Analysis Of Truman Capote 's The Novel ' Cold Blood

Truman Capote wrote In Cold Blood with the intention of creating a new non-fiction genre, a creative spin on a newspaper article with the author, and his opinions and judgments completely absent from the text, leaving only the truth for the reader to interpret. The pages of In Cold Blood are filled with facts and first-hand accounts of the events surrounding the brutal murder of a wealthy unsuspecting family in Holcomb, Kansas. Author Truman Capote interviewed countless individuals to get an accurate depiction of every one affected by and every side of the murder. Although he declares himself an unbiased and opinion-free author, based on the extensive descriptions of one of the murderers, Perry Smith, there is much debate about this

Hollywood scripts and television programming are filled with storylines of crime and criminal justice. The viewing public consumes crime

In 1951, the first television crime drama series, Dragnet significantly influenced our American culture. According to the New Oxford American Dictionary, the term “dragnet” is a symbol, for, a system of coordinated measures used to apprehend criminals or suspects. Most crime drama series solve a different case each episode. Although, in current pop-culture crime dramas focus on one particular crime, throughout an entire season. Similar, to the show “Homeland,” the HBO crime drama True Detective adds a twist on the conventional series. The show depicts a subject matter that has affected modern society as a whole. Southern Louisiana police detectives Rust Cohle and Marty Hart, in 2012, are asked to revisit their solving of a ritualistic murder case from 1995. The murder of a former student of the Light of the Way Christian Academy lays the foundation, for detective Cohle’s doubts about the true design of religion. The True Detective storyline portrays the utilization of religion, education, and politics, by men in power who manipulate and control young innocent children.

Set in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, In Cold Blood recounts the real-life murder of the Clutter family, following the last moments of the four victims, investigation, court and trial, and the execution of the two convicted, Perry Edward Smith and Richard Eugene Hickock.

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.

1: What is the central argument the writer makes in your book? For example: “[Author name] argues that . . . because . . .”

As Truman Capote guides his readers through the thrilling story of the homicide of the Clutters family in his nonfiction novel, In Cold Blood, he gives the them a clear conception of the characters in his story. The characterization of Dick Hickock and Perry Smith, the two vicious killers, enhances the richness of the story by adding depth to the characters. Capote manipulates ethos and visual imagery to illustrate Dick’s corrupt nature, while he skillfully exploits assumption and pathos to characterize Perry as a sympathetic character.

As part of your summer assignment, you will read In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. You may purchase the book on your own or you may borrow a school copy of it. Read closely and annotate your text. Annotations will not be collected, but this is an educational and intellectual habit that you want to begin if you haven’t already.

In his novel In Cold Blood, Truman Capote writes about the Clutter family murders, which took place in November 1959. Herbert Clutter, Bonnie Clutter, and two of their children (Nancy and Kenyon) are murdered in their Holcomb, Kansas home by Perry Smith and Richard “Dick” Hickock. Capote 's novel, though telling the tale of true events, took on fictional, literary elements, creating a genre of its own: the nonfiction novel. It is through these literary elements that Capote sought for his readers to relate with the two killers, or at least gain a greater understanding of how their minds worked. His characterization of both Perry and Dick is planned carefully throughout the book, and only towards the end does the reader truly get a grasp of their personalities. This withholding – perhaps even manipulation – of information and how Capote presents the information allows him to achieve his purpose for the novel.

The usually quiet and lonesome village of Holcomb resides peacefully until the unthinkable happens. During mid-November of 1959 a family of four is shot in their own home. The brutal death of the Clutters creates a sense of uncertainty and paranoia over the village. Truman Capote writes on the tragic story in his novel, In Cold Blood. When found, Perry Smith and Dick Hickock are appointed a trial and face Kansas’s death penalty. However, questions arise about the defendants’ punishment in relation to their mental capacity, specifically Perry Smith’s. Perry deserves to receive special consideration because his childhood causes his mental instability, which allows him to be easily persuaded and not in control of his actions.

     One reason the film seems like it was a real event is how the producers

It is at time hard to distinguish what is real and what is fictional, concerning the criminal justice

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.

Starting with Ken Dowler, Thomas Fleming, and Stephen Muzzatti, the authors of “Constructing Crime: Media, Crime and Popular Culture” (837-839) one can see how they believe the media impacts the view of crime from a public perspective. In Canada, crime is a main segment of the news and while that source would be considered informational, the subject of crime itself can also be for entertainment. Likely, North America favors the subject of crime and this can be prove true based on television content today through shows such as Chicago P.D., Law and Order: SVU, Killer Couples or Rosewood. While these shows and many others manage to hook an audience through intriguing storytelling of crime the lines between the true crime information and creative

A very popular 1995 film involving crime is “Bad Boys” directed by Michael Bay. Michael Bay and his team of writers were able to film a highly intense action-comedy based around two detectives fighting organized crime. By examining distortions, crime causation theories, and the image portrayed in “Bad Boys,” the viewer is absorbed into the Hollywood perspective of our justice system.