Lacanian Reinterpretation of Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood

【Abstract】：As the initiative work of New Journalism，In cold Blood established Truman Capote’s literary status.The key to the success of this novel comes from the reflection of the subjective living condition and the complex social phenomena.This thesis tries to analyze the reasons of Perry’s tragedy according to Lacan’s“the mirror stage”theory and“Other”theory and then lead contemporary people to have a better knowledge about their own conditions.

【Key words】：“the mirror stage”theory;“Other”theory;Perry’s tragedy

1.Lacan’s Theories

“The mirror stage”refers to an experiential process in which the child gradually gains his basic identity.Lacan thinks that it is““the mirror stage”that enables the ego to come into being.At first，the image in the mirror is not only integrated but also changes with the child’s actions.Under such circumstance，the child has a sense of happiness and winning，for he can control the image.The image gives the child an inconsistent and incongruent identity.Therefore，the child begins to fall in love with his image.So the child forms a desire relationship between the seemingly inconsistent and incongruent image and himself，which is called the Ego Narcissism.However，when the child notices the inconsistency between his own true fragmentized experience and the inconsistent and incongruent identity given by the image，he starts to feel confused and this kind of confusion will turn into the aggressive attitude towards others.Other refers to the idea that the world is formed by the signifier and the nature of the world is a collection of symbolic language signs.It can be some kind of expectation，idea，and ideology.As for Lacan，if ego wants to establish his own identity，he must get Other’s approval，which makes it easy for Other to enslave and infringe on the subject.

2.the Ego Narcissism and the Aggressive Tendency

“The mirror stage”is a stage of self-deception and a process of narcissism caused by an illusory image.At the beginning of this novel，Capote points out that Perry thinks of himself as a world traveler，a popular artist and an adventurer who can make his fortune on his adventure.His imaginary image is kind of perfect.In fact，he can not enjoy life during travel as he has imagined.He is laughed at and bullied constantly at school，he is neglected by his father，he is seriously whipped by a shrouded disciplinarian for wetting his bed，he is even oppressed and harassed by gay people in the Army.There is no doubt that what Perry suffers from is quite different from what he has imagined.He robs the Mr.Clutter for fulfilling his dream at the cost of life，but he only gets forty or fifty dollars.According to Lacan’s opinion，when one finds the inconsistency between his own true fragmentized experience and the imaginary inconsistent and incongruent identity，he will feel confused and then he will turn to be aggressive.Therefore，Perry’s pride is hurt deeply so that he imagines Mr.Clutter into such persons as his father，the nuns，the sergeant in the Army.He killed Mr.Clutter not because of hatred towards him but the inner contradiction of himself.

3.The Lost of Voice in American Judicial System

In the four chapter，whether Perry and Dick should be hanged had been discussed heatedly.However，during the judgment，the detectives，the Judge and the jury had decided the whole judicial language signs system.Perry and Dick，the murderers，seemed to have lost their voice and they nearly did not say any word in the court.Dr.Jones，a psychologist，whose rights were restricted.The judge cautioned him：“Doctor.Limit your answer to yes or no”.His testing results were not accepted by the court.Dewey，the major detective of this case，said：“As I say，we weren’t dependent on a formal confession from Smith to prove any part of our case.With or without it，we had enough to hang them ten times over”.Judge Roland H.Tate had the similar background with Mr.Clutter，both of them were the successful representatives of American Dream.It is natural for him to punish Perry and Dick who threatened the profit of his class.Just like Dick’s father has said：“The judge up there！I never seen a man so prejudiced.Just no sense having a trial”.Moreover，when the pleas of the defense attorneys had to be heard，“Not everyone was attentive;one juror，as though poisoned by the numerous spring-fever yawns weighting the air，sat with drugged eyes and jaws so utterly ajar bees could have buzzed in and out”.They have firmly believed that Perry and Dick should be hanged so that they did not pay attention to the pleas of the defense attorneys at all.

4.Conclusion

The story of In cold Blood comes from a true event so that it is a kind of valuable resource to analyze the individual subject’s living condition.Therefore，this thesis tries to analyze Perry’s tragedy from his ego-contradiction and the social environment.In this way，the readers，by right of Perry’s schizophrenia，can question the rationality of the modern society.

Works Cited

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[2]oss，Ralph F.Truman Capote and the Legacy of“In Cold Blood”[M].Tuscaloosa：University of Alabama Press，2011.

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[4]張一兵.不可能的存在之真----拉康哲學映像[M].北京：商務印書館，2005.

[5]夏杪譯，冷血[M].海口：南海出版公司，2009.