Capote opens the story by appealing to our sense of sight. We can picture the big, old-fashioned black cast iron stove, the round table, the fireplace, and the two rocking chairs in the old country kitchen. The story was written in 1950s, so when Capote talks about "twenty years ago," he is referencing the 1930s—the period of the Great Depression. However, even for the 1930s, it was an old-fashioned kitchen.
Later, as they crack pecans in the kitchen, Capote appeals to our sense of sound. We hear the pecans "Caarackle!" with a "cheery crunch" and a "miniature thunder sound" as the shells fall away. Capote evokes a sense of touch when he describes the pecans as oily and a sense of taste when he calls them sweet, noting that the dog, Queenie, is allowed to eat a few as they work. We know that the fire is lit, and we...
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feel its warmth. We can later smell the vanilla and ginger as they bake the fruitcakes.
We see the pecans pile up in the glass bowl, and we learn that it is dusky and then dark outside. We see the reflection of the two friends in the window and the rising moon. We see the two sitting by the fireside "in the firelight."
Capote uses all of the five senses to establish the kitchen as a place of warmth, security, safety, comfort, and loving companionship to the young Buddy.
When they are in the kitchen after picking the pecans, there are appeals to sight. We know that there is a "heaping buggy load of windfall pecans," and we know that they meant form the pecans "mounts the milk glass bowl." We also know it is getting dark in the kitchen and "dusk turns the window into a mirror."
When they bake the fruitcakes, the descriptions appeal to the sense of smell.:
"vanilla sweetens the air, ginger spices it; melting nose-tingling odors saturate the kitchen, suffuse the house, drift out to the world on puffs of chimney smoke (Capote).
In general the descriptions of the kitchen also appeal to touch. We know from the first paragraph all of the features of the kitchen, and Buddy says that the "fireplace commenced its seasonal roar," which gives us a warm and cozy feeling, especially knowing that there are two rocking chairs also within the kitchen. Away from the fire we get the feeling that the kitchen is very cold. When his friend exclaims that it is "fruitcake weather" her breath can be seen, so we "feel" cold through this appeal.
Which sense does the author appeal to in the kitchen description, and what mood is created?
Buddy and his elderly friend gather all the precious ingredients they need to make their Christmas fruitcakes. The description of the kitchen as they bake together uses visual imagery to conjure a country kitchen and also appeals to the reader's sense of smell.
The black stove, stoked with coal and firewood, glows like a lighted pumpkin. Eggbeaters whirl, spoons spin round in bowls of butter and sugar, vanilla sweetens the air, ginger spices it; melting, nose-tingling odors saturate the kitchen, suffuse the house, drift out to the world on puffs of chimney smoke.
The mood that Capote creates with this description is warm, cozy, and nostalgic. Buddy is remembering what it was like to be with his friend, and he paints a picture of their intimacy in a loving and domestic world where they can be together and free of the disapproval of the relatives with whom they share the house. In addition to the stove, there is a fireplace and rocking chairs, where they sit and shell the nuts. Even in their nontraditional family, there is the connotation of the comfort of hearth and home.
Which senses does the author appeal to in the kitchen description?
In his short story “A Christmas Memory,” Truman Capote appeals to the senses with his vivid, heartfelt descriptions. When Buddy and his cousin are in the kitchen shucking walnuts, Capote starts off by addressing the auditory sense, and progresses to addressing the sense of sight. We hear the sounds associated walnuts cracking, and see how the day is moving toward night as the pair works in the firelight.
The author uses onomatopoeia to appeal to the sense of sound with the word “Caarackle!” The reader can immediately hear the sound of the nuts cracking under pressure. As the pair works, the kitchen is filled with sounds of the nuts breaking open and the dog begging for a tasty morsel. While Buddy describes the scene, the reader can hear the crunching sound and feel the contentment the characters are experiencing.
A cheery crunch, scraps of miniature thunder sound as the shells collapse and the golden mound of sweet oily ivory meat mounts in the milk-glass bowl. Queenie begs to taste, and now and again my friend sneaks her a mite, though insisting we deprive ourselves.
As the paragraph progresses, Capote switches his emphasis from the sense of sound to the sense of sight. He describes how the kitchen looks as evening descends upon it. Outside the moon rises, while inside Buddy and his cousin can be seen in the reflections in the window. The pair continue their work by the glow of the fire until they finish shelling the final nut.
The kitchen is growing dark. Dusk turns the window into a mirror: our reflections mingle with the rising moon as we work by the fireside in the firelight. At last, when the moon is quite high, we toss the final hull into the fire and, with joined sighs, watch it catch flame.