Tuesday, October 25, 2011
ICB, "The Corner": More Killers?
Why do you suspect Capote includes the stories of some of the other killers on death row alongside Dick and Perry? Is he simply being thorough or is there another motive here? Try to include an excerpt from the text in your response. (Read what others have said; try to add to the conversation rather than simply repeating what has been written previously.)
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From Brian:
ReplyDeleteI think Capote was trying to raise awareness to how truly dehumanizing the process of capital punishment is: an endless cycle of appeal after appeal after appeal. Some people probably grow old in there, and wind up dying of old age anyway. This could suggest that the process of capital punishment is a complete waste of life, of taxpayers’ money, etc. I also think, by including a description of the crimes themselves, and of the kind of life lived by the committers, Capote is trying to help us develop a sense of perspective a bout the whole thing. For example, Latham’s life (described on Pgs.322-323) has been absolutely horrendous, and you can’t help but fell bad for him. This helps us keep the horror of his crimes in perspective, just like with Perry.
I think Capote discussed Andrews because he related to Dick, and he showed that Dick was sad when Andrews was finally killed. It doesn't add sympathy yet it shows that, again, Dick only cares about people he knows and likes. However, I think Capote discussed the Yoke and Latham to propose the dark side that all these criminals are thinking and their carelessness towards life (289-292), whichshows how how different Perry is from the rest of the criminals.
ReplyDeleteI believe that by adding the story about Lowell Lee to this section, it shows how horrid another person on death row is. Lowell Lee completely knew what he was doing when he killed his family. He even "spent three months polishing" his plan (pg 312). He then kills each of his family members, just a brutally, and drives off as if noting is wrong. Lowell Lee then creates fake alibis to make himself appear innocent. His plan was just as thought out as Dick and Perry's but we feel more hatred towards him because we have not grown to know him personally, like we know the Clutter's killers. Capote has now successfully shown us that, had we not developed a relationship with Dick and Perry, we would feel the same feelings towards them if they were any other set of killers.
ReplyDeleteI think Capote includes the stories of some of the other killers on death row to increase sympathy for Dick and especially Perry. I think Andrea said it perfectly when she said that we would hate Dick and Perry as much as the other killers if we hadn’t gotten to know them. I also think it was a way for Capote to build suspense. He goes into so much detail about everything else he wanted to report fully in that area to. He includes an account from Dick of another killer’s murder, to almost preview to us what will happen to Dick and Perry. “Then we heard it, the sound, and Jimmy Latham said ‘What was that?’; and I told him what it was- the trap door.”
ReplyDeleteAs said before, Capote uses these stories to make us feel more sympathetic towards Dick and Perry. As mentioned on page 311, Earl Wilson and Bobby Joe Spencer were two others on deah row. Wilson was just like Dick because both had interests in younger women. Spencer is like Perry because their personalieites are alike, and the way they killed was alike. However, we just got a short mention of Wilson and Spencer, so we don't feel as bad for them as we do for Dick and Perry.
ReplyDeleteI think Capote told us about the other killers on Death Row so that we can understand how terrible all these people are. Throughout the novel we get to know Perry and Dick and they become people and at times we could even forget that they're murderers. But they're there for a reason and they can try to change it or fight it but it wont work because they will be punished for what they did.
ReplyDeleteRyan
ReplyDeleteCapote adds these other people on death row so that we can sympathize, like said above for Dick and Perry. It is showing us that there are other people out there that do horrible horrible things. He is relating York and Latham to Dick and Perry because both are pairs of killers that are struggling through life. Not that they hated like, Dick and Perry, but they were brought up in a sick and unfortunate world that none of us in our class can really relate to, and in many cases can cause a distraught human being that doesn't always make the smartest choices.
I think the reason Capote brings up prisoners like Andrews is to in a way show a side of both Dick and Perry in him. Also, Andrews is someone who had "become friendly" (318) with Dick and is somebody that Dick can converse with 'normally.' And in another sense, Andrews comes off as a very intellectual person, "[averaging] fifteen to twenty books a week" (321). Perry seems almost jealous in a way of Andrews, because he had always seen himself as more intelligent than the average man and here is Andrews who comes off as more intelligent than him. Perhaps Andrews is Dick's replacement for Perry.
ReplyDeleteFrom Morgan:
ReplyDeleteCapote includes the stories of some of the other killers on death row to imply to the reader that there are more killers out there, some that are even more malicious than Dick and Perry. It is meant to give the reader more sympathy for Dick and Perry by reviewing some of the terrible crimes that others have done. For example, Andrews is portrayed as a horrible man. Dick even says to him, “the trouble with you, Andy, you’ve got no respect for human life. Including your own” (318). In addition to this, I think Capote also aims to add some suspense to the novel. Instead of going straight to the ending, he puts it off a bit with these side stories; it keeps the reader guessing.
From Rebecca:
ReplyDeleteCapote provides information and background of other killers unrelated to the main story in order to stress the insanity of murderers just like Dick and Perry. Through the somewhat similar murders committed by the other killers, Capote makes a statement that these men have killed not out of vengeance or passion, but incomprehensible greed. Lowell Lee Andrews was described to have an absurd, selfish and merciless attitude involved with family and money. “.. and while he did not dislike any member of his family, at least not consciously, murdering them seemed the swiftest, most sensible way of implementing the fantasies that possessed him.” (325)
Thank you to all of those who contributed!
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