Importance of Imagery

Though Perry has been so far conceived as a murderous and insensitive person, Capote shows his softer side, telling his earlier life story and using metaphoric images to express to readers that he has been lead astray.

Capote begins to introduce, in depth, the true character of Perry, using imagery and a strong metaphoric image to receive a sympathetic effect from readers. As the plot of In Cold Blood continues Perry is proven to be a character with a lost cause. Perry’s life story is strong and Capote initially decides to introduce this to show Perry’s sensitive and true side. Perry’s start at life was simple, but not normal. Perry describing his earlier life states the beginning of his problems, saying, “Six of us riding in an old truck, sleeping in it, too, sometimes, living off of mush Hersey kisses and condensed milk…..which is what weakened my kidneys—the sugar content—which is why I was always wetting the bed.”(131)When reading about life it was clear that he was never truly raised by his parents and later was raised and abused by other orphanages and other establishments. Perry telling about his experience during this period of his life states, “…my mother put me to stay in a Catholic orphanage. The one where the Black Widows were always at me. Hitting me. Because of wetting the bed…after a couple months, they tossed me out of the orphanage and she [his mother] put me some place worse…They hated me, too. For wetting the bed. And being half-Indian…Nearly drowned me. (132) Perry was never cared for and Capote clearly continues, line by line, to stress this fact. By explaining in depth Perry’s young life, Capote gets the readers to actually feel for the young man who was “nearly drowned” by strangers and for the family issues that he clearly had. Capote takes it even further by making it seem as if Perry had dream actually dreams that he wished to fulfill. Perry who was crudely injured in an accident was at a lost for employment because of it. In a letter written by Perry’s father he states, “Perry knows he is not wanted now by Contracters, cripples can’t get jobs on heavy equiptment unless you are well know to the Contracter.” (129) Perry was now unfortunate and most of his chances were ruined. Capote tells of Perry’s dreams through a strong metaphor that Perry has dreamed of all his life. As Perry tells of his dream he says, “I’m moving through the trees to a tree standing all alone. Jesus, it smells bad, that tree; it kind of makes me sick, the way it stinks. Only it’s beautiful to look at...that’s why I’m there—to pick myself a bushel of diamonds. But I know the minute I try to, the minute I reach up a snake is gonna fall on me. A snake that guards the tree…And Jesus, I don’t know how to fight a snake.”(92) Perry’s dream represents Perry’s struggle in life. Perry is the tree and the snake stopping himself from achieving his goals. The stench represents Perry’s impurity, the loneness represents Perry’s emotional state of feeling lonely, and as the snake he stops himself from getting the diamonds. Capote’s use of imagery places the reader in an uncomfortable placing, causing them to feel sorry, but fearful as well.