english / cold-blood.mdon commit notes on clutter family (b7b81d9)
   1# *In Cold Blood* - Truman Capote
   2
   3## Setting
   4
   5**What does the setting of the text include?**
   6
   7- Holcomb, Kansas, America, 1959
   8- cultural information - America, small isolated community, agricultural economy, 1959
   9- explicit mention of dates to set period (Nov 14, 1959)
  10- Holcomb, Kansas - small town, "not a place that strangers come upon by chance"
  11- introduction to characters - family interactions/relationships
  12- integration of events & people to describe culture/period/location
  13- "hip-high, sheep-slaughtering snows" - harsh weather
  14- description of clothing - "narrow frontier trousers, Stevensons, and high heeled boots"
  15- description of accent - "the local accent is barbed with a prairie twang"
  16- landscape - dusty, dry flat, vast
  17- low population
  18- "few Americans [..] had ever heard of Holcomb"
  19- dilapidated buildings, uniform through town
  20
  21**How do the setting and events work together?**
  22
  23**Foreshadowing**
  24
  25p 25, 41, 52, 63, 67
  26
  27- chapter titles - "the last to see them alive" etc
  28- not going to church
  29- ambiguous implications
  30- “Chinese elms had turned into a tunnel of darkening green” (leading up to Clutters' house)
  31- “until one morning in mid-November of 1959, few Americans [..] had ever heard of Holcomb”
  32- Herbert “headed for home and the day’s work, unaware that it would be his last”
  33- “if Dick had not hammered home the every-minute importance of the next twenty-four hours” - Dick and Perry planning
  34- “the only sure thing is every one of them has got to go” - Dick
  35- “four shotgun blasts that, all told, ended six human lives”
  36- “Only now when I think back, I think somebody must have been hiding there. Maybe down among the trees. Somebody just waiting for me to leave”
  37- dual narrative in chronological order approaching murder
  38- - create a sense that the narrative will "collide"
  39- - different settings, same time
  40
  41
  42## Characters
  43
  44### Herbert Clutter
  45
  46- owns River Valley Farm
  47- four children - two daughters (Eveanna + Beverly) + Nancy + Kenyon
  48- successful - owns large property
  49- "I'm not as poor as I look"
  50- devout Methodist
  51- approves of Bobby but wary of their relationship
  52
  53### Bonnie Clutter
  54
  55- wife of Herbert Clutter
  56- mentally unstable (anxiety/BPD)
  57
  58### Kenyon Clutter
  59- 15
  60- builds stuff
  61
  62### Nancy Clutter
  63- boyfriend Bobby Rupp
  64- best friend Susan Kidwell
  65
  66### Clutter family
  67
  68- complement each other - "just beautiful honey, a beautiful southern Belle"
  69- cares for each other - "poor Bonnie's afflictions", "just one serious cause of disquiet"
  70- controls his kids with a genuine interest - "suggests she see less of Bobby", "his laws were laws"
  71- strict routine/organisation
  72- a family that was stereotypically perfect until Bonnie was sick - judgement of others
  73
  74### Bobby Rupp
  75- Nancy's boyfriend
  76
  77### Alvin Dewey
  78- Investigator for Kansas Bureau of Investigation
  79- wife Marie (stenographer), two sons
  80
  81### Dick Hickock
  82
  83- murders Clutters with Perry Smith
  84- "Dick, the practical Dick"
  85- appears confident
  86- married twice, had three sons
  87- calls Perry "honey"
  88- impulsive - if he had enough money, he "would spend it on vodka and women"
  89
  90### Perry Smith
  91
  92- murders Clutters with Dick Hickock
  93- injured in motorcycle accident
  94- breakfast - "three aspirin, cold root beer and a chain of Paul Mall cigarettes"
  95- self-centred/egotistical - “Every time you see a mirror you go into a trance”
  96- more open/prominent in text than Dick
  97- messy/materialistic - “Christ, Perry. You carry that junk everywhere?”
  98- "know the ins and outs of hunting gold"
  99- has trouble meeting deadlines - "if Dick had not hammered home the every-minute importance of the next twenty-four hours"
 100-  criminal past
 101- "never drank coffeemy name sluger lolol"
 102- personal account of boyhood while in Mexico
 103- parents were rodeo riders
 104- two siblings and one inlaw committed suicide
 105
 106### Willie-Jay
 107- assistant to prison chaplain
 108- respects and mentors Perry
 109
 110### Minor characters
 111
 112- Myrtle Clare - postmistress
 113- Mrs Hideo Ashida - family moved due to crime
 114- Floyd Wells - worked on Clutter farm, imprisoned with Dick, snitched Dick & Perry
 115- Andrews - prison inmate, temporary friend of Perry
 116
 117### Suspects
 118- Bobby Rupp - lie detector test
 119- John Jnr/Snr
 120- Mr. Smith
 121- robbery?
 122- Mabel - cafe worker
 123- Jonathan Daniel Adrian
 124
 125**Manhunt** - Floyd Wells alerts authorities and Alvin Dewey starts manhunt. Dick and Perry steal car then return to Kansas to produce more cheques. They then move to Miami, then Las Vegas. Policewoman in Vegas recognises car. Dick confesses first, then Perry. Both undergo trial and are condemned to death. Five year appeal process - Perry starves himself, Dick writes letters to organisations. Dick accepts death sentence politely, Perry regretful/apologetic.
 126
 127## Themes
 128
 129- appearance vs. reality
 130- family & relationships