Diction

Blog # 2: Diction

·      “Marched them through a wet twilight” (309).

·      “Remember Nancy’s teddy bear staring…” (60).

·      “A hurriedly donned black robe billowed about him…” (307).

·      “A dark two-storied building shaped like a coffin” (309).

·      “Eyes glittering immense in a face now almost phosphorescently pale” (319).

Truman Capote incorporates unusual diction into his writing to convey a haunting tone. For example, he uses the words “wet twilight” to enhance his tone. These words are not commonly placed together and when they are, they create an eerie feeling. The way that the author chooses to use to word “staring” creates a spooky mood. It reconstructs the way people feel when they feel like they are being watched. A “staring teddy bear” is a very unnerving thought. The diction that Capote employs sets the tone for the story as it mirrors the actual story of the two murderers who massacred a whole family. At the trial for Perry and Dick, the judge entered and “a hurriedly donned black robe billowed about him.” The word “donned” was used to further illustrate the feelings in the courtroom. To Perry and Dick, the judge holds a lot of power and, since he is about to condemn them, they feel as if he is a forbidding entity. The “dark two-storied building shaped like a coffin” also describes the way the convicts feel about the courtroom- it is as if they are walking to their deaths, which they are.