Holcomb, Kansas In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

because the novel provides accurate description of what took place during and after the trials, and how the townsfolk of Holcomb, Kansas reacted to the murder of the beloved Clutters. It is assumed that the townsfolk’s reaction to the murders was pretty accurate, giving the fact that Capote traveled to Holcomb shortly after the murders were reported in the New York Times.

In the non-fiction novel In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, four horrific murders shock the small, innocent town of Holcomb, Kansas, the murders all occur on one night killing an entire family. Before the killings, the town felt like a family. The citizens of Holcomb were seen as good people, innocent and free of worry. However, after the Clutter murders take place, a community that seems so tightly knit quickly dissipates. The murder

For the opening, Capote specifically chooses words with a negative connotation, allowing the readers to further understand what makes Holcomb unappealing. In the first line, he describes Holcomb as "lonesome" and "out there", by doing so he directly states that Holcomb is an insular city that is far away from any other city. When discussing Holcomb’s design, Capote uses the phrase “a haphazard hamlet” to describe the aimless

Truman Capote characterizes Holcomb as a innocent and peaceful farm town with a small population of people and a few rundown buildings. As he describes the town of Holcomb he paints a picture that not a lot happens in the town and that the surrounding towns do not pay attention to Holcomb or even know that the small town exists. Capote describes the town as being melancholy, lonesome and unknown he describes the town like this so that when a crime happens in this town it has a greater impact on the people. In order to convey these ideas Capote uses a great deal of imagery and has a good use of diction that is easy to understand so that his ideas come across clear and he is able to paint the picture he wants to paint.

Holcomb is a lonesome place, isolated, and hushed “a lonesome area that other Kansans call “out there” (Capote 1). Capote highlights this fact to draw attention to the solitude of the location. This achieves the effect of preparing the stage for the murders to happen. This sets up a contrast with the explosive events and revelations of the latter half of the novel. It also reflects the loneliness of individual humans and more importantly the loneliness of the murderers (especially Smith). It also builds up a suspenseful, paranoid atmosphere that makes one uneasy because no one can hear screams “out there”. It’s a perfect setup for a suspenseful crime story, “out there”. Throughout the novel, one follows the travels of the K.B.I. agent Dewey and the culprits he is chasing such as when Dewey is in Las Vegas “weather had removed the first letter and the last – an R and an S – thereby coining a somewhat ominous word: OOM…upon a sun-warped sign” and the murderers as they reenter the United States “It was midday deep in the Mojave Desert…Dick was standing at the side of a black-surfaced highway, Route 66, his eyes fixed upon the immaculate emptiness as though the fervor of his gaze could force motorists to materialize” (Capote 154). Capote uses geography here to demonstrate the ominousness of the novel’s mood. Both locations are barren wastelands, desolate

Nothing ever happens in a small town is a motto many own, especially in Holcomb, Kansas. Holcomb is the poster town for “Small Town” by John Cougar Mellencamp, a life that many midwesterners are immersed in.Truman Capote goes into very vivid details providing a beautiful image of the dull unassuming town that is Holcomb in the beginning of his novel In Cold Blood. Truman Capote brings depth and detail out of a rather bland appearance using stylistic elements such as diction, tone, and imagery.

The town of Holcomb, Kansas is very stale and damaged throughout the book Capote characterizes his view of Holcomb by using rhetorical devices such as imagery, diction, repetition, foreshadowing, and selection of detail to give us a glimpse of his perspective of Holcomb from the beginning of the book until the end.

Capote starts his novel describing the small town of Holcomb, setting the stage for how the murders will change the town. Capote wants to make the readers understand that the small town

One literary device that Capote utilizes is imagery. It is most noticeable when he describes the atmosphere of the town after the murder. “Imagination, of course, can open any door-turn the key and let terror walk right in.” Ever since the murder, the people of Holcomb have been imagining the worse. Capote puts it perfectly as he describes the town that the hunters see when they first arrive from Colorado: “windows ablaze, almost every window in almost every house,

He establishes his credibility early in the text through his comprehensive understanding of the Clutter case, as well as his in depth interviews with the friends and families of the Kansan family, easily earning the trust of his readers. Capote describes the lives of the Clutter and the murders in great, utmost detail; thus, creating an artificial connection between the characters and readers. In every act, Capote never fails to illustrate a scene at length. Rather than focusing on just the perspective of the Clutters, Capote goes the extra mile and implements several stances, including the murders and the people of Holcomb. Capote clearly spent years of research and observation on the case, leading people to acknowledge his expertise on the

Capote was genuinely a craftsman with his words. His utilization of imagery throughout makes the reader feel as if they are truly in Kansas, Nevada, Mexico or wherever else Capote put them. This is evident as Capote paints the image, "Mountains. A hawk wheeling in a white sky. A dusty road winding into and out of a white and dusty village," (107) which permit the reader to feel like they, themselves, are in Mexico. Capote rehashes the same technique merely a page after, emphasizing the cruciality of the scene. At that point, Capote portrays Richard Hickock 's "cold, oily tortilla" leaving a greasy taste in the reader 's ' mouth. Capote 's capacity to paint an image out of words was significant to In

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.

After describing the village of Holcomb, Capote moves on to characterization. He first describes Herbert William Clutter, the master of River Valley Farm. He goes into great detail about his physical features then moves on to tell about his personality and the way citizens of Holcomb see him. Capote states, "... And his name was

    Throughout most of the book Capote takes the place of a third person omniscient narrator. With Capote presenting much of the background information on events, places, and characters, readers are able to see how and why the mood of areas and people begin to change. Take the townspeople of Holcomb for example, before the Clutter murder everyone got along and trusted each other. However, after the murders, Capote describes the townspeople as “suddenly...distrusting [of] each other... [and] they believed that the murderer was among themselves” (Capote 88). This shows how the death of the Clutters affected everyone in Holcomb, so much so that the harmony that was once within the town seemed as if it would never return.

Capote begins his novel with a conventional narrative structure choice: describing the setting. He spends several pages familiarizing the reader with the town of Holcomb, Kansas. This move is crucial, especially when contrasted with his unconventional choices for the traditional narrative timeline as the book progresses. As Capote introduces the reader to the Clutter family, with a particular focus on Herb, he sets the groundwork for the conflict. With necessary background information in mind, the reader first confronts the conflict with the words, “...he headed for home and the day’s work, unaware that it would be his last” (13). It is this moment, that the reader experiences the first sense of satisfaction. This is the