Characters Discussed
Joel Knox
Joel Knox, a thirteen-year-old entering puberty. He is bright, beautiful, and in need of love and acceptance from someone who “belongs” to him. He is a boy in search of someone to be “with.” He goes eagerly to Skully’s Landing when his father, out of the blue, invites him there to live. Because he is so bright and insightful, his misjudgment of Ellen is puzzling. When she does not respond to the letter he mailed her saying that he hates the Landing, he thinks she has rejected him, but he had found, scattered on the ground, the coins he put in the mailbox, so it seems odd that he thought she got the letter. Likewise, at the end of the novel, when he learns that a woman and a deaf girl from New Orleans have been at the Landing, it does not cross his mind to think it could have been Ellen and Louise, although he immediately says he has a deaf cousin in New Orleans. Perhaps Truman Capote wanted Joel blind in his spot of greatest need; perhaps Joel deliberately blinds himself rather than ponder, too much, that he had decided he and Randolph were “the same.”
Cousin Randolph
Cousin Randolph, who seems to be a patient, laissez-faire person. He is openly homosexual and entices Joel into a relationship, but he never forces himself on anyone. He generally gives everyone what they ask from him—even his cousin, Amy, though he enjoys tormenting her before acquiescing. The servants, Zoo and Papadaddy, do as they please, with no interference from Randolph. Zoo leaves “forever” after Papadaddy dies, but she comes back after she is raped and brutalized. Although she is different, he treats her the same. Even with Joel, he does not push. Except at the novel’s end, when Ellen is coming, he gives Joel complete freedom of movement, asking nothing from him. When Joel is ill and being nursed by Randolph, he entertains the boy endlessly. When Joel clings to Randolph in victimlike dependency, the man does not press his advantage. Indeed, he gives every appearance of despairing that Joel will ever respond as he wishes, yet he remains patient. Dark hints suggest a different Randolph, however, but Capote keeps readers outside his inner thoughts. One dark hint is his cold—almost amused—telling of Zoo’s wedding night, as if he manipulated Keg’s action. Another is Amy’s attitude toward him: She seems frantic to please him but never quite does, and in spite of giving in to her small requests, there is a sense of his enjoying her anxiety.
Idabel Thompkins
Idabel Thompkins, Joel’s tomboy friend, who works hard at hating being a girl. She beats her twin sister, and she hits Joel when, in a burst of tenderness, he kisses her cheek. Like Joel, she is a displaced person. Wisteria says as much, implying that the reason Idabel has fallen for her is because she thinks herself a freak, like Wisteria. Indeed, at the fair, Idabel is moved by a two-headed baby pickled in a jar. The implication is that, as a twin so different from the frilly Florabel, she is a two-headed freak. At the fair, Joel and Idabel get separated; the next Joel hears from her is through a postcard from Alabama, where she has been sent “for life.” The card comes as Joel is deciding that Randolph is the only one who loves him, and he tosses the card into the fire. He immediately regrets doing so, but the card is gone forever, like Idabel.
Zoo Fever
Zoo Fever, the black cook who seems to have...
(This entire section contains 757 words.)
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been at the Landing all her life. Randolph and Amy both remember the night of her marriage to Keg Brown, ten years earlier, when she was fourteen. Zoo, a supple, slender woman who always wears a scarf around her long neck, is superstitiously religious. The scarf hides a scar that encircles her neck where Keg slit it on their wedding night. At first, she nurtures Joel, but she leaves for Washington, D.C. When she comes back, both she and Joel have changed.
Ellen Kendall
Ellen Kendall, Joel’s aunt, who loved him and let him go to the Landing. She comes to see if he is happy. Randolph learns she is coming and rushes Joel off to Little Sunshine’s. Amy tells Ellen and Louise, Joel’s deaf cousin, that Joel and Randolph are on a long squirrel hunt. Evidently convinced that Joel is happy, they leave.
Characters
At the start of the novel, twelve-year-old Joel Harrison Knox is on a journey to Skully's Landing to reunite with his father. In New Orleans, Joel felt like an outsider, especially after his mother's passing. However, he soon realizes that he is also isolated at Skully's Landing. Overwhelmed by his stepmother and disillusioned by his father's frailty, he struggles to maintain communication with the aunt he left behind and later attempts to escape with his friend Idabel. Throughout the story, Joel seeks out various relationships, mostly with individuals he perceives as stronger than himself, hoping they might provide him with love and security. Although he values the care of Randolph and Missouri, Joel eventually understands that no one else can truly protect him. It is only when he takes charge of his own life and starts looking after Randolph that he begins to feel like a more secure adult.
Ed Samson, the focus of many of Joel's fantasies, turns out to be paralyzed when Joel finally meets him, having been shot by Randolph Lee. Ed can only utter a few words and primarily communicates by rolling balls across the room and down the stairs. Joel concludes that only his father's eyes seem truly alive, and he imagines they can track his every action and even his thoughts. Ed clearly cannot offer the familial connection or security Joel craves; instead, for Joel, his father only deepens his sense of guilt and furthers his isolation.
Amy Skully married Ed Samson for two main reasons: to save Randolph Lee from a situation beyond his control and to finally have someone completely reliant on her. On Joel's first morning at the Landing, she injures a blue jay with a poker to collect feathers for Randolph's artificial bird. Joel soon sees that Amy indulges Randolph's every whim, even begging him for small pleasures like playing the pianola. Throughout the novel, Amy oscillates between being authoritarian with Joel and acting childishly with Randolph, displaying a curious blend of strength and vulnerability. Joel quickly realizes he cannot rely on her for emotional support.
Amy's cousin, Randolph Lee, is introduced as a mysterious figure glimpsed in an upstairs window. Aspiring to be an artist, Randolph admits he lacks the "personal perception" and "interior life" necessary to be more than a proficient imitator, suggesting that pretending to be his deceased mother is his greatest artistic feat. As Joel watches Randolph assemble a blue jay from the bird parts Amy has procured for him, he notes that while the bird may be visually appealing, it lacks vitality. Randolph himself often seems like a fabricated persona; time and again, he demonstrates his weakness and selfishness. He has only formed a true emotional connection once: he briefly lived with Dolores, who introduced him to a boxer named Pepe Alvarez. When Dolores and Pepe abandoned him, Randolph realized he had stronger feelings for Pepe than for Dolores. By shooting Pepe's manager, Ed Samson, and bringing him to Skully's Landing, Randolph managed to cling to a small piece of Pepe. The depth of his obsession is further exposed when he confides in Joel about sending Pepe letters to every city listed in his world atlas through the postmasters. Although Joel attempts to distance himself from Randolph, it is Randolph who cares for the ailing boy, ultimately positioning Joel as Randolph's new emotional focus. In recognizing Randolph's reliance on him, Joel begins to mature.
Upon his arrival at Skully's Landing, Joel encounters the Thompkins twins: the tomboy Idabel and the refined Florabel. Idabel takes pride in her sarcastic wit and nonconformist ways, while Florabel boasts about her family's wealth and social standing. Though Florabel often complains about Idabel's embarrassing behavior, she occasionally seems secretly proud of her rebellious sister. Initially, Joel is drawn to the more traditional Florabel, but he gradually becomes more intrigued by Idabel, who insists he treat her as if she were a boy. As they run away together, Idabel increasingly adopts a masculine demeanor and views Joel as a companion. Joel reciprocates, feeling a camaraderie akin to male bonding. When they encounter Miss Wisteria, who is both youthful and feminine, Idabel feels a sexual attraction towards her. When Idabel seems to abandon him, Joel realizes their relationship cannot provide the sense of belonging he seeks, and he allows her postcard to be burned. Miss Wisteria appears interested in seducing Joel, but he has realized his attraction to Randolph.
In Noon City, Joel encounters Jesus Fever, a very elderly black man residing at Skully's Landing with his granddaughter, Missouri. Jesus Fever, rumored to be close to a century old, serves as a moral compass for both Missouri and Joel, urging them to participate in his religious gatherings. Jesus believes that God took his wife and child as retribution for him accepting an informal marriage ceremony conducted by Randolph's grandfather. In contrast, Missouri's marriage—according to Randolph—was a formal affair, yet her husband, Keg Brown, is incarcerated for attempting to slit her throat, leaving Missouri terrified that he will return to finish the job.
Throughout most of the novel, Missouri offers emotional support to Joel, who seems to see her as a substitute mother. Besides sharing the family and area's history, she comforts and motivates Joel, vowing to send for him once she is settled. However, upon her return, Missouri appears transformed; her lively demeanor has faded into a state of lethargy, punctuated occasionally by bursts of her grandfather's religious zeal. When she leaves him in the garden, Joel realizes he cannot rely on her for love or safety.
Inspired by Missouri's actions, Joel seeks a talisman from Little Sunshine, a local hermit living in the dilapidated Cloud Hotel. Little Sunshine explains to Joel that he couldn't leave because "other voices, other rooms, voices lost and clouded, strummed his dreams." He assures Joel that his charms will protect the wearer from all harm, provided they never speak of the charm. During their visit, Joel discovers that Randolph often visited the hotel in his childhood with his drawing books. Clearly, Little Sunshine's charms have not provided Randolph with the security he craves.
A minor yet important character is Miss Wisteria, a midget from the carnival sideshow. She shares some similarities with Florabel, especially in her boastful claims about her cultured origins. Like Florabel, Miss Wisteria attempts to seduce Joel, but he finds her intimidating and even repulsive. He particularly dislikes Mabel's evident fascination with her, prompting him to hide from them both—first by entering an abandoned house, and later by succumbing to illness. Believing Idabel has left with Miss Wisteria, Joel decisively cuts ties with this friend.
