The Actuality of "my Side of the Matter"

Throughout Truman Capote's life, he was affected by many decisions made by his family members. By writing "My Side of the Matter", a satirical short story, he was able to express his depictions through narrative elements such as setting, characterization, and plot. He used these elements to show how he viewed the choices that effected his childhood and eventually shaped him into the adult that he became.

Truman Streckfus Capote was born on September 30, 1924. His mother, Lillie Mae Faulk, and his father, Arch Persons, were married at a very young age. Upon finding out that a newborn was on the way, Lillie Mae and Arch were not particularly ecstatic. As a matter of fact, she "returned to her southern home and sought an abortion" (Truman 3). Her cousin Jennie eventually talked her out of it and Lillie decided to take her role as a mature, responsible mother; however, the role of motherhood was not taken very seriously for too long. She abandoned Truman when he was a young boy and his two cousins, Jennie and Sook, then reared him.

It is evident throughout "My Side of the Matter" that Capote used the narrative elements of character and plot to relate his own experiences with the people in the story. In this story, Arch Persons is represented by the character Sylvester, and Truman's mother is portrayed as being Marge. As previously stated, Lillie Mae moved back to the south where her two cousins, Jennie and Sook, lived. Lillie Mae married Arch in an attempt to "climb the social ladder" (Truman 2). When she realized that he was not on a track to a higher position, her views about him changed. This is the same series of events that occurred in the narrative. Sylvester had a "perfectly swell position clerking at the Cash 'n' Carry" (Capote 54), but had to abandon it because Marge decided that she wanted to go live with her aunts, Eunice and Olivia-Ann. She made her trip to Alabama because she would need help with her unborn child. Marge takes Sylvester with her, but pays him little attention when he becomes jobless and stays at home all day.

Truman Capote's view on women is due largely in part to the fact that his mother deserted him at such an early age. Throughout the story, he describes the women with such negativity that it makes them appear as atrocious beings. He states that "Eunice is this big old fat thing with a behind that must weigh a tenth of a ton" (Capote 52). He goes on to complain about how she just mopes around wearing an ugly kimono. Olivia-Ann is described as a "natural-born half-wit and ought to be kept in somebody's attic. She's real pale and skinny and has a mustache" (Capote 53). He even talks about his own wife having "no looks, no body and no brains whatsoever" (capote 51). This shows the effects from the abandonment of his mother by displaying his clear disrespect