The Symbol Of Parrot In Capote’s In Cold Blood
In Cold Blood is a classic book that explains in detail the murders and investigation of the Clutter Family. There are many symbols in the book, but the one that is the most important is the yellow parrot that Perry always dreams about.
The yellow parrot is a symbol of many things in the book. The parrot symbolizes hope for Perry. Perry did not grow up with the perfect life. During his childhood, he grew up in an orphanage, where he was mishandled by the nuns. This is the first we here about the yellow parrot. He described the parrot as a “warrior-angel who blinded the nuns with its beak, fed upon their eyes, slaughtered them as they “pleaded for mercy.” The parrot seems to always defeat the people that have hurt Perry. Perry told Dick that he saw the parrot as “a source of private joy”.
The parrot is also a symbol of freedom for Perry. Perry knows that he will probably never get out of his current situation, but he uses the parrot as a way to believe that he is free. It allowed him an escape from his current terrible situation. While Perry was incarcerated he was still dreaming about the parrots, he stated that “She lifted me, I could have been light as a mouse, we went up, up, I could see the Square below, men running, yelling, the sheriff shooting at us, everybody sore as hell because I was free I was flying, I was better than any of them.”
The parrot also symbolizes a sense of religion for Perry. Perry describes the parrot as “Jesus” multiple times throughout the book. Even on his deathbed, Perry mumbles that the parrot is Jesus. Perry interprets the parrot as an angel and sees it as Jesus taking him into the light. Even though Perry is not religious or sticks to a certain religion the parrot shows how he views religion. He views religion as a thing that only comes swooping in at the worst times. In the book, it says “ the yellow parrot, huge and parrot faced, has soared across Perry’s enemies or, as now, rescued him in moments of mortal dangers.” This shows that he sees religion as a fleeting thing in his life.
Although they were many other symbols in the book, I choose the parrot because I thought it was the most prominent one. Perry thought about so much that It was obvious it was one of the main symbols in the book. The death penalty would have been another symbol but I chose the parrot because it was more psychological and I felt like there was more that could be talked about. I also made a snake wrapped around the parrot's body while the parrot is killing it. The parrot is supposed to represent all the evil in the world, while the parrot represents the good triumphing over evil.
Overall the parrot was an important factor in the book. It is mainly a symbol of hope for Perry. Capote uses the parrot and many other things to represent the relationship between the characters and the main points in the book.
