Monday, November 2, 2009
Perry's Dream
Perry describes a recurring dream involving a tree full of diamonds guarded by a snake (92). He relates this dream to Dick but never finishes. What is the significance of this dream (the diamonds, the snake, the parrot)? What does it tell us about Perry's character (and about his childhood)? How is this dream related to other myths or archetypical stores you are familiar with? Also, what does the communication of this dream (or lack of communication) tells us about Dick and Perry?
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This dream is significant because it represents many relationships in Perry's life including his relationship with Dick and the nuns that looked after him in the orphanages when he was a child.
ReplyDeleteIn this dream Perry is reaching for the diamonds in the tree, knowing that he will get attacked by the snake if he does so. in Perry;s relationsip with Dick, the diamonds are the energy and excitement that Dick brings with him. Perry has said earlier that he likes that about Dick, he takes risks and he has an air of confience that allows him to do risky things, and Perry craves this in his life. However, the snake is perhaps Dick's disinterest in Perry's ideas, theories, stories, and particularily this dreas; or perhaps the snake is the potential punishment or consequence for killing the Clutters. Perry grasps one of the diamonds and helps Dick in killing the Clutters and now he might have to face consequences in the future, but for right now Dick's disapproval is bothering Perry. The savior bird in this scenario is Willie Jay, however, unlike in Perry's dream, the bird is not going to save him this time, Perry has to save himself. Willie Jay is not relevant in Perry and Dick's relationship.
The Bird first comes to Perry's dream and rescues him when he is being beaten by the nun, the bird who, "blinded the nuns with its beak, fed apon their eyes, slaughtered them as they 'pleaded for mercy', then so gently lifted him, enfolded him, winged him away to 'paradise'" (93). In this scenario the diamonds are not necessarily a prize or something to lust after, but rather just the elements and struggles of everyday life. As perry tries to make it through every day of his childhood, the snakes, or in this case the nuns attack him, literally. In Perry's relationship with the nuns that savior bird is actually the Parrot that drags him out of reality and takes him to a better place.
This reoccuring dream plays an important role in Perry's life. It directly relates to many relationships he's had which also include those with his father and sister, where there is something to have greed for, to want, and a negative aspect or consewuence that comes along with it. This dream is as reoccuring as the falty relationships that have been present all throughout Perry's life.
The diamonds are something of great value and something Perry is chasing, like the treasure down in Mexico. The snake represents something stopping him from achieving his goals or dreams. The snake also represents his fears. The parrot is a friend or protector that saves him. Perry has dreamed or fantasized all his life of the things he does not have. His childhood as an orphan of mixed race was extremely poor and unhappy. The dream is significant because Perry’s childhood and his life after childhood is a series of events where he is tormented by people. Starting with the nuns in the orphanage and followed by others. The parrot always saved him. “As the years went by, the particular torments from which the bird delivered him altered; others-older children, his father, a faithless girl, a sergeant he’d known in the Army-replaced the nuns, but the parrot remained, a hovering avenger.” (93)
ReplyDeleteIt sounds similar to some more modern stories like Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and the final scene of Lord of the Rings. In J.K. Rowlings story, Harry is attacked by the Basilisk, a huge serpent, and is saved by a bird called the Phoenix. The treasure or (diamonds) is a diary. In J.R.R. Tolkiens Lord of the Rings, Frodo and Sam are also rescued by eagles after throwing the ring back into the Fires of Mt. Doom.
When Perry tells Dick about the dream, Dick is uninterested and his response is to tell a dirty joke. It tells us that Dick and Perry are very different people, such as Dick is superficial, and wants to get on with life, and Perry is a dreamer who related to people like Willie-Jay.
its been 11 years sice you posted this. mind id i cite this in a powerpoint?
DeleteThe dream seems to hold a deep significance for Perry. The diamonds on the trees represent the many rewards that just sit right in front of you. It seems too good to be true, yet inside of the great reward is a beast waiting to trap you. The snake represents the catch that typically exists in things that are too good to be true. Perry is a risk taker though, so he "takes his chances." I think that the fact that Perry is willing to risk getting eaten by the snake for the diamonds shows how much of a risk taker he is. This would apply to Perry's involvement of the Clutter family. We do not know his motive yet, but as of this point in the book it seems like they got little reward for killing the Clutters. For a normal person, the fear of life in prison or the death penalty is like the snake, but Perry ignores it.
ReplyDeleteThe bird represents some higher power that save's Perry from horrible events in his life. I think that it could be an embodiment of his incredible luck at times. I also think that he still believes in this bird as an adult, and although it is a symbol for hope, it is childish so he does not want to tell dick.
The parrot is the most significant part of the dream in my opinion. This shows a connection to earlier in the book when Willie-Jay considers Perry a “poet, something rare and salvagable” (42). The parrot is a vivdly colored imaginative creature that while Perry had never seen one in person, he was able to imagine it as though it were lifelike. This shows that deep inside Perry, who was beaten at a young age, there was hope like Willie-Jay saw. The hope and imagination that could have saved him were merely beaten out of him, but a bit stayed. While not enough to keep him from being a ruthless killer, enough that his dreams are vivid and reoccuring. While the parrot can stand for the fact that Perry is in fact a vivid, lifelike person, he supresses it all the same. While most of the dream is used for an insight into Perry’s life and childhood, the parrot shows the most about his personality throughout his entire existence.
ReplyDeletePerry uses his dream about the snake and the diamonds as an explanation for joining Dick. In this dream, Perry is hunting through the jungles looking for the diamonds. This could represent Perry joining Dick for the "score" or, as Pia stated in her post, the excitement and adventure that Dick gives off. However, there is a snake that is guarding the diamonds. Perry knows that there is a snake and knows the consequences for trying to take a diamond. Relating this to the crime, Perry knew the consequences that could be in store for him if he is caught. In the dream, Perry chooses to take the diamonds, hoping that he will be able to fight the snake because, as Perry stated in the book, "what it comes down to is I want the diamonds more than I'm afraid of the snake (92. As Robert's blog stated, Perry is a risk taker. He's a man who says " well, I'll take my chances (92). His need for excitement and for trying to forget Willie-Jay is stronger than his fear of going to jail of execution.
ReplyDeleteAs Perry is relaying this dream to Dick, he is reminded of a fact that he already knows. Dick is nothing like his former friend, Willie-Jay, his "real and only friend" (42). Willie-Jay is a man of morals. Perry refers to his as a saint. Willie-Jay listens to Perry in a way that Dick never does. He seems to understand Perry's problems and wants to help him and any way he can. He wants Perry to understand these dreams. Dick, on the other had, is a man of action. He doesn't understand the philosophical dreams and thoughts that Perry describes. Dick "took a dim view of Willie-Jay" (44). Even though Perry and Dick have become good accomplices, and possibly friends, Perry doesn't finish telling Dick the dream because, in the end, he knows that Dick doesn't really care about them the way that Willie-Jay did.
The story about the parrot and the nun mostly describes Perry's rough childhood. Pieces of it are true while others are some of Perry's hopes. It is probably true that Perry was beaten as a child. However, his rescuer was obviously not a giant parrot. I think he is referring to the person or event that saved him from the nuns' abuse. Maybe as a child, Perry used to imagine being saved. He saw his savior in the parrot. Perry doesn't tell DIck about this for the same reason he doesn't finish his story about the diamonds. Their relationship doesn't involve philosophy and hopes.
Perry’s dream seems to hold great importance to him. The dream can mean a lot of things but the reader at first glance get’s the thought of his childhood. Perry, who had a bizarre family, witnessed a lot of death, his brother and his wife (90). The diamonds, which branch off of the beautiful blue tree, represent his love for his family. Perry can’t seem to get them and as much as he wants to he runs into the snake. The snake, which protects this tree of diamonds, stands as a symbol of death. Perry is afraid of death, not only for him but the people which death had already taken. The yellow parrot, which Perry had dreamed about offered him rescue from the abusive nuns of his childhood orphanage. The parrot was a way out of his vicious childhood, it stood as a savior to him then, and a savior to him now, “but the parrot remained, a hovering avenger.” (93).
ReplyDeletePerry’s childhood was not a normal one. His dreams act as devises to get out of his suffering childhood, to stay clear of self-pettiness. Although Perry grew up in a hard life, he made his way out. He has self-perseverance; he will not give up. When he states that he is afraid of the snakes that protect the diamond tree, he still tries to get the diamonds knowing that a snake would jump on him. After Capote introduces these dreams a new view of Perry shown, a view of dedication and commitment.
This dream is very similar to Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, a movie directed by Dore Virbinski; in the last scene where Johnny Depp (Perry) risks his life to get a heart (Diamonds) he knows that he will be faced with a fight. The fight is with the Dutchman who plays a similar roll to the snake. Depp is very scared of him and knows he might not come out alive but he still takes the risk. In the end a monkey comes and helps Depp win the fight (the parrot).
The dream says a lot about Perry and Dick’s relationship. Dick feels that he knows Perry all to well, although Perry does not. Perry still has a special relationship for Willie-Jay, and Dick is unaware of that. After Perry finishes his story about the dream Dick is clueless to what was said, as if he did not care. As a result Perry is offended and at first he does not mind it but then he thinks about Willie-Jay and how he would admire Perry’s dreams. It is obvious that Perry and Dick have a tight friendship, however the lack of communication could fall as a conflict in their relationship.
Perry from the beginning always had someone replacing the nun’s position in his life. Such as his father, a sergeant he had known, and other children always like the nun’s chose to torment Perry. In the end before the tormenting got to far the parrot of some shape or form would always reappear saving Perry time after time. The parrot as he said, “so gently lifted him, enfolded him, winged him away to “paradise’” (93) This paradise is unknown to us, but in Perry’s mind is a place with no worry, or concern. Being in this “paradise” gave him this feeling of power as he stated, and felt that he could do anything. I think that he felt this way because it’s the life he had always dreamed of but never had, happiness.
ReplyDeleteThis dream reflects a different more emotional side of Perry contrasting to his killer side. With part of this dream it intertwines both of these personalities. His dream seems at first a calm relaxing paradise, with a beautiful diamond tree. But with one touch, a snack guarding the tree outbursts and attacks whoever shall touch its diamonds. In a way can reflect who Perry really is, a simple, kind man who seems as if could harm nothing. But with one thing to trigger his adrenaline he turns into a massive killer. Reveling Perry’s double sided personality
The reoccurring dream that Perry has about the Diamonds on tree’s guarded by a snake, and the parrot show significance to Perry’s life and personality. I think that the Tree of Diamonds and the Parrot have the most significance to Perry. The diamonds on the trees represent the wealth and rewards of life. It seems too good for it to actually be there…when you go for the riches of life, you are stopped by a beast in which this case is the snake but I think the snake is a metaphor for the troubles of life that lead you away from the riches such as Perry’s criminal career. But Perry is not the kind of man that worries about risks, He pushes himself to ignore that the snake is even there and goes after the main prize of riches and such. This is why Perry has been in jail and a natural born killer because he’s not afraid of the risk involved in getting the jackpot of life, so to speak. I think the Parrot represents god in away, as if you believe in it then the bird can help you through hardships and save you from a lot of bad events in Perry’s life. In a way the parrot also represents the concept of religion, giving you something to believe in and religion can save you from a horrible event if you just believe in it. At least that’s what some people argue. Overall I think that this dream gives Perry and Dick on the same page for why they would want to kill someone. It kind of gives them a starting point into the thinking of each other.
ReplyDeleteThe dream seems to hold a deep significance for Perry. The diamonds on the trees represent the many rewards that just sit right in front of you. It seems too good to be true, yet inside of the great reward is a beast waiting to trap you. The snake represents the catch that typically exists in things that are too good to be true. Perry is a risk taker though, so he "takes his chances." I think that the fact that Perry is willing to risk getting eaten by the snake for the diamonds shows how much of a risk taker he is. This would apply to Perry's involvement of the Clutter family. We do not know his motive yet, but as of this point in the book it seems like they got little reward for killing the Clutters. For a normal person, the fear of life in prison or the death penalty is like the snake, but Perry ignores it.
ReplyDeleteThe bird represents some higher power that save's Perry from horrible events in his life. I think that it could be an embodiment of his incredible luck at times. I also think that he still believes in this bird as an adult, and although it is a symbol for hope, it is childish so he does not want to tell dick.
(Originally posted Nov 9, but disappeared somehow)