In Cold Blood Diction

This essay discusses Perry’s upbringing, as a child,was not very enjoyable, he was born healthy, but had a struggling father And drunk for days mother, when he was old enough to know right from wrong, his mother took him away from his father, Perry wanted to stay even said he will run away to come back to his father, but he never succeeded, until his mother kicked him out at a young age as stated “ I took my boy back to his mother and left the City. Perry later told me, his mother told him to find a new home.”(Pg79,In Cold Blood) and he went back to his happy life,and he went to school, but he did not like it, so him wanting to go was his choice but when they moved that changed.

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 order to paint an image of Dick as a controlling and condescending killer, Capote uses a simile to describe his stature. On page thirty-one capote describes Dick’s physique:“as though his head had been halved like an apple, then put together a fraction off center.” (Capote 31). Because Dick is described as abnormal it helps Capote achieve his purpose of demonstrating that Dick was a true monster who changed and molded Perry from a man into a killer. Capote describes Dick in this way to set Dick apart from a normal human being. A normal person could not have changed someone but because Dick was not normal he was able to change Perry. Because Dick is not normal he will be seen as the true

Following the emotionally ‘flat’ perspective by Dick, is Perry’s self-pity attitude during his own chapter. Perry knows the annoyance of his voice to Dick, but has no control over his actions. With only having one thought repeated indefinitely, “I think there must be something wrong with us” (capote 30), one would need to vent in some manner. To continue, Perry’s pity persona even has the author himself take pity on him: “Look at his family!” (Capote 30). Capote demands the reader to acknowledge Perry’s grim adolescence and suicidal family: “His mother, an alcoholic, had strangled to death on her own vomit...Fern...jumped out a window...Jimmy...had one day driven his wife to suicide and killed himself the next” (Capote 30). Capote pities Perry and portrays him as human, instead of the monster everyone believes him to be. Capote explains how Perry’s mental state and upcoming is the reason he is mentally unstable. Capote exposes not all criminals are monsters. Referring back to Dick’s passage, Dick claims “Perry could be “such a kid,” always wetting the bed and crying in his sleep” (Capote 29). Perry never matured from his depressing childhood, and he remained a in this state into adulthood. Returning to Perry’s

Does a man who brutally murdered four humans-for the sole reason that he had the power to-deserve any ounce of sympathy? “In Cold Blood”, Truman Capote uses “pathos” to appeal to the emotions of the readers about the two murderers, Perry Smith and Richard Hickock. Capote certainly sympathizes with one more than the other. He portrays one of the cold-blooded murderers in a positive light, but portrays the other murderer as a despicable and disgusting human being. For instance, Capote utilizes righteous and simple diction to advocate Perry’s emphatic nature with choices like, “compassion” and “uncharitable”. Furthermore, the author’s piteous tone emphasizes the tragic and hopelessness of Perry’s life with choices like, “You think I like myself?”(Capote 185) and “...the Black Widows were always at me. Hitting me”(Capote 132). In addition, Capote’s tone and diction paint Dick as a tasteless, vicious creature who deserved to take the full blame of the murder. Lastly, there are several rhetorical strategies that author employs to encourage the audience to empathize with Perry and to hate and despise Dick. Primarily, diction is one of the most persuasive literary device in the novel.

Diction contributes to a desperate tone that Sir Andrew has become regretful and hopeless. After Maria insults Andrew states, “Never in your life, I think, unless you see canary put me down,” because no one in his life has ever insulted him like Maria has. Andrew believes the reason why he couldn’t figure Maria's insult because, “...I [Sir Andrew] have no more wit than a Christian or an ordinary man has. But I am a great eater of beef, and I believe that does harm to my wit.” () Andrew claims he is dumb because he eats beef, “...I really believed that, I’d give up red meat totally.” ()

In the non-fiction novel In Cold Blood, Truman Capote (1965) gives his own narrative of the Holcomb tragedy in which a family of four living out on a secluded farm were slaughtered with a shotgun by the collaboration of two individuals for a seemingly few dollars. In this novel, Capote gives a thorough character description of the two murderers, Richard Hickock and Perry Smith, as he recreates their experience (much as he sees it as it would be from their eyes). He gives accounts preceding the event, through it, and eventually into their trial and execution. From the descriptions Capote provides, a psychological analysis of the mental states of Hickock and Smith can be asserted. Richard Hickock can be seen as possessing significant traits

Truman Capote put a lot of thought into this writing and in order to change the way people looked at this almost new type of writing, he decided to demonstrate pathos in order to do this. In the novel when talking about the murders Perry said, “I didn’t want to harm the man. I thought he was a very nice gentleman. Soft-spoken. I thought so right up to the moment I cut his throat.” (204). Right here Capote almost makes you feel bad for Perry and tries to show that Perry really is not an evil person and almost did not want to commit the murders. Now this supports his purpose because nobody tries to make the reader feel bad for the murderers. They are usually viewed as evil, disturbed people yet Perry is almost looked upon as someone who is not evil and almost as just someone who was forced into this. Nobody ever feels bad for a murderer yet in this novel, almost everyone starts to feel bad for them. Which really changes the way people write these types of novels and at the time seemed very unorthodox. Capote also makes people sympathize for the murderer by having Perry talk about his background. Perry says, “‘What she used to do, she’d fill a tub with ice-cold water, put me in it, and hold me under till I was blue. Nearly drowned. But she got found out, the bitch. Because I caught pneumonia. I was so sick that Dad came back. When I got well, he took me away’” (132). Now with almost every murderer they have a very rough upbringing yet people still do not

Through a life of crime, Perry pursues a life that differs from his childhood that was filled with abuse, loneliness, and abandonment. At the hands of the Smith and Hickock, the Clutter family never got to live out the American Dream to its full potential. The actions of Smith and Hickock led the police to demolish any chance of them to live out the small portion of the American Dream that they were able to achieve. Capote effectively described the fragility of the American Dream as it is pried from the Clutter family by Smith and Hickock. Capote also proves to be effective in his ability to provoke empathy for the darkest of people. “Hot islands and buried gold, diving deep in fire-blue seas toward sunken treasure—such dreams were gone. Gone, too was "Perry O'Parsons," the name invented for the singing sensation of stage and screen that he'd half-seriously hoped someday to be,” (Capote 202). By reiterating the death of Perry’s dream and his piteous upbringing, the reader has a sense of forgetfulness of the murder he committed and directs the attention to the feelings and intentions of Perry. When evaluated the intention of both Perry and the Clutter family was to achieve theirs

One effect from imagery being present in this passage results with the audience standing in disbelief of how murder could happen towards an everyday family, once visualizing the normal-day apparel they laid in. While for Nancy and Kenyon, Capote chose clothing containing vibrant colors; with Mr. and Mrs. Clutter’s look, their display was “matching” whereas still complementing each other. Overall, the four members dressed similar to how Capote portrayed their character to be earlier in the novel. Besides the description of the Clutter family’s attire, having the metaphor of their head’s encasement comparing to a swollen cocoon forces the reader to begin picturing the metaphor in their mind, additionally creating portraits of each victims face

Since 'In Cold Blood' is an older book, essay topics maybe tired and old by now. So it is important to find new exciting ways to make students think about this book while still using their skills learned in class.

Poison fills it’s veins, Teardrops energize it. With every step it takes, Innocent lives destroyed. One by one the victims dead, Their lives end with poison and dred.

Therefore, Capote successfully convinces readers that Perry’s nature is not completely guilty of the murder, but the way he nurtured was. To continue on, Capote utilizes diction to highlight positive side that Perry has in order to convince readers that Perry is not 100% evil. During the conversation with Perry, Dewey thought it is possible to see Perry without anger. “with, rather, a measure of sympathy --for Perry Smith’s life had been no bed of roses but pitiful, an ugly and lonely progress toward one mirage and then another”(Capote 246). In this quote, Capote utilizes diction to convince readers about Perry’s horrible past and how environment manipulated little Perry’s life that made him commit crime over and over again.

In his nonfiction novel, In Cold Blood, Truman Capote describes Mr. Clutter as a very active member of the community who “never sought to associate” with the upper-class men in his society. Capote’s purpose in writing this passage describing Mr. Clutter is to enable the audience to visualize and sympathize with the father of the family described in Part I of In Cold Blood in order to evoke a stronger emotional response from the audience when Dick and Perry murder the Clutter family. He develops this purpose by using elaborate diction and portraying Mr. Clutter as kind through Mr. Clutter’s own words.

Proverbs 16:25 There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.?