince readers about Perry’s horrible past and how environment manipulated little Perry’s life that made him commit crime over and over again.

Dick was written. He seems to exemplify expected behaviour of a young boot-black by his rough exterior, involvement in fights, lack of money, and disregard for others including their property. Micky Maguire is the enemy of the story, and it is clear that the “hero” must always rise above the bad characters in order to provide a lesson with the story being told. Dick is known to keep his cool and remain confident around Micky, even when a fight is breaking out between the two of them (Alger 94). While Micky is indeed a cruel boy as it seems, Dick does bring on some of the taunting himself because of the cocky manner he upholds when speaking to Micky. Even with Dick being smart-mouthed toward Micky, there is not any sympathy towards Micky in the novel because of his ruffian ways and rudeness towards Dick. Alger does not give Micky credit for why he acts like this towards Dick nor does he establish a true reason why Micky turned out to be such a tough street boy. His childish actions are likely caused by jealously over Dick and not because of sheer hatred (Alger 91). Micky is not given chances like Dick and whether or not Alger sets it up so that option luck is a rewarded behaviour,