Exploring the Gothic Elements in In Cold Blood and Its Literary Craft
Delve into the American Gothic influences in Truman Capote's In Cold Blood and its connections to themes of desolation, terror, and human wreckage. Analyze specific literary crafts employed by Capote to establish the narrative, including mythic imagery, archetypal characterization, and biblical settings.
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Presentation Transcript
In Cold Blood Genre and Structure
American Gothic Influences Capote was Southerner who was quite familiar with the American Gothic Literary Traditions of Poe, O Connor, Faulkner, Hawthorne . . . The human mind (usually under duress) as the source of dysfunction/evil that perhaps unearths an essential truth. The human heart (emotions) influenced by fear, loyalty, mistrust, abandonment, vanity . . . as the impetus for evil that perhaps unearths an essential truth. Darkness/Light: the interplay of these real physical states and their metaphoric interpretations. The Idea/Images of Decay in all of its manifestations. The Destruction of the Ideal/Bucolic America (that may not have been ideal at all). Peace/Tranquility smashed by Terror. Desolation: What does this idea mean? Terror: What is terror? How does one move from the emotion of terror to horror? Human Damage/Wreckage: How do we destroy each other in our society? Punishment: How do we make the punishment fit the crime?
Connections to In Cold Blood Desolation: How is this idea portrayed in The Last To See Them Alive ? Terror: What is terror? How does one move from the emotion of terror to horror? How does Capote craft these emotions? Human Damage/Wreckage: How do we destroy each other in our society? Punishment: How do we make the punishment fit the crime?
The Last to See Them Alive In an organized outline, use specific textual evidence to address the following idea: Capote employs specific literary craft in Part I to establish the narrative (story) in this work. He uses the crafts of mythic imagery, archetypal characterization, and biblical settings. Choose one craft and explain how Capote develops the initial narrative through this feature. Questions to Ponder: How does the decay imagery in the opening of the book create a gothic and mythic mood? What archetypes do the Clutter family fit? Holcomb as a place and as a character? What type of villains are Dick and Perry at this point in the text? What is the literary effect of having Nancy, Kenyon, and Mr. Helm in the late fall flower garden? Consider some of the questions from the study guide in your analysis.
