Capote's My Side of the Matter is a humorous short story revolving
around the relations between a hapless, young husband and a houseful of
querulous female in-law relatives. Narrated in a first person, chatty style
from the point-of-view of the sixteen year-old husband, My Side of the
Matter is a hilarious tale about a young man in the clutches of his
pregnant wife and two rather eccentric aunts. In fact, the title itself, as
the reader later comes to understand is not just a matter of the narrator
defending himself but also indicative of the archetypical divide between a
As the narrator begins recounting his side of the story, the reader
learns that he wishes to establish that in spite of the stories circulating
about him, he is the innocent, wronged party. As he states, "The facts: On
Sunday, August 12, this year of our Lord, Eunice tried to kill me with her
papa's Civil War sword and Olivia-Ann cut up all over the place with a
fourteen-inch hog knife. This is not even to mention lots of other things."
Though the reader is never told the exact nature of the stories circulating
about the young husband, it is easy to infer that he has been accused of
attacking the females in the house with intent to kill. This is evident in
Eunice's urging Olivia-Ann to fetch Mr. Tubberville and her subsequent
declaration of "He's going to murder us all." (Capote, p. 198) Thus, it is
apparent that the whole story of My Side of the Matter concerns an act of
All homicides intended or otherwise usually have a motive behind them.
In this case, the narrator traces his culpability to two mistakes, which he
committed six months prior to the scene of the murderous attack. The first,
as he rather ruefully recounts, was his impulsive marriage to Marge and the
second mistake was his role in thereafter, getting her pregnant. Once
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