In Cold Blood Essay Plans

FAMILY

CLUTTER FAMILY: 'master of River Valley Farm' 'the tension, the withdrawals, the pillow-muted sobbings behind locked doors'' 'Eden on Earth/ patch of paradise' PERRYS LACK OF FAMILIAL SUPPORT: 'Look at me, Perry. I'm the last living thing you're ever gonna see' 'they tossed me out of the orphanage, and she [his mother] put me some place worse' 'without direction, without love and without ever haing absorbed any fixed sense of moral values'

LOSS

CLUTTER FAMILY: 'such plain virtue, could overnight be reduced to this smoke' 'patch of paradise, Eden on earth' 'a president of her class, a leader in the 4H programme and the Young Methodists League' PERRY: 'Steps, noose mask;' 'stained/ ink/ paint/ Maybe I had something to contribute' 'call me 'niger' and say there wasn't any differnce between nigers and Indians'

POLICE

DEWEYS: 'off comes the gun and on goes the apron' 'uproar/ harassing/ endangered/ strangers' 'imagination roam through the house he hoped to have' THE EXECUTIONS/ SENTENCING: 'bleakly lighted cavern cluttered with lumber and other debris' 'the old cells were malodorous cauldrons' 'suavely tough little septuagenarian, has an imposing reputation amongst his peers'

AMBITION

DICK HICOCK AND PERRY SMITH: 'incessent conceiver of voyages' 'we built ever damn piece of it ourselves' 'A marks in several subjects/ an outstanding athlete' NANCY AND BONNIE: 'president of her class, a leader in the 4H programme and the Young Methodists League' 'that once I succeeded at something' 'pastrys, preserves, needlework, flower arranging'

NATURE/ NURTURE

HICOCK AND LOWELL LEE ANDREWS: ' a bitter sediment at the bottom of his nature' 'the brilliant son, the adored brother, was planning to poison them all' '"open them up and let a little of their luck spill on the floor"' PERRY: 'Black widows were always at me. Hitting me' 'Smith shows definite signs of severe mental illness' 'call me 'niger' and say there wasn't any difference between 'nigers' and Indians'

REVENGE/ RETIRBUTION

HICOCK AND PERRY REVENGE AGAINST OPPRESSION: 'goddam dollar. Silver dollar. The shame. Disgust' 'open him up and let a little of his luck spill on the floor' 'Black Widows were always at me. Hitting me' STATE MURDER: 'bleakly lighted cavern cluttered with lumber and other debris' 'this request is made not in vengeance but in all humbleness' 'hangman, who cast a long shadow from his perch'

PLACE/ SETTING

HOLCOMB: 'high wheat plains' 'local accent is barbed' 'white cluster of grain elevators rising as gracefully as Greek temples' THE CORNER: 'a bleakly lighted cavern cluttered with lumber and other debris' 'hangman, who cast a long shadow from his perch' 'parade drums, heralded.'

INSIDERS/OUTSIDERS

HOLCOMB: 'narrow fronteir trousers, Stetsons and high heeled boots' 'high wheat plains' 'white cluster of Grain elevators rising as gracefully as Greek temples' PERRY: ' the aura of an exiled animal, a creature walking wounded' 'call me 'niger' and say there wasn't no difference between 'nigers' and Indians.' 'Three aspiring, cold root beer, and a chain of Pall Mall cigarettes'

COMMUNITY

KANSAS: 'local accent is barbed' 'narrow frontier trousers, Stetsons and high heeled boots' 'white cluster of grain elevators rising as gracefully as Greek temples'

CRIMINAL BEHAVIOUR

LOWELL LEE ANDREWS AND HICOCK 'a bitter sedinment at the bottom of his nature' 'silk shirts and drive scarlet sports cars' '"open them up and let a little of their luck spill on the floor"' PERRY SMITH 'I thought of the goddam dollar. Silver dollar. The shame. Disgust' 'definite signs of severe mental illness' 'Black Widows were always hitting me. Hitting me.'

MORALITY

MORALITY OF THE STATE: 'bleakly lighted cavern cluttered with lumber and other debris' 'merely cheapens human life and gives rise to more murders' 'childish feet, tilted, dangling' PERRY AND DICK: 'Smiths shows definite signs of severe mental illness' 'Black Widows were always at me. Hitting me' '"open them up and let a little of their luck spill on the floor"'

PERSECUTION/ PREDJUDICE

MORALITY OF THE STATE: 'bleakly lighted cavern cluttered with lumber and other debris' 'merely cheapens human life and gives rise to more murders' 'childish feet, tilted, dangling' PERRY'S CHILDHOOD: 'Black Widows were always at me. Hitting me' 'call me 'niger' and say there wasn't any difference between nigers and Indians' 'blue leaves and diamonds hanging everywhere/ snake that guars the tree'

GENDER ROLES

NANCY AND THE FOIL IN BONNIE: 'the tension, the withdrawals,the pillow-muted, sobbings behind locked doors' 'the president of her class, a leader in the 4H programme and the Young Methodists League' 'miniature things? Tiny things?' HERB CLUTTER AND PERRY 'master of River Valley farm' 'chunky dwarfish legs/ pitifully scarred' 'teeth unstained and strong enough to shatter walnuts'

FRIENDSHIP

PERRY AND DICK 'to think I'd ever admired him, lapped up all that brag'

OPPORTUNITY AND LOST OPPORTUNITY

PERRY AND DICK: 'A marks in several subjects/ an outstanding athlete' 'ink/ paint/ stained' '"Maybe I had something t contribute, something-' NANCY: 'the preseident of her class, a leader in the 4H programme and Young Methodists League' 'pastry, preserves, needlework, flower arranging' 'such plain virtue could overnight be reduced to this smoke'

Education

PERRY AND HICOCK: 'IQ of 130' 'A marks in several subjects/ an outstanding athlete' 'above average in intelligence/ considering his poor educational background' NANCY: 'the president of her class, a leader in the 4H progamme and Young Methodists League' 'straight A student' 'pastrys, preserves, needlework, flower arranging'

MEN & FATHERS

PERRY AND HIS FATHER: 'Look at me, Perry. I'm the last living thing you're ever gonna see' 'my father was making bootleg hooch/ mother became aqquainte with alcohol' 'proceeded to beat my mother/ I thought so right up to the moment I cut his throat' HERB CLUTTER: 'master of River Valley Farm'/'leader/president' 'teeth, unstained and strong enough to shatter walnuts' 'graduated from Kansas State University'

PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIPS

PERRY AND HIS FATHER: 'Look at me, Perry. I'm the last living thing you're ever gonna see' 'proceeded to beat my mother/ frightfully scared' 'without direction, without love, and without ever having absorbed any fixed sense of moral values' HERB, BONNIE AND NANCY CLUTTER: '"She's got character. Gets it from her old man"' 'the president of her class and a leader in the 4H programme and the Young Methodists League' 'the tension, the withdrawals, the pillw-muted sobbing behin locked doors''

LOVE

PERRY AND WILLIE-JAY: 'only Willie-Jay had ever recognized his worth, his potentialities, had acknowledged' '

CHILDHOOD

PERRY SMITH: 'Black Widows were always at me. Hitting me' 'call me niger and say there wasn't any difference between nigers and Indians' 'my mother put me to stay in a Catholic orphanage' NANCY: 'the president of her class, a leader in the 4H programme and the Young Methodists League' 'pastrys, preserves, needlework, flower arranging' 'She's got character. Gets it from her old man'

JOURNEYS

PERRY: '

VIOLENCE

PERRY: 'Black Widows were always at me. Hitting me' 'Look at me, Perry. I'm the last living thing you're ever gonna see' 'called me 'niger' and siad there wasn't any difference between nigers and Indians' THE MURDER: 'steps, noose, mask' 'I thought he was a very nice getleman. Soft spoken. I thought s right up to the moment I cut his throat' 'invited to the ceremony/parade drums, heralded'

GUILT

PERRY: 'I thought he was a very nice gentleman. Soft spoken. I thought so right up to the moment until I cut his throat' '"It would be meaningless to apologise for what I did. Even inappropriate. But I do. I apologise' 'steps, noose, mask' DICKS LACK OF REMORSE: 'No rest for the wicked I guess' ''"open them up and let a little of their luck spill on their floor?"' 'the protocol surrounding this ritual of vengeance was not being properly observed'

HOPES AND DREAMS

PERRY: 'an incessant conceiver of voyages' 'blue leaves and diamonds hanging everywhere' 'recognized hiw worth, his potnetialities, had acknowledged that he was not just an undersized, overmuscled, half-breed' DEWEYS AND CLUTTERS: 'roam around the house he hoped to have' 'grove of fruit trees-- peach, pear, cherry and apple' 'such plain virtue, could overnight be reduced to this smoke'

HAPPINESS

PERRY: 'blue leaves and diamonds hanging everywhere' 'Perry baited hooks, daydreamed, sang and sometimes fished' 'use somemore of that Inez' BONNIE: 'the tension, the withdrawals, the pillow muted sobbings behind locked doors' 'Do you like minature things? Tiny things?' 'it was physical a matter of misplaced verterbrate'

POVERTY/WEALTH

PERRY: 'goddam dollar. Silver dollar. The shame. Disgust' 'blue leaves and diamonds hanging everwhere' 'primitive sort of trailer, what he called a 'house car'' HOLCOMB: 'a grove of fruit trees- peach, pair, cherry and apple' 'a white cluster of grain elevators rising as gracefully as Greek temples' 'graduated from Kansas State University'

DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES

PERRY: HIS DREAM AS A LIVING NIGHTMARE AND HIS REALITY: 'you can hear my legs cracking' 'a snake that guards that tree' 'bleakly light cavern cluttered with lumber and other debris' AMERICAN DREAM AND NIGHTMARE IN THE CLUTTERS: 'grove of fruit trees- peach, pear, cherry and apple' 'annihilating sky?' 'blood-soiled bed clothes, mattresses, a bedside rug, a Teddy-bear doll'

INNOCENCE AND LOSS OF THIS

PERRYS DESTROYED INNOCENCE: 'call me 'niger' amd say that there wasn't any difference between nigers and Indians.' 'Black Widows were always at me. Hitting me.' 'the same childish feet, tilted, dangling' NARRATIVE DISTROTION AS HICOCKS PRESENTED AS THE MURDERER DESPITE NOT ACTUALLY PERFORMING THE MURDERS: 'bitter sediment at the bottom of his nature' 'an outstanding athlete/ A marks in several subjects' '"open them up and let a little of their luck spill on the floor'

FATE/ DESTINY

PERRYS INEVITABLE DECLINE DUE TO POVERTY: 'the chocie was between Dick and nothing.... left in fact, only five hours earlier' 'I thought of the goddam dollar. Silver dollar. The shame. Disgust' 'destined to stop that very day' INABILITY TO ACHEIVE DESTINY IN NANCY AND HICOCK: 'president of her class, a leader in the 4H programme and Young Methodists League' 'pastrys, preserves, needlework and flower arranging' 'an outstanding athlete/ A marks in several subjects'

JUSTICE AND INJUSTICE

THE CORNER: 'cast a shadow from his perch' 'bleakly lighted cavern cluttered with lumber and other debris' 'parade drums, heralded/ ritual of vengeance' PERRYS MENTAL HEALTH AND UNJUST CHILDHOOD: 'Smith shows definite signs of severe mental illness' 'Black Widows were always at me. Hitting me' 'call me 'niger' and say there wasn't any difference between nigers and Indians'