A Brief Note On Criminology And The Novel ' The Cold Blood '

Pamela Colloff’s “The Innocent Man,” is an eye-opening, gut-wrenching essay in which Colloff beautifully takes a high complexity prejudiced case of a guilty murder verdict and successfully brings to light her inspiring character Michael Morton’s true innocence in a flawed justice system. Suspense, sadness and frustration are effectively provoked from the reader about Michael’s tragic nightmare which persists for over two decades of time. A nightmare which begins when Michael returns home from work on August 13, 1986, to find out his dead wife was beaten to death in their bed. This is only the beginning of what Colloff unfolds in her writing of Michael’s twenty-five-year agonizing battle behind bars. Step by step Colloff’s marvelous writing

Once he’s viewed as intellectual enough to analyze Perry and make assertions about his personality traits, Capote can successfully project and subtly impose his opinion of Perry. Later, Perry explains Willie-Jay is as “perceptive as a well-trained psychologist” (Capote 42-3). Because psychologists go through extensive schooling to be able to accurately assess individuals, Capote includes this quote to portray Willie-Jay as an authorial figure whose thoughts are accurate and should be widely accepted. The emphasis on ‘well-trained’ provides more weight in everything Willie-Jay says and cements his trustworthiness. Capote prefaces Willie-Jay with the concept that he is as trustworthy as a smart and ‘well-trained psychologist,’ so readers trust and accept Willie-Jay’s opinions of Perry, and, by extension, his personal opinion that readers should sympathize with him and readily accept the justifications for the murders.

In his 1965 novel In Cold Blood, Truman Capote chronicles the murder of the wealthy Clutter family and the subsequent capture and trial of their killers, Dick Hickock and Perry Smith. The events of the book play out over a period of nearly six years, from the crime’s conception to the execution of the murderers, supplemented by Capote’s numerous interviews with living members of the Clutter family, their neighbors, their murderers, and the detectives on the case. It is widely regarded as the first non-fiction novel, and explores the motives and consequences in a horrendous murder case from many perspectives. In order to question commonly held moral absolutes, Capote adds dimension to the standard murder trial narrative and forces the audience to understand the nuances and intricacies of an unfathomable situation by humanizing both the victims and perpetrators of a hideous crime.

Although Capote highlights the unexpectedness of the murders of the Clutter family, his primary objective is to show Perry’s duplicitous nature, therefore, indicating that society needs to closely examine the character of criminals before determining innocence.

The circumstances, environment, and events during an individual's life may have major effects on that individual’s personality traits and mindset. In many cases, the environmental factors of a convicted criminal’s life have led to the development of criminal minds and the eventual execution of extremely serious felonies. Truman Capote illustrates how a convict's background can influence a criminal mind in his novel, In Cold Blood. In this nonfiction novel, Capote depicts how the environment and events during the lives of infamous murderers Dick Hickock and Perry Smith have led them to commit the crime of killing Herbert Clutter and his family. Although very few people are naturally violent criminals through genetics, a combination of environmental

The nonfiction novel, In Cold Blood by Truman Capote takes place in the small and quiet town of Holcomb, Kansas. Capote takes the reader through the sequence of events that transpired before, during, and after the Clutter family was murdered on November 15, 1959. He describes in detail the background of each of the main characters. This helps to clarify the motives of Richard Hickock and Perry Smith as they murder the Clutters. He illustrates how a positive or negative influence of a person’s environment, lifestyle, and sometimes family can impact them into adulthood. These influences can cause a person to become a contributing member of society or make them turn to a life of crime, this is depicted by Capote through the Clutters, Richard Hickock,

The book In Cold Blood by Truman Capote tells the true story of the murder of the Clutter family, the events that lead to their murders, and the reasons behind the killer’s motives. In 1959 Holcomb, Kansas the family was brutally killed by gunshot wounds while being tied up by Dick Hickock and Perry Smith. Perry Smith and Dick Hickock at first get away with the murders. They left little clues and had no personal connection to the murdered family. The residents of Holcomb were deeply affected by the murders. “The village of Holcomb stands on the high wheat plains of Western Kansas, a lonesome area that other Kansans call "out there."

To judge is to irreparably arbitrate; the judged seldom find recourse if an error lies in the judge’s logic. In criminal proceedings, the courts judge alleged criminals and deliver verdicts. A frequently encountered issue is determining guilt. Critics of the de facto court system cite moral culpability as an ideal that the courts fail to attain. Priding its moral superiority, the United States surprisingly lacks some of the basic rights to justice afforded to others elsewhere. America purports to have a duty to serve justice, yet the justice system provides little leeway to those whose crimes are not their fault. This notion of unfulfilled justice appears in In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. When Dick and Perry commit murder, the circumstances are such that Perry cannot be entirely accountable for the actions he took. Perry bears no responsibility for the crimes he committed; storied psychological illnesses and pitfalls compromised his sense of right and wrong, rendering him incapable of intervening in his planned crime with Dick.

A good author has an ability to invite the reader into the scene, allowing him to see far beyond what is actually said. In the opening excerpt of the novel In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, the author uses diction, imagery, and selection of detail in order to present Holcomb as a deserted wasteland that, although may have had a rich past, has lost its youth and vitality, and one would assume, it’s future. However, towards the end of the excerpt, the author gives a sense of rejuvenation to the reader through his description of the school, a ray of hope that gives energy to this otherwise lifeless city. From the very beginning of the passage, Capote chooses to highlight the most boring or negative aspects of the town. He creates the impression

Ever experienced shivers down the spine hearing of any infamous criminals, or any crime incident, but was still intrigued to know as many of the interesting interconnected specific details in connection to the crime account? That becomes the case when one of the characters from In Cold Blood says, “A whole family. Gentle, kindly people, people I knew – murdered” (Capote, 66). In this chaotic human civilization, criminals appear in the forms of thieves, computer hackers, illegal drug sellers, hired killers, gangs, and many other forms. Some of the law-abiding citizens also play a role in the civilization by taking their sincere attempts to stop or curb such detrimental societal elements. Law enforcement authorities such as the police force or

In Cold Blood brought about many social concerns and it was the cold and brutal facts of such a gruesome murder which was brought to the small town and the innocent family. Capote provided a detailed account and documentation of how the police force and legal system work in America. While the actual murders take up a small percentage of the 400 page novel, its main focus is on the hunt of Smith and Hickock, the trial, and ultimately the execution of the two murderers. Capote explored the frustrations of the police force, the frustration, and the cold facts which surrounded the murder. There is an element of suspense which Capote brought to In Cold Blood as the reader waits for the final execution and in the process learn about mitigating circumstances which made them the way they were.

Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood” is widely considered today as the first “non-fiction novel.” Published in 1966 and the fruit of over 6 years of research, the novel is an account of the gruesome murder of the Clutter family by two fellow ex-convicts Perry Smith and Dick Hickock. The four members of the Clutter household, Kenyon, Nancy, Bonnie, and Herbert Clutter were all taken to a different location in the house and promptly executed, each by a brutal shot to the head with a 12-gauge shotgun. Famous writer Truman Capote, who at the time was experimenting with literary journalism in hopes of coming up with a “non-fiction novel”, quickly saw his opportunity and was on-site soon after the crime happened and followed the entire case through the capture, trial, and execution of the two convicts, a period that lasted over 6 years.

It is impossible to follow every guideline for a police procedural novel when writing on a true event. Features considered important to the police procedural sub-genre may not be present within the real life crime, and adding details for the procedural sub-genre VIOLATES/TARNISHES the credibility of the true crime aspects of the novel. Despite the difficulties of blending a true crime and a crime fiction sub-genre, with some compromise on the guidelines of both genres, Capote completed In Cold Blood, a well-balanced novel that describes a true crime event from a police procedural standpoint.

Criminology does not always limit itself to the “whodunit”. In many cases, criminologists analyze the motives of individual criminals and often ascertain (identify) the level of the “thrill factor” involved with a crime. Offenders are frequently inspired by the stimulation of danger and welcome the exhilarating challenges they find in outwitting others. Michael Crichton’s The Great Train Robbery illustrates Edward Pierce’s ability to employ his intellect, manipulative nature, and personal wealth to satiate(indulge in, fill) his unquenchable thirst to mastermind the greatest theft of the Victorian era.

If one is interested in reading a disturbingly detailed and factually based novel that chronicles the course and motives of complex crime, read Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood: A True Account of a Multiple Murder and Its Consequences.” If one scares easily, is squeamish or wants to avoid imagining a remorseless, brutal killer around every corner, do not.