Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
It Truly Is All a Lie
The social pyramid is something that has haunted societies since their creation. The desire to narrow the base and the fear of the pyramid collapsing should not seem alien to members of a society. Often, the social pyramid shows to be the ugly side of a society. This scenario is seen when Capote describes Garden City in In True Blood. As he begins to describe the city, Capote makes the town seem like a small but generally pleasant town. Capote is able to excel in introducing this idea to us via the use of quotations. One can read paragraph after paragraph of compliments and feel slightly convinced. On the other hand, one can read a line of quotation and be greatly impacted. There's just something about those two marks that encompass the sentence or phrase in each side that makes your brain highlight said sentence or phrase.
While reading this description, Capote saying that the city has "much to support the defensive boastings of the citizenry: a well-run public library, a competent daily newspaper, green-lawned and shady squares here and there" (33) and so on makes me think that Garden City is a rather nice town. However, a stranger who I don't know anything about saying that you can "'Look all over the world, and you won't find friendlier people or fresher air or sweeter drinking water,'" really convinces me that Garden City is a great city. Never mind the lack of evidence behind his overall weak argument, this guy's word is what really counts. Perhaps it's the appeal to popularity by showing that other people agree which adds this magical characteristic to quotations but they still accomplish their purpose of convincing me.
Anyways, the idea of the positivity of Garden City is something that Capote greatly enforces during the beginning of his description. However, Capote, being as thorough as he is, still has to bring up the negatives of the town. Turns out that Garden City lies in the middle of something referred to as the Bible Belt. This leads to religion being a big factor in social status. This is bad in itself, but it turns ugly as Capote goes into depth. The bottom half of the pyramid consists of Catholics, Baptists, and Methodists while the upper half consists of Presbyterians and Episcopalians. Turns out that Catholics, Baptists, and Methodists account for eighty percent of the populations. This leads to a pretty wide pyramid. What do the Garden Citians have to say about this?
"'No, sir. Nothing like that here. All equal, regardless of wealth, color, or creed. Everything the way it ought to be in a democracy; that's us.'"(34)
You won't fool me this time quotation. I can see right through your semicolon. You're full of lies! Capote shows us the denial that the Garden Citians have towards this fairly apparent fact showing light on an interesting idea. The people of Garden City think that they live in a type of utopia, and when asked about something negative, they simply shrug it off. It's like if they favored ignorance over tackling and actual problem. Perhaps they will have the same reaction towards a certain murder. *wink* *wink*
While reading this description, Capote saying that the city has "much to support the defensive boastings of the citizenry: a well-run public library, a competent daily newspaper, green-lawned and shady squares here and there" (33) and so on makes me think that Garden City is a rather nice town. However, a stranger who I don't know anything about saying that you can "'Look all over the world, and you won't find friendlier people or fresher air or sweeter drinking water,'" really convinces me that Garden City is a great city. Never mind the lack of evidence behind his overall weak argument, this guy's word is what really counts. Perhaps it's the appeal to popularity by showing that other people agree which adds this magical characteristic to quotations but they still accomplish their purpose of convincing me.
Anyways, the idea of the positivity of Garden City is something that Capote greatly enforces during the beginning of his description. However, Capote, being as thorough as he is, still has to bring up the negatives of the town. Turns out that Garden City lies in the middle of something referred to as the Bible Belt. This leads to religion being a big factor in social status. This is bad in itself, but it turns ugly as Capote goes into depth. The bottom half of the pyramid consists of Catholics, Baptists, and Methodists while the upper half consists of Presbyterians and Episcopalians. Turns out that Catholics, Baptists, and Methodists account for eighty percent of the populations. This leads to a pretty wide pyramid. What do the Garden Citians have to say about this?
"'No, sir. Nothing like that here. All equal, regardless of wealth, color, or creed. Everything the way it ought to be in a democracy; that's us.'"(34)
You won't fool me this time quotation. I can see right through your semicolon. You're full of lies! Capote shows us the denial that the Garden Citians have towards this fairly apparent fact showing light on an interesting idea. The people of Garden City think that they live in a type of utopia, and when asked about something negative, they simply shrug it off. It's like if they favored ignorance over tackling and actual problem. Perhaps they will have the same reaction towards a certain murder. *wink* *wink*
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)