Still confused
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Capote
MovieMuscle — 11 years ago(May 11, 2014 03:34 AM)
So, did he completely blast Hickock and Smith in the book (while seemingly warming up to them in the prison) and then felt incredibly guilty about it at the end towards the hanging??
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qkeck — 10 years ago(April 09, 2015 10:44 AM)
In Cold Blood is one of my favorite books - I've read it at least ten times. Capote is very straightforward about the events and the killers - I wouldn't call that blasting them. At the end he's grown to see them as people and has feeling toward Perry. That's the emotion at the end.
That being said - Im re watching the movie Capote as I type this - maybe I will think differently when it ends. -
paul-987 — 10 years ago(May 09, 2015 08:14 PM)
I think a big part of Capote's emotion when he sees them for the last time before the execution is that he's realizing how much he's used Perry. He spent huge amounts of time with Perry, but once Perry told him what happened on the night of the murders, Capote was through with him and stopped visiting. That shame, of using Perry to get what he needed to write his book and them discarding him, is what kept Capote away for so long not wanting to face him, knowing what he was doing. Plus, others at times accuse Capote of being in love with Perry and there's also the pain of realizing that he's used someone he loved and now has to watch him die. In real life, Capote watched Hickock's execution but couldn't bear to see Perry Smith die.
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Bibliofille — 9 years ago(December 02, 2016 08:13 AM)
In an interview Truman's editor (I think) said he (Truman) did witness Perry die and was in a collapsed state afterward. He went to the hanging with him and both were grounded and in shock after. And Truman himself said he had to stop the car on the trip back and cried for two hours. Maybe he exaggerated a little, I don't know, but there is no doubt he was profoundly marked by what he witnessed that night.
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SealedCargo — 6 years ago(June 05, 2019 08:48 AM)
he sure did USE Perry. he got Perry's entire side, not Dick's. he made Perry a sympathetic sweetheart and turned Dick into Manson, before there was a Manson. I don't know. if he used Perry, he used him like Kerouac used Neal Cassiday. he made him a legend.
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sherineyousery — 10 years ago(June 06, 2015 09:24 AM)
I think the guilt was because of more than one reason:
1- He could have assigned more lawyers and he didn't, I am not sure why.
2- He probably blasted them in the novel or at least showed them as criminals but the way he treated Smith was different. He was a little bit of a hypocrite on both sides in my opinion, to get his work done.
3- He fell in love with him, but let him go (die). -
Bibliofille — 9 years ago(December 02, 2016 08:24 AM)
He could have assigned more lawyers and he didn't, I am not sure why.
Maybe because even if he he has feels for Perry he knew very well that he had to die for his crimes? Perry did kill an entire family in cold blood. And that exactly why Truman felt so guilty: on one hand he bonded with Perry and didn't wanted him to die, on the other hand Perry had to die for Truman to be able to finish his book. But maybe deep down he felt also guilt for befriending and even ( for that last point we would never know for sure) falling in love with a monstrous killer. He mus have been stuck between a rock and a very hard place there, not knowing how to react, he must have had a really tough time with his feeling. -
SealedCargo — 6 years ago(June 05, 2019 08:47 AM)
oh please. Perry deserved to die FOUR times longer.
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SealedCargo — 6 years ago(June 05, 2019 08:47 AM)
he blasted Dick (wow, that sounds wrong) by only having Perry tell his side of the story.
The Fearmakers Blog
https://thefearmakers.blogspot.com/