In the memoir, In Cold Blood, the author isn’t necessarily trying to elicit a certain response from the reader, just trying to send a message or tell a story. If there were to be a certain response to the memoir it would be sympathy for both the Clutter family, the victims, and Dick and Perry, the murderers.
This memoir is set in a time where being gay wasn’t okay and you were put on what is basically a watch list if you were to be classified as homosexual. I believe that both Perry and Dick were homosexual but didn’t want to admit it so they tried to hide it. With Dick raping or thinking about raping little/younger girls and with Perry always trying to prove himself to Dick and those around him. By hiding who they are, may have led them
Truman Capote writes a genius book about a real murder that happened and he tore the case apart to find out every detail that happened in the crime. In Cold Blood is about two men who almost get away with a hostile murder of a family. How a lead detective on the case gets so pressured about finding these men. It is also about the anxiety that these murders put on the killers because one of them is afraid they are going to get caught. The town that turns on each other and locks their doors at night and prays no one comes in. Capote’s purpose in this book was sympathizing with the killer and all the other people in the book, also in the book he presents foreshadowing, and Pathos, he has many other Rhetorical Strategies but these are the important Strategies.
In Truman Capote’s captivating nonfiction, In Cold Blood, Capote ventures through the journey and lives of both the killed and the killers all while analyzing the point in which they crossed paths. From the days before the four Clutters were murdered to the last moments of the two killers’ lives, Capote takes into account each and every aspect that creates the ‘famous’ Clutter Case with an in depth look of just how and why these strange and unforeseeable events occurred. What was originally supposed to only be an article in a newspaper turned into an entire book with Capote analyzing both how and why a murder comes to be through the use of pathos, juxtaposition, and foreshadowing.
“In Cold Blood” by Truman Capote is a nonfiction book based on a real crime happened in the peaceful town of Holcomb, Kansas. Capote wrote from both victim and criminal side to show both thoughts and point of view of the story to avoid the one-sided account. In the book, Truman Capote, a former journalist and the author of “In Cold Blood” is making readers feel sympathy for Perry since Capote befriended with Perry while interviewing him. Capote uses of pathos and strong diction effectively in order to evoke sympathy for Perry’s childhood environment and deleterious effect it had on Perry’s mind. To begin with, Capote uses emotional appeal in order to illustrate Perry’s devastating past.
During which time I’m sure they developed a different relationship than I am familiar with. All the time that they had spent together and learning each other’s secrets. It seems that they both have indifferent sexual tendencies towards others. Dick tells Perry several times “how about it honey?” He was sorry he felt as he did about her, for his sexual interest in female children was a failing of which he was sincerely ashamed (Capote 201). I can’t remember Perry mentioning much about his sexual interests in the book except for maybe what he says about Willie-Jay. The only other thing is when Perry mentions that he is disgusted with people who cannot control their own sexual desires.
The book In Cold Blood is a nonfiction book about the murder of the Clutter family. Taking place back in the 1959s, Truman Capote writes about the events leading up to the murders, when the murders took place, and the aftermath. He tells the story in such a descriptive manner, that it feels like we were there when it happened. The purpose of writing like that is so we can know everyone’s side of the story, even people you wouldn’t ordinarily think of. He helps us feel like we were there when it happened by effectively and efficiently using the rhetorical strategies. The rhetorical strategies I feel were most important to the story were pathos, logos, and the tone. The way Capote uses these rhetorical strategies and literary devices is
In Truman Capote’s non-fiction novel In Cold Blood, the Clutter family’s murderers, Perry Smith and Dick Hickock, are exposed like never before. The novel allows the reader to experience an intimate understanding of the murderer’s pasts, thoughts, and feelings. It goes into great detail of Smith and Hickock’s pasts which helps to explain the path of life they were walking leading up to the murder’s, as well as the thought’s that were running through their minds after the killings.
The most dominant strategy that Capote utilizes in order to achieve his purpose is pathos, as he plays on our emotions to get us to feel true sympathy for Perry Smith. This is strategy is overall the most effective one because it allows the viewers to perceive Perry differently. Capote mentions Perry’s abusive and neglectful childhood several times throughout the story’s course in order to make the readers feel empathic, and pitiful towards him. In one instance of the novel, Capote makes out Perry as a hero in a way. He sets up a picture of the killers at the beach, and he mentions how uncomfortable Perry is when he sees Dick talking to a young girl. He describes another instance like this when he says, “Hadn’t they almost got in a fight when quite recently he had prevented Dick from raping a terrified girl” (Capote 202). Perry is willing to stand up to his partner when he comes to situations like this. Readers can’t help but view Perry as a hero in his own way as he protects the young girls from Dick’s pedophilic mind. Capote plays on the assumption that everyone hates child predators, which is almost always true. In a way, Capote makes us feel admiration for Perry’s heroic effort in protecting the innocent, as he “prevented Dick” from doing something horrible. As Perry confesses his crime to Dewey and Duntz, he admits, “But I hoped we could do it without violence” (234). This is one of several moments where the readers get a sense of reluctance from Perry to commit the crime. Although Perry did eventually
The dynamic between Dick and Perry was always fragile and dominated by a need to determine who was more masculine, who was in charge. This is made easier by simply blaming the other one for any negative consequences. Dick and Perry weren't particularly fond of one another; they had differing hopes, long-term goals, and motives. A dynamic as fragile as this was easily shattered after their arrests, leading to quick confessions and a solution to the puzzling quadruple
The captivating story of In Cold Blood by Truman Capote is a beautifully written piece describing the unveiling of a family murder. This investigative, fast-paced and straightforward documentary provides a commentary of such violence and examines the details of the motiveless murders of four members of the Clutter family and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers. As this twisted novel unravels, Capote defines the themes of childhood influences relevant to the adulthood of the murderers, opposite personalities, and nature versus nurture.
To go along with Perry being secretive, he hid the story about killing King from everyone including Dick. He explains how he killed King but tells that he does not know why he killed him and that he had no incentive to. He has the same idea when in the process of killing the Clutter family. He actually liked the family and really enjoyed spending time with Nancy, but because of Dick, he helped him murder them. For example he explains “ Particularly if whatever was wrong was not your own fault but maybe “a thing you were born with” Look at this family! Look at what happened there!” This shows that Perry does have feelings and cared at one point or another.
In Cold Blood, written by Truman Capote, is a book that encloses the true story of a family, the Clutters, whose lives were brutally ended by the barrel of a 12-gauge shotgun. The killers were 2 men, each with 2 different backgrounds and personalities, each with his own reasons to take part in such a harrowing deed. Capote illustrates the events leading up to the murder in sharp detail and describes its aftermath with such a perspective that one feels that he is right there with the culprits, whose names are Dick Hickock and Perry Smith. They had very critical roles in the murder and how they themselves were caught, and in many ways they were foils for one another. Through Capote's extensive descriptions
Themes can be developed in many ways using character interactions and plot development. In To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus Finch, a white lawyer in a time of great prejudice, defies everyone’s wishes by defending an African American accused of raping a white woman named Mayella Ewell. Later, Atticus’ children are taken from him to be killed until Boo Radley, a long-time recluse, came in and saved the day. In this novel, Harper Lee presents a theme of doing the right thing is more important than public approval. One example where doing the right thing is more important than public approval was when Atticus was tasked with defending a African American man who had been accused of raping a white woman named Mayella Ewell.
Rural Kansas was a peaceful, welcoming community. The farmers and townspeople were very close and friendly with one another. Nothing bad ever happened in these farming areas because the people were nice and friendly. Until one frightful night, everything changed. Back in 1959, the town of Holcomb, Kansas was absolutely shocked and taken aback by the news of killings that occurred in their small town. The victims were a well-known and loved family from the community. They were brutally murdered in their rural farmhouse. Truman Capote unravels the secrets, rumors, suspicions, and truth about the crime of the small town murder of the Clutter family in his non-fiction book, In Cold Blood: A True Account of a Multiple Murder and Its Consequences.
The dynamic partnership between Dick and Perry stems from their egos, or lack thereof. Perry is especially self-conscious, and his behavior as presented in the book is due to his sense of lacking and
Perry looked for gratification in many sources, but never received it from the nuns who cared for him, who in turned used brute force to express emotions, or his father who he left after an explosive argument occurred between the two, so when he meets smooth-talker Dick in the Kansas State Penitentiary, Perry jumps at the chance to impress him, and does so by lying to him about a violent murder he says he committed. In many instances, Perry lies just to earn the approval of Dick, from the murder Perry didn’t commit that enticed Dick to become his friend to tattoo meanings, to try and level with Dick, and Dick knows this. Now while he does believe most of what Perry tells him, he also uses plans Perry has told him to advance his own agenda and further his own ambitions. He molds and shapes Perry into what he believes will benefit his own plans, and Perry eager to be accepted by Dick, follows in