A Christmas Memory Character Analysis

Truman Capote is in complete control of fictional characters because he can describe them in any way he wants as long as they are convincing. In Capote’s writing of “A Jug of Silver”, his description of the characters is an example of this. In a nonfiction novel, the flexibility of describing a character in any way is diminished, but still has the ability to by manipulating the description using literary devices. An example of this is in Capote’s nonfiction writing, A Christmas Memory, Capote manipulates the characters to be perceived the way he wants them to be by using characterization and imagery. In a “Jug of Silver”, Capote uses visual description to provide the picture of what the reader sees the characters as. The details Capote used

In the beginning paragraph, the very first word Capote uses is “Imagine”, this first word catches the reader’s attention and automatically prepares them to create a picture in their head. The following words after this are laying out the setting in which the story is taking place. The detailed setting and word choice helps Capote manipulate it with his point of view. In the second paragraph, Capote used a simile when describing the woman’s pettiness. “She is small and sprightly, like a bantam hen…” This gives the reader a better picture of how the woman is by comparing her stature to another object that is also small. The characterization of the woman is also presented through the dialect when she speaks. She is described as childlike, though she is said to be sixty-something. The voice of her character shows her to be like a child. When the woman is upset and crying, the narrator who is only seven years old, and is her cousin, comforts her and acts as the adult in the situation. The narrator tells her not to cry and if she doesn’t stop crying she will be too tired tomorrow and they won’t be able to go cut a tree. In a normal situation, the roles of these two characters would be switched. The adult would be comforting and telling the child