Capote's ending

As we know from the movie, Capote is very attached to Perry. Most of the movie takes place during Perry and Dick's incarceration, and this is where Capote bonds with him. Capote watches the hanging and is deeply scarred by it, falling into alcoholism. Due to these facts, it is strange that Capote made his ending so brief. The shortest part of the whole book occurs while the murderers are in prison. One of the few in-depth examinations Capote goes into is the hanging of Lowell Lee Andrews. "Andy was looking at the gallows-you could sense he was...All of a sudden the chaplain reached out and took off Andy's glasses...Then we heard it, the sound, and Jimmy Latham said, 'what was that?' and I told him what it was-the trap door"(331). This describes well the fear the inmates feel as they watch their mutual fate. While it does shortly describe the psychological state of the inmates (Perry starving himself, Dick convincing himself he was not responsible for the murders), it is not nearly as long as the "character examinations" Capote goes into in earlier parts of the book. The ending is extremely abrupt for what appeared to have the most lasting effect on Capote. "Steps, noose, mask; but before the mask was adjusted, the prisoner spat his chewing gum into the chaplain's outstretched palm. Dewey shut his eyes; he kept them shut until he heard the thud-snap that announces a rope-broken neck"(340). Capote gives us 2 sentences on what was the turning point in his life. this may be because it was too hard for him to go into the hanging.