Sunday, March 6, 2011

Text Connections

            Since this novel is based on a true story it lends it self to many connections to the real world. Capote himself alludes to many outside sources within the book. He alludes to Greek temples as he proclaims that “the land is flat, and the views are awesomely extensive; horses, herds of cattle, a white cluster of grain elevators rising as gracefully as Greek temples are visible long before a traveler reaches them” (3). It hardly seems coincidental that he picked Greece for a description of the Kansas landscape since it was a civilization with many successes followed by its ultimate downfall; a trend that is foreshadowed in Holcomb later.
            It is also revealed that Nancy Clutter alludes to a character in Wuthering Heights named Heathcliff. Although she is describing a minor character, the level of detail is once again applauded. The fact that Capote was able to pick up on such a minor detail gives credence to his research and his portrayal of the story.
           Capote’s style of switching between the murderer’s point of view and the Clutters’/Holcomb community’s point of view is a stylistic choice also employed by the author of Flipped, Wendelin Van Draanen. Although Van Daraanen chooses to take a he-said-she-said approach, the fact that both the plots are divided in such a way suggests a commonality between the books.
            Finally I had flashbacks to when I read Monsters on Maple Street, when the community of Holcomb was in frenzy the days subsequent to the murders. It is also suggested by Bess Hartman that the murderers could be someone they knew. In both stories the individuals of the community started second-guessing their neighbors and everybody went into a level of panic and mistrust.

1 comment:

  1. Wow Tanisha- I can definitely see the connections you have made in paragraphs one and four (unfortunately I have not received the chance to look into the other books/ stories mentioned). I absolutely LOVE your connection to Greek architecture and the foreshadowing of the rise and sudden fall. That is pure brilliance. That is not something I would have ever caught, but since I have read this post, I am undoubtedly intrigued. This inspires me to look much deeper into the materials that will be put in front of me in the near future.

    Monsters on Maple Street. Seventh grade Votava- yes, surely a flashback. All of the characters in that story had run amuck at the thought of danger although there was not much to fear. But, in Capote's novel, fear was definitely present. Visualizing both of these events leads me to finding the connection that you have found. Great work!

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