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Summary Of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

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Truman Capote's evocative imagery in 'In Cold Blood' appeals to the reader's senses. Some of the imagery contrasts the beautiful landscape to the horrible murders of the Clutter family, while other imagery helps reveal the mind of a killer.

What Is Imagery?

Imagery is a literary device in which the writing appeals to one or more of the five senses. Imagery occurs in vivid descriptive writing, and the writing often seems to paint a picture.

Apple-eating Weather

The murders that are the subject of In Cold Blood occur in Holcomb, Kansas. The Clutter family is murdered in this small town in November 1959, and Capote uses imagery to help readers envision Kansas' flat, sprawling landscape. 'The land is flat, the views are awesomely extensive; …show more content…

Since childhood, Perry has dreamed of being in Africa. He says, 'I'm moving through the trees toward a tree standing all alone. Jesus, it smells bad, that tree; it kind of makes me sick, the way it stinks.' In this passage, Capote's imagery emphasizes the sense of smell.

Perry reveals that diamonds hang from the tree, and he intends to take them. He then describes the snake's role in the dream, 'But I know the minute I try to, the minute I reach up, a snake is gonna fall on me. A snake that guards the tree.'

While Perry was a child living in an orphanage, he reveals that a nun beat him severely for wetting the bed. Perry says that was the first night that a parrot began to appear in his dream. He describes the parrot as 'taller than Jesus, yellow like a sunflower, a warrior-angel who blinded nuns with its beak, fed upon their eyes , slaughtered them as they pleaded for mercy, then so gently lifted him, enfolded him, winged him away to paradise.'

In addition to the vivid animal imagery, Perry's dream also evokes the sense of taste. He describes all the food in this paradise: 'Oysters. Turkeys. Hot dogs. Fruit you could make into a million fruit

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