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Truman Capote
What position comes closest to your view about the punishment of the Clutter family murderers?
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November
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Herb Clutter
What question do you most want answered in reading the book?
Kansas Plain
Perry's relationship with his father is a complicated one. Out of all the children Perry's mom took with her, one he went back with his dad when given the chance. Barbara however did not go back with her dad and for this she is in a since disconnected from the family no matter how hard she try's. It is also clear that Perry and his dad were not the perfect pair seeing as Tex failed to posses any interest in music and the arts. This always created a rift between the two as they realized they were very different people. What did unite them is that they were all each other had, and because of Perry's decision to run away with his dad, Tex would love Perry no matter what. The same can not be said for Barbara, who despite clear efforts to make her dad proud, can never be close to being loved as much as Perry. This rubs off in a bitter way in her letter to Perry, and is the result of her ignorance to why Perry is the only one her father truly loves; he was the only one who never abandon him. Perry does not like his sister, perhaps more so than she does not like him. He shows this when he remembers tell Dick "The only real regret I have- I wish the hell my sister had been in that house." on page 143.
ReplyDeletePerry has very complicated relationships with with sister and father; however, they are very different.
ReplyDeleteWhen Perry reads the letter to the prison from his father, it is clear to the reader that Tex loves Perry very much because he admits that his son has flaws, such as a short temper, but puts more emphasis on his talents and good attributes, "Perry likes to be his own Boss & if he is given a chance to work at a job he likes, tell him how you want it done, then leave him alone, he will take great pride in doing his work" (128). His father also says, "For the experience he has had he is real good" (128). It is obvious that Perry's father not only loves his son, but is proud of all the he has accomplished.
I also believe that his father takes credit for a lot of what Perry has done in his life. Tex talks about teaching his son to never start a fight, but to fight back if he were to be attacked and various other life lessons that he thinks are important; he also says, "Perry is like myself great deal" (128). This quotation shows Tex has raised his son to be like him, and the tone of this letter tells the reader that this is a good thing. Perry and Tex have a distant but good relationship and it is clear that they cherish each other very much. This letter shows that Tex is not an exceptionally learned man, but he knows enough about life to be proud of his son.
Contrary to this, Perry's sister Barbara's letter expresses displeasure with Perry's choices and lifestyle. Barbara says, "I truthfully feel none of us have anyone to blame for whatever we have done with out own personal lives. It has been proven that at the age of 7 most of us have reached the age of reason-which means we do, at this age, understand & know the difference between right & wrong. Of course-environment plays an awfully important part in our lives such as the Convent in mine & in my case i am grateful for that influence" (139). Although Perry's sister is saying that he should no be blamed for his decisions, there is an air of superiority in her letter that is expressed in this quotation. Barbara is saying that she doesnt blame Perry, but that he did make a wrong decision that changed his life for the worst. In this letter, Barbara is almost bragging about her children , husband and the convent; it may seem to the reader that she is comparing her lifestyle to Perry's and saying 'look at what i have, and look what you dont have because of your decisions'. Barbara also expresses her jealousy of Perry's relationship with his father with the sentence about influence in that same quotation. The reader might interpret that Barbara blames Tex for raising Perry in a way that has now gotten him in trouble. I believe that Barbara loves Perry but she does not feel close to him and considers herself far superior to him.
These letters are obviously very different; where Tex's letter expresses his approval and praise of Perry, Barbara's does the exact opposite. These letters prove that Perry's relationship with his father is far better than that of his sister. Also, the jealousy and resentment Barbara feels towards Perry, but mainly Tex is very evident in her letter.
well after pia there isn't that much to say. though perry's relationship with his sister and father is a complicated one. I had the opinion at the begining of the book that perry was the type of person to have broken off family ties. though he is still connected with his father and sister. though he is a outlandish criminal, he is also an intellectual. Perry seems at first impression like one who would have left his family behind like clyde barrow did in the early 1930's. though he still keeps a small string of a relationship to his father and sister. his father as you can tell is a person who is a proud father (i do not know how.) though his sister beleives that perry has more to offer the world. also she disagrees with his choice of life as an outlaw.
ReplyDeletePerry’s remaining family is his father Tex and one of his sisters Barbara (aka by her father, Bobo). While Perry was in the Kansas State Penitentiary, his father wrote a letter to the Kansas State Parole Board called “A History of My Boy’s Life.” In the Letter it is clear that Perry’s father loves him and is guilty of how he raised him and left him to the nuns. In the letter, Perry’s father states, “I’ll share all I have with Perry. Anytime I eat he eats. As long as I’m alive, & when I die I’ve got life insurance that will be paid to him so he can start LIFE Anew when he gets free again.” (130) Perry carries this letter with him so it seems important to him to have this connection with his father.
ReplyDeletePerry also carries a letter from his sister Barbara, which he also received while he was in the Penitentiary. The Letter starts “Dearest Bro. Perry.” (138) Barbara was kind and loving in the first parts of her letter, but ends up blaming him for what happened to break the family apart. She says, “In case you want the truth about Dad-his heart is broken because of you. He would give anything to get you out so he can have is son back-but I am afraid you would only hurt him worse if you could.” (141) Barbara feels that their dad has a more special bond with Perry than she does with her father. Perry hates his sister and carries the letter to remind him of how much he hates her. He told Dick, “The only real regret I have-I wish the hell my sister that been in that house.” (143)
The family clearly have strong feelings towards each other. It does not seem as if their differences can ever be resolved.
Perry's relationship with his family is very weak. The family's relationship as a whole is very weak. Perry's family split up when Perry was just a boy, and the only child that Tex, Perry's father, had any interest in keeping in touch with and staying with was really Perry.
ReplyDeletePerry's relationship with his sister is distant. The reader can tell that Perry's relationship with his sister is distant because the letter from Barbara begins with her telling Perry all about her life and the status of her family and children. The reader can clearly tell that Perry has not had very much contact with her family, if he has even had any. Barbara's letter is very encouraging to Perry as she wants him to be the best that he can be and she knows that he can be a successful person he just needs to start with a clean slate. She has one important quote in the letter which is, "It is no shame to have a dirty face--the shame comes when you keep it dirty" (140). This quote is saying that he shouldn't be ashamed of the few little mistakes he made, but he should just try and continue on with his life with a clean slate and not do bad things like he has done in the past.
Barbara also talks about her father. She says, "In case you want the truth about Dad--his heart is broken because of you. He would give anything to get you out so he can have his son back--but I am afraid you would only hurt him worse if you could"(141). Perry basically came off as Tex's favorite child, and Perry has disappointed him. Perry has not been a loyal son and Tex, in old age, needs Perry to be a good son, and Barbara proves that Perry has not fulfilled that duty.
In her letter, Barbara basically proves that the Smith family is quite a dysfunctional family. They do not have a strong relationship at all and they do not seem like they care very much to be a true family.
Perry’s relationship with his father is very complicated, When Perry’s parents separated and He had to go with his mom, at the first chance he got to go back with his parents he took it and returned with his dad. Perry’s sister did not take this route and is now forever distant from Perry and his father. But even though Perry and Tex lived together their relationship was not as close as you would think, they had very different personalities and it shows in how they interact with each other. Even though they don’t have similar personalities, they would still get along fine because of Perry’s decision to go with his dad and not his mother. Barbara’s relationship to both Perry and Tex is a distant one as she is disconnected to them because she chose to stay with her mom. This is very clear in the letter to Perry; she shows bitterness about him and Tex. The letter is the best indication of the three’s relationship to each other. Because Barbara and Perry’s mutual hate of one another are shown in the letter and when Perry says to dick "The only real regret I have- I wish the hell my sister had been in that house." (143). In all, between the three of them they all seem to have a very distant relationships with each other but Perry and Tex is not nearly as distant as Barbara’s is to both Perry and to Tex.
ReplyDeletePerry has an interesting relationship with his father and his sister, as these are the only two family members that he kept in contact with later in his life. Because of the intense family issues that Perry encountered as a child, his relationship was bound to not be a normal one.
ReplyDeletePerry’s relationship with his father, Tex, changed significantly over time. When Perry’s mother left his father, she took all of the children. Perry’s dad had really only developed a great relationship with Perry, and therefore he was not willing to give him up. The reason for this great relationship between Perry and his father is explained in this quotation. "Perry is like myself great deal" (128). The context of this quote is when Perry’s dad is speaking of Perry when he was a child. So after his mom took Perry away, Perry’s father, Tex, goes and takes him back. When Perry was a child, he admired his father and they had a great relationship, however, this would change in years to come. When he leaves the house, and ends up going to jail, he ends up breaking his father’s heart. “In case you want the truth about Dad-his heart is broken because of you. He would give anything to get you out so he can have is son back-but I am afraid you would only hurt him worse if you could” (141). This quotation, from Barbara’s letter expresses how the relationship changed as Perry’s life developed.
Perry also has an interesting relationship with his sister, Barbara. This relationship is shown through the letter that Barbara sent Perry when he was in jail. Though this letter is long and has many different points, the main theme of this letter is how Perry has brought the family disappointment, as they all had high hopes for Perry, and Barbara is very clear that she does not like Perry because of what he did. His relationship is very strong in a negative sense with Barbara.
Perry’s background shows the tense and often hostile relationship between his family members. His relationship with his dad is the most important one. The differences seen between Perry and his siblings may possibly stem from Perry’s mother raising all of his other siblings while his father raised only Perry. Perry never connected with his other siblings because they lived apart.
ReplyDeletePerry’s relationship with his father began well and ended in a poor state. Perry and his father were connected to each other well during Perry’s early years, but as Perry started discovering his artistic side, he and his father fell out. His father was the only person that Perry could truly rely on, so it is fitting that Perry was involved with some shady people in some illegal operations after he and his father split. His relationship with his sole surviving sibling is not good. His family definitely had some emotional problems, since some of Perry's other siblings were killed or killed them self in some way. Perry views his sole surviving sister as an annoyance. I think that Perry is annoyed at how she has managed to make her life decent while he had to experience an unfortunate break with his father and trouble with the law.
(Originally posted Nov 9, but disappeared somehow)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletePerry has very complicated relationships both with his father, Tex, and his sister, Barbara, his only two surviving family members. The book does not discuss his relationships with his other siblings. His relationship with his mother is briefly described in the book. Perry's mother, being a drunkard, abuses all of her children after she and Tex separated. She calls Perry names and eventually kicks him out of her house. This is one of the factors that makes Perry realize that there are people in this world that he can't rely on.
ReplyDeletePerry's father is one member of the family that still has faith in him. He knows all of his son’s faults, but he still believes that he will become a good person. Tex is the first person who Perry puts his trust in.
When he was a child, Perry would try to run away to his father, which resulted in him getting kicked out. Tex has a bond with Perry and reclaims him as his own. As Perry grows up, he starts blaming his father for his issues. He blames Tex for taking his out of school after the third grade. Perry believes that it is this fact that turns him into a criminal. Even though, Tex admits that he took him out of school, he believes that it is Perry’s own fault. He also believes that Perry will learn from his first experience and will not do anything to land himself in the same position. This relationship between father and son leads to Perry’s first experience with letting people down, but he doesn’t see it that way. Perry sees this as another example that he can’t rely on those that are close to him.
Perry’s relationship with his sister is filled with hardships and disagreements like other brother and sister relationships. It is obvious that Barbara loves him, but Perry does not want to see it. All he sees is that yet another person in his life is turning against him. Instead of listening to her advice, which is trying to show him the errors of his ways, Perry uses this letter as a reason to hate her. When Barbara hears of Perry’s latest crime, she is not surprised, but afraid for herself and her family. She moves from her previous house so that she does not have to talk to him. Unlike Tex, Barbara has given up on Perry, believing that he is now beyond redemption.
In the end, Perry has convinces himself that he has no family that he can trust. Every that is alive in his family is as dead as his mother, brother, and sister. Dick is now the only ‘family’ he has left to trust.