Cold Blood By Truman Capote, A Cold Blooded Killer

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.

Although Capote’s writing may seem as though he is trying to relive the storyline of the murder, he is using language tools in order to build sympathy and humanize the murderers despite their gruesome crime while simultaneously making the reader feel sorrow for the Clutter’s.

In cold blood is a nonfiction investigation of the murder of the Clutter Family written by Truman Capote first published in 1966 by Random House and was copyrighted in 1965. This book is a documentary of the events that occurred before and after November 15, 1959 when the clutter family, which was a farmer his wife and two children were murdered by Richard Eugene Hickock and Perry Edward Smith with a .12-gauge shotgun. Capotes intensive research during the time of the crime gives the reader a complete understanding of what happened during that fateful day.

When I was reading In Cold Blood I could tell that Capote used strong verbiage when writing and describing places or characters in the book. Capote when writing about Perry describes him in different ways. He writes about his physical appearance in parts of the book and here he shows you what his family is like and how he acts towards Dick. Perry seems like he is the innocent one compared to how Dick acts. But although Perry seems guiltless he definitely is not.

In his “nonfiction novel” masterpiece In Cold Blood, Truman Capote attempts to shape readers’ perceptions of Perry as a cold-hearted murderer to a mentally ill, childlike character whose suffering has driven him to commit a horrendous crime. Capote introduces Perry Smith to readers with a physical description, opening the premise that Perry encapsulates an injured child: “His tiny feet, encased in short black boots with steel buckles, would have neatly fitted into a delicate lady’s dancing slippers; when he stood up, he was no taller than a twelve-year-old child” (Capote 15). Through this comparison and metaphor of Perry’s figure to a lady and child, Capote references characteristics of weakness and innocence that not only resonate in the

In discussion of In Cold Blood, one controversial issue has been Perry’s plea. Was justice served correctly by sentencing Perry to death row? On one hand, it is a fair eye for an eye sentence, in which the consequence matches the wrongdoing. On the other hand, Perry could have been sentenced to an insane plea, which would’ve spared his life, and therefore given him a chance at treating his psychological illness. In his book, In Cold Blood, Truman Capote illustrates the events of the trial to the reader. On November 15, 1959, both Perry Smith and Richard Hickcock broke into the Clutter’s home in hopes of finding a safe with a monetary reward. Unfortunately, there was no safe and Richard, who was the mastermind behind this massacre, felt it was

Truman Capote’s non-fiction novel, In Cold Blood (1963), implies that the death penalty should only be used as a last resort.

The book “With No Direction Home: Homeless Youth on the Road and in the Streets” written by Marni Finkelstein refers to the homeless youth. This book describes the lifestyle of the teenagers with no home and explains with detail about what consist in their everyday lives in the streets of New York City. The purpose of this book is to explain to people who these kids are and to see life in their point of view. It explains the difference between street kids and the kids that live on the street. We need to understand that the kids that live on the streets have their own culture and their own way of surviving. Learning their point of view would be a great eye opening experience for everyone and to also understand their struggle. This book explains a study that was done to 50 street kids and life on the streets.

In the book In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, one of the two killers, Perry Smith, is presented to be an emotional villain whose actions towards others reflects the way society has treated him. The traumatic and broken childhood that Perry endured did not only leave him untrusting of others but was a gateway to the dramatic and unpleasant life that Perry lived. Not only shown through his criminal actions, but every aspect of Perry’s life is negatively marked by his experiences, illustrating the trainwreck that his life turned out to be. Perry’s complicated feelings towards society is shown through his treatment of the Clutters during the home invasion.

Being homeless presents many challenges for youth that they normally live day to day, unable to develop plans for forming a productive life structure. Since many homeless youth don’t have money so they start begging or selling drugs or start prostituting to earn money to cover their basic needs. The basic problem of homelessness is the human need for personal shelter,

Youth who live on the streets are there for two main reasons either they chose to leave the home because of the living situation or they will leave home because they are kicked out or drugs and alcohol have led them onto the streets. 20% of the homeless population is youth and it is increasing every year because of the changes that our generation is going through and being affected by. The rates of suicide in homeless youth are 10.3 times larger then an average Canadian youth. (McKay, E. (2009). Independent Living Accounts: Leaving Homelessness in the Past.).

Many murder novels have been written but few give the killers the benefit of the doubt. In Cold Blood author, Truman Capote, shows an unusual amount of empathy for the Clutter Killers Dick Hickock and Perry Smith. Capote shows compassion towards the two by focusing on their misfortunate upbringings, tragic life experiences and questionable unstable mental health. Both Dick and Perry had their share of misfortune prior to committing the murders. Capote uses subtle attempts to sway his reader’s outlook on the killers by sharing their backstories and exposing their side to the story.

Imagine a young child growing up, learning, and trying to further his or her life to obtain success in the future. For an “everyday” child this can be challenging, however “everyday” obstacles can be overcome. For thousands of children in the United States, this dream is almost impossible to achieve. These children are a part of the homeless population that is spread throughout the United States. Many times these individuals try to hide this major secret from the rest of the world, but homelessness is very prevalent among these youths today. Various problems occur in these peoples’ lives that others could not even begin to understand. Homelessness affects children in every stage of life physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Many children are living on the streets. The number is growing and their rights are denied. Street children are a problem that faces many countries that should be fixed. Street children are a human beings who should be taking care of. Day after day their numbers is increasing and sometimes they become a threat. Everyone have the right to be educated, respected, and be healthy. Street children do not have this chance and their rights are being stolen. Street children are facing a great opportunity to become criminals, but they are actuality the victims. Some people see that street children do not have any rights, on the other hand some say that street children should be helped to overcome this crisis that certainly every country is facing. Street children should be helped because they can be of benefit, many organizations are willing to contribute in this

One of the miseries brought by the modern civilization is the situation of the street children.