Blog Topic Syntax #3
· “And he said that was what came to mind when he saw the crowd on the square. The man being torn apart. And the idea so bad his stomach hurt. Which was why he couldn’t eat.” ( 253).
These short sentences are used to show the level of writing of Perry Smith, one of the killers. The statements mimic that of his speech. Smith being found with mental illness later on shows his rudimentary speaking level. The periods convey rather long and unneeded pauses in Smith’s speech.
· “ I didn’t want to harm the man. I thought he was a very nice gentleman. Soft-spoken. I thought so right up to the moment I cut his throat” (244).
One of the most iconic moments in the book; Perry talks about the murder. Again showing his mental illness and trouble with speech. These terse and telegraphic sentence also, maybe unintentionally, add to the suspense and drama. Furthermore it shows his lack of judgment during that time, nonetheless both of the accused were still found guilty even with much of the opposition.
· “ ‘She said, Oh no! Oh, please. No! No! No! No! Don’t! Oh please don’t! Please!’”
These were the chilling words of Nancy, only 16 at the time, daughter of Herb and Bonnie Clutter. Her disparity is shown with the repetition, exclamation, and terse statements. Truly horrible and even these words give a chilling sense to the readers.
I also noticed that Capote's syntax varied with each character. When the hihgly intelligent and honest Mr. Clutter was being described, the text was riddled with periodic and complex sentences. This type of syntax mirrored Clutter's intellect and personality in that he had very much to say and people had unlimited respect for him. On the other hand,asyou mentioned, when Perry spoke, his speech consisted of mainly short telegrtaphic sentences that had little meaning behind them. These small phrases parallel Perry's character in that he must have been a very small person to murder an innocent family of four.
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