Barbara’s letter to Perry as Capote presented it
Barbara’s letter as presented by Capote In Cold Blood was one of the pieces that struck me (138). It was a mixture of emotions of jealousy, resentment, sarcasm, irony and at the same time truthful. She started off apologizing for not writing back sooner and then talked about her family (Donnie, Baby and Freddie). She then hinted that her letter was going to be long. My expectations were different from the harsh reality I discovered as I read further. Obviously she mentioned how they seem to be coping with the incidents with Jimmy, Fern and also praising mum and dad for passing on their artistic flair. She then took a more serious tone addressing Perry’s actions. Barbara admitted that even though their environment played a role in their growing up, she felt grateful for those experiences. She pointed out that she wasn’t too pleased with Perry’s actions, which had eventually ended him in prison. She was also aware that her criticism to him was going to result in resentment and actually thought of what could possibly happen “Not to hear from you at all or a letter telling me exactly what you think of me.”
On the other hand one can not deny the fact that Barbara loved Perry dearly but was angry at him at the same time, and that was the driving force of this passionate letter. Again she wanted Perry to know about her feelings towards him and also to see things from someone’s point of view. What made it hit home for me wasn’t the fact that she was blatant about what she wanted to convey but she carried it not from an arrogant point of view. She often admitted her faults and weaknesses as human and in the same way she urged Perry that he should take full responsibility of his actions (140) paragraph 8 and shouldn’t blame his dad for any wrong doing. Perry’s inabilities to show signs of sincere regret and lack of respect for laws embarrassed her deeply. However as Capote narrated, Barbara’s letter complimented Perry’s intelligence and excellent vocabulary skills. I am sure that made him feel good and his ego boosted because I assumed he was ticked off a bit having read the letter to that point.
Nonetheless Barbara continued and this time introduced the issue with his dad, which is a very sensitive issue for Perry because he had a sticky relationship with him. As age caught up with dad his health also took a downturn but Perry’s actions continued to hurt him the most. Barbara continued to stress that Perry owed his dad respect and common decency as if just bringing the issue of his dad wasn’t enough. Interestingly Capote presented Barbara as she struggles with her own emotions and the whole issue. Barbara showed signs of envy, bitterness, not loved and felt neglected by her father “….you are the only one dad loves, in short his family” (142). She believed that her dad loved Perry more than he had loved her.
Finally she apologized for coming off so strong on Perry that she felt the letter could be censored by the prison authorities as well as detrimental to his release. I felt a blow when she even continued to dish it out more to Perry by comparing him to an animal if he continued to live his life without feeling compassion for his fellow-man. She ended her letter with some strong words challenging him and reminding him that he is the only person responsible for his actions and therefore had the choice to overcome his weakness.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Friday, March 6, 2009
Barbara’s letter to Perry as Capote presented it
Barbara’s letter as presented by Capote In Cold Blood was one of the pieces that struck me. It was a mixture of emotions of jealousy, resentment, sarcasm, irony and at the same time truthful. She started off apologizing for not writing back sooner and then talked about her family (Donnie, Baby and Freddie). She then hinted that her letter was going to be long. My expectations were different from the harsh reality I discovered as I read further. Obviously she mentioned how they seem to be coping with the incidences with Jimmy, Fern and also praising mum and dad for passing on their artistic flair. She then took a more serious tone addressing Perry’s actions. Barbara admitted that even though their environment played a role in their growing up, she felt grateful for those experiences. She pointed out that she wasn’t too pleased with Perry’s actions, which had eventually ended him in prison. She was also aware that her criticism to him was going to result in resentment and actually thought of what could possibly happen “Not to hear from you at all or a letter telling me exactly what you think of me”.
On the other hand one can not deny the fact that Barbara loved Perry dearly but was angry at him at the same time, and that was the driving force of this passionate letter. Again she wanted Perry to know about her feelings towards him and also to see things from someone else point of view. What made it hit home for me wasn’t the fact that she was blatant about what she wanted to convey but she carried it not from an arrogant point of view. She often admitted her faults and weaknesses as human and in the same way she urged Perry to take full responsibility of his actions (p. 140, paragraph 8) and shouldn’t blame his dad for any wrong doings. Perry’s inabilities to show signs of sincere regret and lack of respect for laws embarrassed her deeply. However as Capote narrated, Barbara’s letter complimented Perry’s intelligence and excellent vocabulary skills. I am sure that made him feel good and his ego boosted because I assumed he was ticked off a bit having read the letter to that point.
Nonetheless Barbara continued and this time introduced the issue with his dad, which was a very sensitive issue for Perry because he had a sticky relationship with him. As age catches up with dad his health also took a down turn but Perry’s actions continued to hurt him the most. Barbara continued to stress that Perry owed Dad respect and common decency as if just bringing the issue of dad wasn’t enough. Interestingly Capote presented Barbara as she struggled with her own emotions and the whole issue. She showed neglect, not loved, envy and bitterness from the fact her dad loved Perry more than her “….you are the only one dad loves, in short his family” (p.142).
Finally she apologized for coming off so strong on Perry that she felt the letter could be censored by the prison authorities as well as detrimental to his release. I felt a blow when she even continued to dish it out more to Perry by comparing him to an animal if he continued to live his life without feeling compassion for his fellow-man. She ended her letter with some strong words challenging him and reminding him that he is the only person responsible for his actions and therefore had the choice to overcome his weakness. Wow what a letter! Would you think Barbara was fair in her letter to Perry?
Barbara’s letter as presented by Capote In Cold Blood was one of the pieces that struck me. It was a mixture of emotions of jealousy, resentment, sarcasm, irony and at the same time truthful. She started off apologizing for not writing back sooner and then talked about her family (Donnie, Baby and Freddie). She then hinted that her letter was going to be long. My expectations were different from the harsh reality I discovered as I read further. Obviously she mentioned how they seem to be coping with the incidences with Jimmy, Fern and also praising mum and dad for passing on their artistic flair. She then took a more serious tone addressing Perry’s actions. Barbara admitted that even though their environment played a role in their growing up, she felt grateful for those experiences. She pointed out that she wasn’t too pleased with Perry’s actions, which had eventually ended him in prison. She was also aware that her criticism to him was going to result in resentment and actually thought of what could possibly happen “Not to hear from you at all or a letter telling me exactly what you think of me”.
On the other hand one can not deny the fact that Barbara loved Perry dearly but was angry at him at the same time, and that was the driving force of this passionate letter. Again she wanted Perry to know about her feelings towards him and also to see things from someone else point of view. What made it hit home for me wasn’t the fact that she was blatant about what she wanted to convey but she carried it not from an arrogant point of view. She often admitted her faults and weaknesses as human and in the same way she urged Perry to take full responsibility of his actions (p. 140, paragraph 8) and shouldn’t blame his dad for any wrong doings. Perry’s inabilities to show signs of sincere regret and lack of respect for laws embarrassed her deeply. However as Capote narrated, Barbara’s letter complimented Perry’s intelligence and excellent vocabulary skills. I am sure that made him feel good and his ego boosted because I assumed he was ticked off a bit having read the letter to that point.
Nonetheless Barbara continued and this time introduced the issue with his dad, which was a very sensitive issue for Perry because he had a sticky relationship with him. As age catches up with dad his health also took a down turn but Perry’s actions continued to hurt him the most. Barbara continued to stress that Perry owed Dad respect and common decency as if just bringing the issue of dad wasn’t enough. Interestingly Capote presented Barbara as she struggled with her own emotions and the whole issue. She showed neglect, not loved, envy and bitterness from the fact her dad loved Perry more than her “….you are the only one dad loves, in short his family” (p.142).
Finally she apologized for coming off so strong on Perry that she felt the letter could be censored by the prison authorities as well as detrimental to his release. I felt a blow when she even continued to dish it out more to Perry by comparing him to an animal if he continued to live his life without feeling compassion for his fellow-man. She ended her letter with some strong words challenging him and reminding him that he is the only person responsible for his actions and therefore had the choice to overcome his weakness. Wow what a letter! Would you think Barbara was fair in her letter to Perry?
Monday, March 2, 2009
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