In Cold Blood (Part 1): Pages 36-44
Summary
TLDRThe script covers a reading from 'In Cold Blood,' focusing on two characters, Perry and Dick, as they prepare for a crime, discussing gloves, stockings, and rope for the operation. It then shifts perspective to Kenyon, a young boy working on projects in his home, reflecting on relationships, personal losses, and his solitary nature. The script further delves into Perry's psychological complexities, his relationship with an ex-cellmate, and his inner turmoil, as highlighted by a thoughtful letter about his character flaws and emotional struggles.
Takeaways
- 📖 The reading session begins with a continuation of 'In Cold Blood' from page 36, focusing on the story of Perry and Dick's criminal plans.
- 🚗 Perry and Dick shop for items needed for their crime, including gloves and rope, showcasing their different approaches to planning.
- 🧠 Perry expresses doubt about Dick's confidence that no witnesses will be left, revealing tension and uncertainty between the two.
- 🔧 The narrative switches to Kenyon, a character working on a hope chest for his sister in the basement, highlighting his carpentry skills.
- 🏡 Kenyon and his sister Nancy take pride in their efforts to brighten up the basement, turning it into a den for friends and family.
- 🐕 The scene shows Kenyon’s bond with his sister and the family pets, demonstrating a contrast to Perry and Dick’s darker activities.
- 🏞️ Kenyon reflects on his adventures with his friend Bob, including coyote chasing and rabbit hunting, portraying his rural Kansas lifestyle.
- 💔 Kenyon feels distant from Bob as Bob has started dating, marking a shift in their friendship as Kenyon remains focused on hobbies and independence.
- 💀 Perry's relationship with Dick is explored further, emphasizing Perry's deep insecurities, superstitions, and inner conflicts regarding the murder plan.
- 📜 Perry reflects on his past friendship with Willie Jay, a former inmate, whose psychological insights still haunt Perry, deepening his inner turmoil.
Q & A
What is the context of the scene being read from *In Cold Blood*?
-The scene describes Dick and Perry, two criminals, planning a robbery and murder. They stop in Emporia, Kansas to purchase supplies, including gloves and rope, which are essential for their plan. The narrative also shifts to Kenyon Clutter, one of the eventual murder victims, who is working on carpentry in the basement of his home.
Why does Perry become irritated with Dick during their conversation?
-Perry becomes irritated because Dick repeatedly insists that there will be no witnesses to their crime, which Perry finds naive. Perry believes that unforeseen circumstances, or 'the ineffable,' can happen and that it's foolish to think there won't be any witnesses.
Why is Perry interested in buying black stockings from a nun?
-Perry suggests buying black stockings from a nun because he assumes that nuns would have them readily available. However, Perry also believes nuns and anything related to them are bad luck, which makes the situation ironic.
What personal philosophy does Perry hold regarding fate and his current actions?
-Perry believes that his current actions are dictated by fate, not personal desire. He feels that fate has arranged the situation, and despite not wanting to be involved, he accepts his role in the crime as inevitable.
What is the significance of Willie-Jay in Perry’s life?
-Willie-Jay is Perry’s only real friend and a former cellmate. Willie-Jay believed in Perry's potential for redemption and tried to lead him toward spiritual salvation. Perry admired Willie-Jay’s intelligence and saw him as someone who truly understood him, despite Perry’s lack of belief in God.
How does Kenyon Clutter's personality differ from his father’s?
-Kenyon is described as sensitive and reserved, traits he shares with his mother, Bonnie, rather than his father, Herb Clutter. He is depicted as a thoughtful and introspective boy, more interested in solitary activities like carpentry and inventions than socializing or sports.
Why has the friendship between Kenyon and Bob Jones changed recently?
-The friendship between Kenyon and Bob has changed because Bob has started dating a girl, leaving Kenyon feeling somewhat left out. Kenyon, being a year younger and uninterested in romantic relationships, finds it difficult to relate to Bob’s new focus on girls.
What is the significance of the mahogany hope chest Kenyon is working on?
-Kenyon is building a mahogany hope chest as a wedding gift for his sister, Beverly. The chest symbolizes Kenyon’s craftsmanship and his desire to contribute something meaningful to his sister’s future life.
How does Kenyon feel about his horse, Skeeter?
-Kenyon is deeply attached to his horse, Skeeter, who died of heart failure while being ridden. Even a year after the horse's death, Kenyon continues to mourn him, despite his father’s promise to give him another horse.
What does Willie-Jay's letter to Perry suggest about Perry’s inner struggles?
-Willie-Jay’s letter highlights Perry’s emotional instability and inner conflicts. He describes Perry as a man of extreme passion who is torn between self-expression and self-destruction. Willie-Jay warns that unless Perry learns to control his emotional outbursts and his resentment towards others, these flaws will ultimately defeat him.
Outlines
📖 Introduction to 'In Cold Blood' and Setting the Scene
The speaker introduces the continuation of the reading of *In Cold Blood*, starting at page 36, and provides behind-the-scenes details about a costume change due to changing weather. They describe a scene where two characters, Dick and Perry, shop for gloves and discuss the need for items such as stockings and rope, with Dick downplaying potential witnesses to their crimes. Perry, however, is more cautious, aware of the unpredictability of circumstances.
🏀 Kenyon's Personality and Adventures
Kenyon, a reserved boy, is described as physically strong but uncoordinated and reliant on glasses. Despite his limitations, he enjoys outdoor adventures, such as coyote hunting and rabbit roundups with his close friend Bob. However, their friendship is strained as Bob begins dating, leaving Kenyon feeling isolated. The passage emphasizes Kenyon’s preference for solitude, machines, and hobbies over romantic relationships.
🌸 Kenyon's Bond with His Family and Sense of Loss
Kenyon’s close relationship with his family is explored, particularly with his sister Nancy and their shared moments of tending to the garden. There is also a discussion of his feelings about becoming an uncle. His memory of his horse Skeeter, who died unexpectedly, evokes a sense of loss that still lingers with him. Kenyon's preference for practical activities over emotional connections is highlighted.
🚗 Perry's Superstitions and Motives
The scene shifts to Perry waiting in the car while Dick attempts to buy stockings from a nun. Perry's belief in fate and various superstitions, such as his discomfort around the number 15 and nuns, is explored. Perry reflects on his deeper reasons for returning to Kansas, not for Dick's plan but to reunite with Willie Jay, a friend and spiritual guide who had a significant influence on him during his time in prison.
💌 Perry and Willie Jay's Friendship and Perry's Inner Conflict
The relationship between Perry and Willie Jay is further elaborated. Willie Jay, a former cellmate and religious figure in the prison, saw potential in Perry and tried to guide him spiritually. Despite his respect for Willie Jay, Perry ultimately rejects religion, causing a rift in their friendship. Willie Jay's farewell letter to Perry is full of insight, warning him about his self-destructive tendencies and emotional volatility, which Perry struggles to control.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Black Chevrolet
💡Rubber Gloves
💡No Witnesses
💡Mahogany Hope Chest
💡Emporia, Kansas
💡Rope
💡Willie-Jay
💡Superstition
💡The Clutter Family
💡Kenyon's Inventions
Highlights
The reading starts in the middle of page 36, discussing the journey of a black Chevrolet and its occupants reaching Emporia, Kansas.
The occupants of the car decide to do some shopping, starting with purchasing rubber gloves for Perry.
Perry and Dick debate the necessity of wearing stockings to conceal themselves, with Perry concerned about hiding his eye injury.
Dick emphasizes there will be no witnesses to their crime, a sentiment that irritates Perry.
Perry demonstrates his expertise with ropes by selecting a strong white nylon cord for their operation.
The perspective shifts to Kenyon, who is working on a chest as a wedding present for his sister Beverly.
Kenyon is portrayed as a sensitive, creative boy who excels at carpentry and enjoys inventing things in his home workshop.
The relationship between Kenyon and his close friend Bob has changed due to Bob's interest in girls, while Kenyon remains focused on his hobbies.
Kenyon and Bob used to hunt coyotes together, racing them in an old truck they called the 'Coyote Wagon.'
Kenyon reflects on the loss of his horse Skeeter, which died of heart failure while running.
Perry's deep respect for superstitions is highlighted, including his belief that nuns, the number 15, and red hair bring bad luck.
Perry's return to Kansas is motivated by a desire to reunite with his old cellmate, Willie Jay, whom he greatly admired.
Willie Jay is described as a spiritual and intellectual influence on Perry, although Perry ultimately rejects his religious guidance.
Willie Jay's farewell letter to Perry reveals deep insights into Perry's character, describing him as a man torn between self-expression and self-destruction.
The letter emphasizes Perry's internal struggle with anger and resentment toward others, which Willie Jay believes will ultimately defeat him.
Transcripts
hello and welcome back to in cold blood
part one we will be starting kind of in
the middle a little lower down from the
middle on page 36.
i have had a costume change because i
thought it was warm outside but now i'm
a little cold because it's the evening
just a little behind the scenes i'm sure
you guys were just dying for
alrighty we are going to be on
the line that says by mid-afternoon the
black chevrolet
by mid-afternoon the black chevrolet had
reached emporia kansas
a large town almost a city and a safe
place so the occupants of the car had
decided to do a bit of shopping
they parked on a side street then
wandered about until a suitable crowd
crowded variety store presented itself
the first purchase was a pair of rubber
gloves
those were for perry who unlike dick had
neglected to bring old gloves of his own
they moved on to a counter displaying
women's hosiery
after a spell of indecisive quibbling
perry said
i'm for it dick was not what about my
eye
they're all too light-colored to hide
that
miss said perry attracting a sales
girl's attention
you got any black stockings when she
told him no he proposed that they try
another school
school store black's foolproof
but dick had made up his mind stockings
of any shade were unnecessary an
encumbrance a useless
expense i've already invested enough
money in this operation
and after all anyone they encountered
would not live to bear witness
no witnesses he reminded perry for what
seemed to perry like the millionth time
it wrankled in him the way perry mouthed
those two or the the way dick mouthed
those two words
as though they solved every problem it
was stupid not to admit that there might
be a witness they hadn't seen
the ineffable happens they do take a
turn he said
but dick smiling boastfully boyishly did
not agree
get the bubbles out of your blood
nothing can go wrong no
because the plan was dicks and from the
first footfall to the final silence
flawlessly devised next they were
interested in rope
perry studied the stock tested it having
once served in the merchant marine he
understood rope and was clever with
knots
he chose a white nylon cord as strong as
wire and not much thicker
they discussed how many yards of that
they required the question
irritated dick for it was part of a
greater quandary
he could not despite the alleged
perfection of his overall design be
certain of the answer
eventually he said christ how the hell
should i know you damn well better
dick tried there's him her the kid and
the girl
and maybe the other two but it's
saturday they might have guests
let's count on eight or even 12. the
only sure thing
is every one of them has got to go seems
like a lot of it
to be so sure about ain't that what i
promised you honey
plenty of hair on them those walls perry
shrugged
then we better buy the whole roll it was
100 yards long
quite long enough for 12. kenyan had
built the chest himself so we're doing a
perspective switch here
a mahogany hope chest lined with cedar
which he intended to give beverly as a
wedding present
now working on it in the so-called den
in the basement he applied a last coat
of varnish
the furniture of the den a cement
floored room that ran the length of the
house
consisted almost entirely of exam of
examples of his carpentry
shelves tables stools a ping pong table
and nancy's needle roll
work chin slip covers that rejuvenated a
degree couch
curtains pillows bearing legends happy
and don't have to be crazy to live here
but it helps
together kenyon and nancy had made a
paint splattered attempt to deprive the
pace basement room of its unremovable
dowerness
and neither was aware of failure in fact
they both thought their den a triumph
and a blessing
nancy because it was a place where she
could entertain the gang without
disturbing her mother
and kenyon because he could be alone
free to bang saul
mess with his inventions the newest of
which was an electric deep dish frying
pan
adjoining the den was a furnace room
which contained a tool littered table
piled with some of his other works in
progress an amplifying unit
an elderly wind-up victrola that he was
restoring to service
i'm cold i gotta go inside welcome to
the dining room
i didn't pick these drapes they came
with the house i'm going to change them
all right so we are down uh talking
about kenyans and the um
inventions kind of on the the bottom
paragraph of page 38.
ken resembled neither his parents
physically his crew cut hair was hemp
colored
and he was six feet tall and lanky
though hefty enough to have once rescued
a pair of full-grown sheep by carrying
them
two miles through a blizzard sturdy
strong but cursed with a lanky boy's
lack of muscular coordination
this defect aggregated by an inability
to function without glasses
prevented him from taking more than a
token part in those sports teams
basketball and baseball that were the
main occupation of most boys
who might have been his friends had only
one close friend
bob jones the son of taylor jones whose
ranch was a mile west of the clutter
home
out in rural kansas boy star driving
cars very young
kenyon was 11 when his father allowed
him to buy with money he had earned
raising sheep
an old truck with a model a engine the
coyote wagon he and bob called it
not far from river valley farm there is
a mysterious stretch of countryside
known as
the sand hills it is like a beach
without an ocean
and at night coyotes slink among the
dunes assembling in hordes to howl
on moonlit evenings the boys would
descend upon them set them running and
try to outrace them in the wagon
they seldom dead for the scrawniest
coyote can hit 50 miles an hour
whereas the wagon's top speed was 35 but
it was a wild and beautiful kind of fun
the wagons getting across the sand and
fleeing coyotes framed against the moon
as bob said
it sure made your heart hurry equally
intoxicating and more profitable where
the rabbit round off ups the boy
two boys conducted
kenyan was a good shot and his friend a
better one and between them they
sometimes delivered half a hundred
rabbits to the rabbit factory
a garden city processing plant that paid
10 cents ahead for the animals
which were then quick frozen and shipped
to mink growers
but what meant most to kenyan and bob
too was their weekend
overnight hunting hikes along the shores
of the river wandering wrapping up in
blankets
listening at sunrise for the noise of
wings moving toward the sound on tiptoe
and then
sweetest of all swaggering homeward with
a dozen duck dinners swinging from their
belts
but lately things had changed between
kenyan and his friend
they had not quarreled there had not
there had not been
an overt falling out nothing had
happened except bob
who was 16 had started going with a girl
which meant that kenyan
a year younger and still very much the
adolescent bachelor
could no longer count on his
companionship bob told him
when you're my age you'll feel different
i used to think the same as you
women so what then you get to talking to
some woman
and it's mighty nice you'll see kenyan
doubted it
he could not conceive of ever wanting to
waste an hour on any girl that might be
spent with guns horses tools machinery
even a book
if bob was unavailable then he would
rather be alone for in temperament he
was not in the least mr clutter's son
but rather bonnie's child
a sensitive and reticent boy his
contemporaries thought him stand office
office yet forgave him saying oh kenyon
it's just that he lives in a world of
his own
leaving the varnish to dry he went on to
another chore one that took him out of
doors
he wanted to tidy up his mother's flower
garden a treasured patch of disheveled
foliage that grew beneath her bedroom
window
when he got there he found one of the
hired men loosening the earth with a
spade
paul helm the husband of the of the
housekeeper
seeing that car mr helmast yes kenyan
had seen the car in the driveway
a grey buick standing outside the
entrance of his father's office
thought you might know who it was not
unless it's mr johnson
dad said he was expecting him mr helm
the late mr helm he died of a stroke the
following march
was a somber man in his late 50s whose
withdrawn manner veiled in nature
keenly curious and watchful he liked to
know what was going on
which johnson the insurance fellow
mr helm grunted your dad must be laying
in a stack of it that car's been here
i'd say three hours
the chill of oncoming dust shivered
through the air and though the sky was
still deep blue
lengthening shadows emanated from the
gardens tall
chrysanthemum stalks nancy's cat
frolicked among them
catching its paws in the twine with
which kenyan and the old man were now
tying plants
suddenly nancy herself came jolly across
the fields aboard fat babe
babe returning from her saturday treat a
bath in the river
teddy the dog accompanied them and all
three were water splashed and shining
you'll catch cold mr helm said nancy
laughed she had never been ill
not once sliding off babe she sprawled
on the grass at the edge of the garden
and seized her cat
dangled him above her and kissed his
nose and whiskers kenyan was disgusted
kissing animals on the mouth you used to
kiss the
skeeter she reminded him skeeter was a
horse
a beautiful horse a strawberry stallion
that he had raised from a foal
how that skeeter could take offense use
a horse too hard
his father cautioned him one day you'll
run the life out of skeeter
and he had while skeeter was streaking
down the road with his master of stride
and his heart failed
he stumbled and was dead it's a really
bleak story to share
now a year later kenyon still mourned
him even though his father taking pity
on him had promised him the pick of next
spring's fall fools kenyon
nancy said do you think tracy will be
able to talk by thanksgiving
tracy not yet a year old was her nephew
the son of evianna and the sister to
whom she felt particularly close
beverly was kenyon's favorite it would
throw me to pieces to hear him say aunt
nancy or uncle kenyon
would you like to hear him say that i
mean don't you love being an
uncle kenyan good grief why can't you
ever answer me
because you're silly he said tossing her
the hair the head of a flower
a wilted dahlia which she jammed into
her hair
mr helm picked up a spade crows called
sundown was near but his home was not
the lane of chinese elms had turned into
a tunnel of darkening green
and he lived at the end of it half a
mile away evening
he said and started his journey journey
but once he looked back
and that he was to testify the next day
was the last
i seen them nancy leading old babe off
to the barn
like i said nothing out of the ordinary
the black chevrolet was again parked
this time in front of a catholic
hospital on the outskirts of emporia
under continued needling that's your
trouble you think there's only one way
dick's way dick had surrendered while
perry waited in the car
he had gone in the hospital to try and
bear buy a pair of black stockings from
a nun
this rather unorthodox method of
obtaining them had been perry's
inspirations
nuns he argued were certain to have a
supply
the notion presented one drawback of
course nuns and anything pertaining to
them were bad luck
he and perry was mo and perry was most
most respectful of his superstitions
some others were the number 15 red hair
white flowers priests crossing a road
snakes appearing in a dream still it
couldn't be helped
the compulsively superstitious person is
often
a serious believer in fate that was the
case with perry
he was here and embarked on the present
errand not because he wished to be
but because fate had arranged the matter
he could prove it though he had no
intention of doing so
or at least within dick's hearing for
the proof would involve his confessing
the true and secret motive behind his
return to kansas
a piece of parole violation he had
decided upon for a reason quite
unrelated to dick's score
or dick's summoning lit letter so
basically
dick said do you want to come do this
murder with me
um and he sent it in a letter come on
guys
the reason was several weeks earlier he
has learned that on thursday november
12th
another of his former cell mates was
being released from kansas state
penitentiary at lansing
and more than anything in the world he
desired a reunion with his man
his man his real and only friend
the brilliant willie j during the first
of his three years in prison
perry had observed willy j from a
distance with interest
but with apprehension if one wished to
be thought a tough specimen
intimacy with willy jay seemed unwise he
was the chaplain's clerk a slender
irishman with prematurely gray hair
and gray melancholy eyes his tenor voice
was the glory of the prison's choir
even perry though he was contemptuous of
any exhibit
exhibition of piety felt upset when he
heard willy jay
sing the lord's prayer the hymns gave
grave language sung
so credulous a spirit moved him made him
wonder a little at the justice of his
contempt
eventually prodded by a slightly alerted
religious curiosity
he approached willy jay and the
chaplain's clerk at once responsive
thought he divined in the cripple-legged
bodybuilder with the misty gaze and the
prim's smokey voice
a poet something rare and savable
an ambition to bring this boy to god
involved engulfed him
his hopes of succeeding accelerated when
one day perry produced a pastel drawing
he had made
a large in no way technically naive
portrait of jesus
lansing's protestant chaplain the revlon
james
reverend james post so valued it that he
hung it in his office
where it hangs still a slick and pretty
savior
with willy jay's full lips and grieving
eyes
the picture was the client climax of
perry's nev
never very earnest spiritual quest and
ironically the termination of it he had
joined his jesus a piece of hypocrisy
an attempt to fool and betray willie j
for
he was as unconvinced of god as ever
yet should he admit this and risk
forfeiting the one friend who had ever
truly understood
him had joe jesse travelers
straying through a world where his last
names were cell where last names were
seldom exchanged
these had been his buddies never anyone
like willie j
who was in perry's opinion way above
average intelligent
intellectually perceptive as a
well-trained
psychologist how was it possible that so
gifted a man had wound up in lansing
that was what amazed perry the answer
which he knew but rejected
as an evasion of the deeper the human
question was plain to simpler minds
the chaplain's clerk then 38 was a thief
a small-scale robber who over a period
of 20 years had served sentences in five
different states
maybe you don't get your spiritual
advice from that person
maybe
perry decided to speak out he was sorry
but it was not for him
heaven hell saints divine mercy and if
willy jay's affection
was founded on the prospect of perry's
someday joining him at the foot of the
cross
then he was deceived and their
friendship false a counterfeit like the
portrait
as usual willy j understood disheartened
but not disenchanted
for he persisted in courting perry's
soul into the day of its possessor's
parole and departure
on the eve of which he wrote perry a
farewell letter whose last paragraph
ran you are a man of extreme passion a
hungry man
not quite sure where his appetite lies a
deeply frustrated man
striving to project his individuality
against a backdrop of rigid conformity
you exist in a half world suspended
between two superstructures
one self-expression and the other
self-destruction
you are strong but there is a flaw in
your strength and unless you learn to
control it
the flaw will prove stronger than your
strength and defeat you
the flaw explosive emotional reaction
out of all proportion to the occasion
why why this unreasonable anger at the
sight of
others who are happy or content this
growing contempt
for people and the desire to hurt them
all right
you think they're fools you despise them
because of their
morals their happiness is a source of
your frustration
and resentment but these are dreadful
enemies
you carry within yourself in time
destructive as bullets
mercifully a bullet kills its victim
this other bacteria permitted to age
does not kill a man
but leaves in its wake the hulk of a
creature torn and twisted
there is still fire within his being but
it is being kept alive
by casting upon it it's like um it's
actually a word for like sticks
or wood of scorn and hate
he may successfully accumulate but he
does not accumulate
success for he is his own enemy and is
kept from truly enjoying
his achievements we will stop there and
we're going to talk about that paragraph
in class for sure
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