It’s rather impossible to fully remove yourself from your work; to provide a filtered, unbiased approach to anything. But, Truman Capote feels he did just that in his non fiction recount of the Clutter murders. The town of Holcomb became nationally, if not internationally known on November 15th, 1959, after the four family members were found bound and shot. Countless times Capote has been questioned on how realistic the books’ accounts are, and he always assures his readers that he was there to simply write down the facts. However, it’s easy to see that despite how real it seems, Capote took his artistry over the lives affected by both his presence and the case itself. Truman plays coy, he lies to himself constantly so he can still believe …show more content…
All though rather miniscule in the scheme of things, Nancy’s beloved horse, Babe, rumored to have not been named Babe at all- Capote wrote she was purchased out of pity and ended up having a life Nancy wouldn’t have wanted. Truth be told, Babe was sold for much more than Capote had entailed, $182.50 compared to the $75 Capote wrote. She also continued on to be much more than a plow horse, but she also became a mother and in the summer taught children how to ride at the local Y.M.C.A (Thompkins). And another “fact”, is the exaggeration of Bobby Rupp’s athletic abilities, to which he states, “He makes me out to be some kind of great athletic star and really I was just an average small town basketball player.” (Thompskins) These altered “facts” don’t just matter because they aren’t factual nor represent the truest form of nonfiction, but matter because it proves that Capote changed them for a reason- some more obvious than others; majority due to the story he was trying to tell, based off his bias and ambition of a thrilling book- the fact he took the completion of his book, a good book, over precise factual evidence, and appeared to care very little about the effect it had on the lives around
Mr. Clutter, from the people that knew him, described him as being much like his character is portrayed, a community leader involved in many organizations; however, the descriptions of Mrs. Clutter are under suspicion. The people that knew Bonnie Clutter say that Capote exaggerated when it came to describing her
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.
Athens was Democraticless Democracy can be defined as the power of the people. For example, America is a democracy. Athens claimed to be a democracy. Based on recorded speeches and the Athenian Constitution they did not favor the people. In some ways they did, but there is credible evidence showing Athens was not a democracy. There are statistics, facts, and examples. For instance, in a speech by Aristotle, he states, the citizens had to vote a new citizen. Voting is unjust based on citizens unfair judgments. If the potential citizen is declined citizenship, he must have a trail. If the citizen loses, he is then sold as an Athenian slave. Both of those laws do not favor the people. It is very easy for current citizens to mistreat the system.
When we hear about a killing on the news, our natural instincts are to immediately antagonize the killers. More likely than not, we hate the killers, and hope they get a vengeful prison sentence. In Truman Capote’s true crime non-fiction book, In Cold Blood, we learn about the murders that took place in Holcomb. The story is about much more than the slaying of a respectful family, its focus is on the killers, Dick Hickock and Perry Smith. One of Capote’s main purposes in the book is to convey the multiple perspectives of a crime in order for the readers to view the killers as more than just the bad guys, and he achieves his purpose primarily through the use of pathos, anecdotes, and his chosen narrative.
Capote purposefully detaches himself from this section of the story, allowing the only sense of sympathy come from those who personally knew the Clutters. Because Capote is not able to form a personal relationship with any members of the Clutter family, he simply chooses to briefly explain the family’s murder and shift his attention to the murderers instead. The Clutters all-American image could not rescue them from tragedy and instead of portraying the family as victims, Capote focuses on attempting to encourage the audience to remain optimistic on their views regarding the family’s murderers.
Truman Capote saw Perry as being superior to others in his uniqueness and, since he is “absent” from the novel, expressed this opinion in Willie-Jay’s character accounts of Perry. After asserting Willie-Jay’s legitimacy, Capote presents the farewell letter that Willie-Jay wrote to Perry. In it, Willie-Jay analyzes Perry in a psychologist-like manner; he writes:
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.
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.
Many people say the documentation of the murder of the Clutter family is Truman Capote’s best work. It started out as an article for The New Yorker, and evolved into the non-fiction novel; the first of its kind. Capote traveled to Kansas with friend Harper Lee to research the killings. In the course of six years bringing this narrative together, Capote began taking drugs and drinking heavily due to the dark nature of the book. Truman Capote tells the true story of a family murdered in In Cold Blood, through character analysis and symbolism to prove nature is a stronger force than nature in shaping a person’s character.
In conducting his research for the novel, Capote managed to make friends and sources of the relatives and neighbors of the Clutters and the killers, the lawyers, the police, and Dick Hickock and Perry Smith (33). He did not use a tape recorder or a notebook when speaking with his sources, but relied on his memory to keep the facts straight.
In Truman Capote’s Novel, In Cold Blood, Capote synthesises the writing techniques of a reporter and an author to tell the horrific and true story of the Clutter family murders. Capote uses comparison, selection of detail, and understatement to pose his argument that capital punishment is not a correct practice.
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 goes to great efforts to show the admiration which the community held for the Clutter family, one of the elements which made the murders so shocking. Everybody socialized with the Clutter family. For example, Mr. Clutter's friend Mrs. Ashida felt comfortable telling Mr. Clutter her conflict with her husband regarding the Ashida family's possible move, confiding that people like his family are the reason she wishes to stay in Holcomb.
The Clutter family is written in a fashion to show they were the normal American family and by fate were entangled with killers (Hollowell 83). Hollowell states, Capote creates a "mythic dimension" through this portrayal (83). The dimension shows the reader how this crime completely disturbs the community of Holcomb and an
Through his numerous short stories, fiction novels, and even nonfiction novels, Truman Capote has notably been considered one of America’s most prominent literary writers of the twentieth century. The numerous conflicts in which Capote dealt with in the earlier parts of his life led him to procure solace in writing (McMillan). Emerging as a prolific author who was commonly known for his excellent usage of prose, Capote came to publish the notorious nonfiction novel, In Cold Blood, in 1966. During Capote’s era, Southern Gothicism, a literary genre associated with dark and grotesque themes, increasingly prevailed (Bjerre). Capote’s novel became an atypical work in the genre, though, as he transformed a work of literary nonfiction into what seemed as though a “factional” piece-- a true novel in which incorporated fictional elements of Southern Gothicism (“Slouching Toward Popularity). Within the novel, Capote intricately details the Clutter family murder executed by Richard Hickock and Perry Smith. By doing so, he was able to successfully incorporate elements of Southern gothicism within the novel. Through the analysis of the damaged characters within the novel, the criminality involved in the Clutter murder, and the violence of the murder itself, Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood not only fit the Southern Gothic genre, but ultimately came to revolutionize the nonfiction novel, thus proving its deserved standing in the literary canon.