Justice And Punishment In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

Capote talks about the lives of both killers previous to the murders in fairly significant detail. In the case of Perry Smith, his parents divorced early in his childhood and neither his mother nor father really wanted him. This produced feelings of abandonment and uselessness early on in Perry and affected the rest of his life. Capote brings up a letter written to the Kansas State Penitentiary about Perry by Perry's father, who was trying to have Perry paroled for a previous crime he had committed. Perry says that "this biography always set racing a series of emotions--self pity in the lead, love and hate evenly at first, the latter ultimately pulling ahead" (130). Perry didn't feel as though his father ever knew him very well, or even wanted to know him. He says, "whole sections of my Dad was ignorant of. Didn't understand an iota of...I had this great natural musical ability. Which Dad didn't recognize. Or care about...I never got any encouragement from him or anybody else" (133). When Perry's father threw him out of the house one evening because his father could no longer afford to have Perry live with him, Perry lost his sense of direction in life. He even says

The book, “In Cold Blood”, is a nonfiction story by Truman Capote. This book presents one of the worst murders in history. It was a best seller worldwide, and turned into a successful movie. As usual the movie does not stand up to the book. If you want more knowledge of the townspeople, victims and more insight into the trial, more background details of the murders, you should read the book. If you are interested in history and a good murder mystery all in the confines of a book cover, read In Cold Blood by Truman Capote.

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

In the United States, there are millions of people that are in jail cells for crimes they have committed. One of the goals of prison is to provide justice for the victim’s crimes but in our prison system, this is not the case. These people face harsh punishments that only cause worse actions in the future. The theme of justice and punishment is explored by Truman Capote in the book In Cold Blood. The two criminals, Dick and Perry, are challenged by society on if they should be imprisoned or if they should be free. In Capote’s work, the use of syntax, diction, and a variety of details portray the current system of punishment as cruel and ineffective in providing justice.

For centuries, men and women have murdered each other for greed, lust, revenge, etc. However, in 1959, Truman Capote traveled to Holcomb, Kansas to discover the other side of murder. Truman Capote, author of In Cold Blood, offers a close examination of the horrid murder of the Clutter family. He explored how two men of different backgrounds, ethnicities, and personalities joined together to kill an innocent family for riches. Capote provides different points of view through each of his character’s eyes for his readers’ better understanding of the murderers. The use of juxtaposition compares and contrasts Dick to Perry, the murders. Capote succeeds with using juxtaposition to reveal the murderer's how he perceived them.

In Cold Blood Analysis In Cold Blood, Truman Capote uses elaborate sentence structure and parallelism. The use of syntax connects the sentences and gives a better understanding of what is happening. After both Richard “Dick” Hickock and Perry Smith were found guilty of murder in the first degree, Perry begins to break down for the first time in prison. One week later, Mrs. Meier says “I heard him crying. I turned on the radio.

Capote's structure in In Cold Blood is a subject that deserves discussion. The book is told from two alternating perspectives, that of the Clutter family who are the victims, and that of the two murderers, Dick Hickock and Perry Smith. The different perspectives allow the reader to relive both sides of the story; Capote presents them without bias. Capote masterfully utilizes the third person omniscient point of view to express the two perspectives. The non-chronological sequencing of some events emphasizes key scenes.

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

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 the journalistic book In Cold Blood, Truman Capote recounts the murders of the members of the Clutter family and the ensuing search for the murderers from various perspectives, giving the event a new dimension of depth and complexity. Following the murders, Capote chronicles the flight of the murderers, Richard Eugene “Dick” Hickock and Perry Edward Smith, revealing each of their personalities and backgrounds through letters, personal accounts, and experiences. As the crime develops, Capote implants the idea that Dick and Perry are more than just cold blooded killers. Through long descriptions of their backgrounds, Perry’s in particular, Capote implicitly evokes sympathy for the killers by placing emphasis on character rather than action,

In the Truman Capote’s famous novel that is non-fictional, In Cold Blood, there is a lot of support of evidence that Cold Blood prove for injustice of the trial,death penalty. The outcome of this trial would of never to be different than death. It was the worst thing ever to have heard about the Clutter family was the last family to be killed.(Capote 85) It was known that it was two men who killed the Clutter family, their names were Perry Smith and Bill Hancock, they both planned the crime scene with full intent and thoughts. Although what was told was cruel and heartbreaking,did the crime scene really have to be so cruel where the childhood and environment and situation are bad. Truman Capote expresses the the effect that the childhood

Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood makes a great case for justice in relation to death. In the book, two criminals, Dick and Perry, worked together to murder the Clutters. They got caught and trial, however at the time Kansas maximum incarceration was life imprisonment with parole and most prisoners are paroled after twenty years. Twenty years of imprisonment for brutally killing four members of the most influential family in the area, causing mass hysteria for everyone in Holcomb and for others who are involved in the case is unquestionably too short. However, is the death penalty fair for both of them, considering Dick had a mental disorder and Perry had a terrible upbringing? This brings us to a bigger, broader question: to what extent does the law and judgement system achieve their main purpose: bringing justice to everyone?

In the final months of 1959, the Clutter family was brutally murdered in their Holcomb, Kansas, home. Reports of their murders made national news. One of these headlines captured the attention of Truman Capote who chose to pursue the story further; eventually, after years of research and thousands of pages of notes, he penned In Cold Blood. It was first published in 1966, and it found immediate success. Capote’s original storytelling methods combined with the sensationalism of the crime was instrumental in creating, at the very least, popularizing a new genre: creative nonfiction. Utilizing unique narrative structure and author-tainted character development, Capote weaves a tale that questions the authenticity, the intent, and the meaning of 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.

Karl Menninger opposes punishment and thinks therapy is a better method. I will argue against therapy over punishment on the basis of utilitarian and retributive arguments provided by several theorists. As well as touching on the novel In Cold Blood by Truman Capote in which two men murder a family and are sentenced to death row and Clockwork Orange, a movie that deals with the use of therapy on a criminal rather than punishment/sending him to jail.