Friday, October 7, 2011
ICB, "Persons Unknown": Rashomon Effect
Rashomon is an old Japanese film in which one tragic event is told from four different perspectives, each belonging to a person involved in the tragedy. Each retelling provides the viewer new insights. Capote does something similar with the sections that begin on pages 107 and 110. Each recounts Perry and Dick making their way down a desert road, but one account is told from Perry's perspective, the other from Dick's. What does the scene and Capote's handling of it tell us about Perry and Dick's partnership? Are they alike or quite the opposite? Cite a specific detail from these pages, and if you feel your classmates have left you nothing original to discuss from this scene, turn elsewhere in "Persons Unknown" for material.
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From that scene in pages 107-110, we learn that dick and perry are very opposite of each other. Perry the whole time is really starting to regret everything that he has done to the clutters. While dick just sits there and has it not phase him. Everything that perry says just annoys dick. Dick from this scene you can tell is very cold-blooded and perry actually has heart towards these things.
ReplyDeleteDick and Perry are quite opposite of each other. Not only did Dick not care about the Clutter murders, he also never cared for superstitions or God. Perry, on the other hand, was very superstitious (108). However, both of them are somewhat similar both Dick and Perry had doubts on whether they would actually get away with this murder (109).
ReplyDeleteIt is clear that Dick and Perry are pretending to be people they are not. Perry attempts to seem more macho by telling a story about killing a man and Dick attempts to seem more macho by showing no fear. Perry wants Dick’s approval very much and the only way he can get it is by making up a story. But Dick is doing the same thing; he acts like it doesn’t bother him that they could get caught. To show how much it doesn’t bother him he runs down a dog. In this way Dick and Perry are extremely similar. They both want to be something they are not. Their relationship is clearly not based on anything except opinions and beliefs.
ReplyDeleteIn the two versions of the same event (picnic lunch down the dessert road) the two killers express themselves and reveal there opposite personalities. Capote uses very descriptive language to let the reader in on the thinking of each murder. Dick Hickok doesn’t want to rehash the murders and tries to re assure himself him and Perry that he is normal he says “deal me out, baby,… I’m a normal… he thought of himself as balanced as sane as anyone- maybe a bit smarter, maybe a bit smarter than the average fellow that’s all. But Perry-there was, in Dicks opinion, something wrong with Little Perry.” Dick tries to separate himself from Perry mentally. This dessert road incident also shows how twisted Perry’s sense of reality is in order to appear macho to Dick he brags about committing murder, He also worries that “there is got to be something wrong with somebody who’d do a thing like that(commit murder)”
ReplyDeleteIt's clear that Dick and Perry are quite opposite each other. When Perry begins talking about the time he killed a black man for no reason, Dick actually becomes interested in the conversation (111), showing that Dick only cares about doing harm to living things (like the Clutters and the dogs which they were running over), while Perry feels guilty about what they did, saying: "I think there must be something wrong with us. To do what we did"(108 & 110)
ReplyDeleteIn this section, it becomes quite clear that Perry and Dick’s partnership is quite malformed; it is based on facades and lies. We realize Perry never killed the colored man, “for all he knew, King might still be lying abed somewhere, fanning himself and sipping beer.” (112). We also realize Dick is afraid that he and Perry will be caught for their heinous crime, and he “suffered moments when that question circled inside his head: Was it possible – were the two of them ‘honest to God going to get away with doing a thing like that?’” (109-110). When Dick acknowledges this self-doubt and uncertainty he is feeling, he then decides that running over a stray dog would help him regain his masculinity. In conclusion, both Perry and Dick are similar in some ways, because they are both feeling unsure of themselves, and very different in others.
ReplyDeleteThroughout this section, we learn the Dick and Perry are opposites of each other. Perry is constantly going over different scenarios of what is going on in Holcomb in is head while Dick is acting like nothing is wrong. Perry says to Dick :I think there must be something wrong with us. To do what we did" and Dick acts as though he does not even know what Perry is talking about! All he can think about is "Why the hell couldn't Perry shut up. Christ Jesus, what damn good did it do, always dragging the goddam thing up? It was really annoying" (108). He finally tells Perry that there is nothing wrong with him and he truly believes this. This shows how opposite the two are because while Dick actually believes he is sane, Perry is making himself insane with the thought that there is something wrong with him.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the section Dick and Perry seem less and less alike to the point were they are almost complete opposites. All Dick thinks about is inflecting harm to other human beings and how everyone is "annoying". Dick doesn't think about the future only the past and present. Perry is the complete opposite, he thinks about the consequences of his actions,"Its just I don't believe it- that anyone can get away with a thing like that."(109) He also thinks back to his victims and feels sorrow for them (110) while Dick just brushes them off like it is nothing
ReplyDeleteMany of you are saying that they are complete opposites, but the fact that Capote included the character detective bit - just after Dick’s section - was very telling. I like to think in a way like a character detective, and Dick’s actions, ideas, emotions follow some of the very same as Perry’s! Dick is very busy trying to cover up the fact that he is worried. The end of the section hints at his underlying fear “Was it possible – were the two of them ‘honest to God going to get away with doing a thing like that’?” (110). Just like Perry quickly changes the subject to “Know what really bugs me?” (112) from the “n****r” moment – Dick quickly interrupts his thought process of their murder and hushes Perry up. The quicker Dick can make Perry “just shut up” (110) the sooner he can stop worrying. Perry on the other hand is constantly talking about the murder, trying to justify their crazy actions by pleading not in the right mind to himself. They are both very similar that they are worried but trying to cover it up.
ReplyDeleteIt is clear from the nature of Capote's writing and in this specific section that the differences between Perry and Dicks' personalities are growing apart. Perry seems too have more of a heart and seems to be more of a complicated person, especially during this section. Dick is shown with a harsh and stubborn personality, even claiming that he was normal. Capote even confirms this, writing "He (Dick) thought himself as balanced, as sane as anyone..." (108) However, Perry is seen to be more affected by this murder, as while Dick is acting as if the murder wasn't a big deal, Perry is wondering why he did it and thinking out loud as he exclaims: "never thought I (Perry) could do it. " (109) The differences in emotion culminate when Dick delights after running over a dog while Perry is still thinking hard about what he just did.
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ReplyDeleteAfter the murders they committed, Perry and Dick sit at a diner. Perry, seeming disturbed and worried, does not eat anything. Completely opposite of Perry is Dick who is eating everything in sight, nothing seemed to fulfill his hunger, and did not have the slightest concern of what they have just done. "Aw, come on, baby. Get the bubbles out of your blood. We scored. It was perfect" (90).Perry is also a little smart noticing the grammar mistakes in the newspaper. From the reading of pages 107-110, it continues to be evident that Perry and DIck are extreme opposites. THough both committing the same crime to the same Clutter family, they could not be more different in personalities. Perry began to question his acts and became regretful. He would ask himself how anyone could do such a thing. He didnt believe something like this could go without punishment.Perry suggests, "'I think there must be something wrong with us. To do what we did'" (108). Dick does not have the least bit remorse. Growing up, Perry attended church and had a belief in God. Dick had never, nor had he had any superstitions. Perrys acts bothered him very much as Dick would mock Perry and call him a "baby." Dick and Perry are clearly opposites who some how ended up in committing a joint murder.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, Perry is a very religious man, so perhaps in some way he is feeling guilt connected with the 10 commandments (one being 'do not kill'). He mentions to Dick that perhaps there "must be something wrong with [them]. To what [they] did." (108) On the other hand, "Dick had never 'come near' a belief in God." (109) So therefore, Dick's ability to not feel guilt, could perhaps come from the lack of religious morals that Perry possesses and he does not. Perry is always conscious that they will some how get caught, that there is no way that they will "get away with doing a thing like that," (110) while Dick tells him to shut up at the mention of it.
ReplyDeleteFrom Rebecca:
ReplyDeleteDick and Perry are like night and day. Through the perspectives of the two characters for the same situation, Capote demonstrates just how different they are. Dick thought of Perry as sporadic and unreasonable. “Take, for instance, that temper of his. He could slide into a fury ‘quicker than ten drunk Indians.’ And yet you wouldn’t know it. ‘he might be ready to kill you, but you’d never know it, not to look at or listen to,’” (108). Perry seems to be much more affected by personal emotions, hunches, and superstitions while Dick could be characterized and thought of himself as balanced and sane
Thank you to all those who contributed.
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