The Family/ The Killers

The style of writing that Truman Capote used to portray both the Clutter family and the two murderers, Perry and Dick, is one that truly delivers a suspenseful and intriguing story. In the first part of the novel, The Last to See Them Alive, the chapters literally shorten as it goes on, adding suspense and a sense of simultaneity to the two perspectives happening at once. The one perspective is the one of the killers and their long drive across the state of Kansas, this includes everything from their troubles along the way to what they had to eat before arriving at the Clutter family home. The other perspective is of the Clutter family as they go about their everyday business, oblivious to the fact that this particular day is their last.
"The travelers stopped for dinner at a restaurant in Great Bend... They ordered two steaks medium rare, baked potatoes, French fries, fried onions, succotash, side dishes of macaroni and hominy, salad with Thousand Island dressing, cinnamon rolls, apple pie and ice cream, and coffee." (Capote 67) The detail put into this one quote is enormous and it is a very good representation of the detail used throughout the entire book. This detail adds to the story telling, making you connect with both the killers and the Clutter family. One 0f the people Capote connects you to the most, however, has to be Nancy Clutter. She is the town sweetheart and everyone loves her and for good reason. "She found the time... to be available when younger girls came to her wanting help... and still managed to 'practically run that big house' and be a straight-A student, the president of her class, a leader in the 4-H program and the Young Methodists League, a skilled rider, and excellent musician, and annual winner at the county fair - how a girl not yet seventeen could haul such a wagonload... was an enigma the community pondered." (Capote 29) Capote really makes you believe that she is just the perfect girl and to kill her off would be a terribly unforgivable sin.
"Dick doused the headlights, slowed down, and stopped until his eyes were adjusted to the moon-illuminated night. Presently, the car crept foward." (Capote 73) An interesting thing that Capote does that intrigues me to want to continue reading is his leaving out the actual murder scene. We never really find out what happens to the family even though we want some kind of resolution to it but at the same time we dont want to know because of our grown love for the Clutter family. It is a clever choice by Mr. Capote and one that keeps us on our toes as this mystery begins to unravel.

Teenager (What else is there to say?)

Holden Caulfield is a very complex and interesting character, but aren't all normal teenagers? This complexity makes him a great study topic for anyone interested in the daily fears, anxieties, and even thoughts of your everyday teenager. "The funny thing is, though, I was sort of thinking of something else while I shot the bull." (Salinger 13). Teenagers know when they are wrong or when they are doing something poorly, but because of their immaturity, they just can't accept that fact even if they are forced to. While Holden is being scolded for failing out of school as well as failing Mr. Spencer's own class, he just basically tells Mr. Spencer what he wants to hear while not even paying attention to him, he is thinking about where the ducks that live around central park go during the winter. I catch many teens and even myself doing it sometimes. In fact, I do it all the time, and then I think about myself thinking about the other things, which still keeps my mind off the subject of my current failure. This denial is partly due to our psychotic make-up, as the teens mind is very stubborn and not very negotiable. All teens must struggle through this, and then when they are older, they look back at some of their mistakes and then hate themselves for the dumb ways that they handled things. Another reason for this denial, though, is our wonderful egocentricity or the feeling that the world and universe revolve around us and whatever decision we make will affect the world as a whole. Because of this, teenagers tend to be more paranoid and hateful towards other human beings. Holden demonstrates this in his thought process in several situations: To the Navy guy who thinks he needs to break your fingers when he shakes your hand, "God, I hate that stuff." (Salinger 87); To the fact that he had to leave because he didn't want to talk to a "bunch of phonies", "People are always ruining things for you." (Salinger 87); To the fact that he had an imaginative movie moment, "The goddam movies. They can ruin you. I'm not kidding." (Salinger 104). There are many other moments like this, but just from these you can see how insecure and even lonesome teenagers are psychologically. Holden portrays this and even more because he is stuck in a state of loneliness that is very much like the first three years of schizophrenia, and it is known that if you make it past those first years, your ability to cope and be happy increases tenfold.

hi Mrs. white how are you>

Reaction to who is more powerful. Big Nurse? Or Mac?

At this point in story, I believe that McMurphy is a more powerful character than Big Nurse. He came into this mental institution to find a bunch of grown men taking orders from an ugly old nurse who is feeding off of their inability to fend for themselves. McMurphy, however, points this out to them and shows them that he will not let her castrate him because he is too much of a man to let that ever happen. Mac is also very therapeutic for the men because he doesn't act like there is anything wrong with them and this begins to psychologically have an effect on them because they begin to believe themselves that there is nothing wrong with them.

They begin to rebel against the Big Nurse and take back their manhood. One of the people who is most affected by Mac is definitely chief. He is so used to just losing himself in his mind created fog that engulfs him whenever he subconsciously wants it to. Mac however, pulls him out of this fog frequently and gives him a sense of hope. "McMurphy's got hidden wires hooked to it, lifting it slow just to get me out of the fog and into the open where I'm fair game. He's doing it, wires...No. That's not the truth. I lifted it myself." At this point, chief realizes that he is in control and its not some imaginary machine or in this case, wires, but himself rebelling and he is in control which helps him get out of the fog and it definitely helps with his illness.

Big Nurse is undeniably a powerful character, but this is mostly because she is in a position of power and authority to begin with. McMurphy draws his power from helping those men rebel for one, and also loosening the grip Big Nurse has on the facility. Big Nurse begins to faulter when she lets Mac get to her through his determination to not let her have control over each person at this institution. "'You're committed, you realize. you are... under the jurisdiction of me... the staff.' She's holding up a fist, all those red-orange fingernails burning into her palm. 'Under jurisdiction and control--'" Because she is yelling at Mac and the rest of the men while they are staring at a blank screen, she has lost her composure. Because she lost her composure, she has lost this battle and Mac has pulled out a stunning victory.