How does Capote present women in the novel In Cold Blood?

Using integrated and linguistic approaches show how Capote presents women in the novel In Cold blood. The women in the novel In Cold Blood are presented very differently yet they are all shown to conform the stereotypical interpretation of a woman, ranging from young Nancy and Susan to the older Mrs Myrtle Clarke, who is seen to conform to the typicality of women during the 1950’s. The 1950’S was a decade where women were expected to stay at home in order to cook, clean and care for the children. These were the duties expected from women during this decade and if this wasn’t fulfilled this was seen as either neglect or as a weakness. These roles were adopted by the women of the time due to the fact that the men had just returned from World War II, and the women during this time had adapted to a life without men and had taken on the typical male roles and jobs in order for society to continue. After the war, the men took back their stereotype and their jobs and careers were given back to them and not many women stayed in a profession, those of the women who did continue into a workplace, were often working as teachers and nurses. Not only are the main characters in In Cold Blood obvious and presented in a certain way, but the minor characters also. Mrs Myrtle Clare is presented as being a strong female character: “intrepid Mrs Myrtle Clare” the use of the adjective “intrepid” demonstrates that she has accomplished many different occurrences in her life, and this gives the impression that she naturally an accomplished person with many achievements, which during the 1950’s was an unnatural thing in itself as stereotypically a woman’s achievement would be that she had children and had married and kept the house clean and cared for her children. The use of the pre-modifier “widowed” shows her differences to other women during the 1950’s as there weren’t many widows as typically women relied on men and male company in order to succeed. The use of the idiom: “the old girl” shows that she’s a tough character. Another minor character in the novel In Cold Blood is Susan Kidwell, and syndetic listing is used in order to show that she is polite and well mannered: “she knocked, rang and at last walked in”. Women were typically expected to be respectful and polite. The use of minor sentences show that she is an incomplete character as her mother is a single mother raising her child alone, and she only became more open after the Clutter family had “adopted” her. “Everything. Art, mostly. I love it.” This shows that she has passion for the arts and appreciates the finer things in life which has connotations with being well educated. Susan is of the generation where women would have rebelled during the 1960’s. A more major, minor character is Mrs Dewey is shown to be a typical housewife during the time: “always coffee on the stove, and sometimes a steak in the icebox.” The use of the syndetic listing shows that she always prepares food for her husband and makes sure he would be comfortable when he arrives home. The use of a balanced sentence uses the conjunction “but” and this conjunction balances out the fact that Marie Dewey has her own feelings – “tired” yet she still prepares food for her family, demonstrating that she puts her family and their needs before her own. This shows that she does conform to the typical role. The syndetic listing shown: “sipped her coffee, opened the envelope, and took out…” This could emphasises that she is a trustworthy person especially with such confidential and classified documents. This shows that the family Dewey conforms to their natural typical roles of the 1950’s as a wife would have been one of the only people a husband would trust with such delicate and classified information. Although she conforms now to her role, Marie Dewey still had a career as a “former FBI stenographer” and the pre-modifier “former” explains that she had a career of her own previously which contrasts to her current role and to a typical role of a 1950’s woman, a s woman who conforms at home wouldn’t have her own career or job, but would rather stay at home to care for the home and for the children. Marie Dewey as we know is an example of a housewife who conforms, which contrasts with Bonnie as she can’t fulfil her role due to her post-natal depression: “in the kitchen” this explains that she was already in the kitchen, and the noun “kitchen” could insinuate that her being in the kitchen was a natural occurrence and is scheduled with her. It was typical for 1950s women to be cooking and cleaning. Later on in In Cold Blood, Capote presents Perry’s sister, Barbara, as a contrast to Perry and the only successful member of the Smith family who seems able to function in a normal society. The hyphenated pre-modifiers “middle-class and middle-income” emphasise how average the Johnson family is, to which Barbara now belongs. The use of many other modifiers throughout the presentation of Barbara, such as “conventional”, “pleasant” and “common-place”, further suggest a life in keeping with the life of any American family; closer to the life of the Clutters than the lonely, isolated life of the forever wondering wandering Perry. Capote also presents Barbara’s discomfort when she feels a visit from the police may disrupt the visit her neighbours are about to pay her with the utilisation of the abstract noun “reluctance” and past verbs “upset” and “surrendered” which implies that Barbara has a need to conform with society which Capote has been subtly hinting may be a society which is unjust upon those individuals, such as Perry, who do no not conform to it or fit into the typical stereotype of an American citizen. Nancy is a strong and major female character to be under the magnifying glass as she is a young woman who is currently a student in high school yet she takes on her mother’s role also as her mother is suffering from post-natal depression and finds it impossible to take on her motherly duties. Nancy is an all American girl: “their cooking, sewing or their music lessons” and the use of this syndetic listing shows that she is domestic and has taken on the motherly role. Nancy obviously admires her father, and this seen when she “just want [‘s] to be his daughter and do what he wishes” and this compound sentence emphasises the power of a father over his daughter. Although a perfect example of a stereotypical daughter during the 1950s, there are hints of rebellion from Nancy as she still goes out with and dates Bobby against her father’s wishes: “he started that again” and the diexis italics show this, and also contrasts with the fact that earlier she explains that she wanted to “do what he wishes”. This is also an example of the conflict between conforming and rebelling. Nancy was of the age that would have lead the women during the 1960s to equality. Her rebellion is also suggested through the subordinate clause: “but then so did Nancy” and also through the declarative simple sentence: “And Nancy had not returned since after two a.m.” Which repeats the emphasis that the year 1959 was just before the years of the teenage revolution towards equality. Nancy is also shown as being a very mature character as her teacher is “her friend and home-economics teacher” and this juxtaposition contrasts to the killers control over themselves and their friendships and relationships. The compound noun: “home-economics” shows that she has learned domestic skills. School is not an escape that much as she is taught the life skills and lessons a woman needed, which she taught herself and does daily. Nancy also shows slight and subtle insecurities: “Is this Nancy? Or this! Or this!” and the repetition of the interrogative sentences and questions imply that she is having a typical teenage identity crisis. Bonnie is the mother of Nancy, Kenyon, Eveanna and Joy Clutter and the wife to Herbert Clutter. She suffers from post-natal depression and as she knows mental illness was not something that was tolerated or noticed as a realistic problem during the 1950s, her and Herbert try and cover it up by trying to blame it on a physical disability, showing that she is in denial. Although she does not fulfil her motherly role and duties in the home she is still respected in the community. After Bonnie leaves Holcomb for three months she comes back and realises that she felt better when she was better and when she arrived home seems like her “old self” and the adjective “old” implies that she has started to be more like how she was in the past, and Bonnie feels guilty for enjoying being away from her family and not having to conform to the social normality of the 1950s, or having the pressure of it. Bonnie is “nervous but smiling nonetheless” and the use of the adjective “smiling” explains why she is respected and also implies that she tries to make a good impression for her husband and families sake. The use of the adverb “nonetheless” shows that she is not happy and in reality feels pain and despair. The abstract noun “nervous” insinuates that being outside is an alienating feeling to her. Typically women, especially mothers and wives were expected to conform and Bonnie does not conform to her role as a mother, but instead leaves it onto her daughter, however no one would know. To conclude it is my opinion that the women in the novel, conform to their roles in some manors of their roles. Nancy conforms to her present role and to her future role as an expected wife and mother, however, Nancy does rebel against her father’s wishes. Bonnie does not conform in reality however in the picture of their family, it is known to most other people that she does conform. Mrs Marie Dewey conforms to her role 100% and this is seen throughout the novel, and Capote presents her in a good light and this only emphasises Capote’s strong relationship with the Dewey family.