Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

While reading Truman Capote's novel,"In Cold Blood ", I spent more than one night lying awake in my bed, frightened by Capote's presentation of the facts surrounding the murder of an obscure Kansas farmer and three of his family members. Several times, I caught myself wondering why this book

Literature; it has compelled us, entertained us, educated us, and drove us to madness. It has served as life instruction, by using the characters as the lesson plan. It is sometimes blunt, sometimes ugly, and in Truman Capote’s case, is so gruesome that we do not dare forget it.

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

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.

In Truman Capote’s non-fiction novel In Cold Blood, the Clutter family’s murderers, Perry Smith and Dick Hickock, are exposed like never before. The novel allows the reader to experience an intimate understanding of the murderer’s pasts, thoughts, and feelings. It goes into great detail of Smith and Hickock’s pasts which helps to explain the path of life they were walking leading up to the murder’s, as well as the thought’s that were running through their minds after the killings.

Conflict, in the beginning of the book Capote starts sympathizing with the Clutter’s family last day alive. Capote used a strong sentence to give us a point of where we are in the book. In the book it says, “Then, touching the brim of his cap, he headed for home and the day’s work, unaware that it would be his last.”(15) He tells us who the family was murdered. In the beginning of the book it is easy to confuse that Mr. Clutter was the murderer. Then, In Cold Blood the author, Capote, uses many foreshadowing in his book. One in specific is a extremely strong foreshadowing. In the text, “Four shotgun blasts that, all told, ended six human lives.”(5) American Novelist, Capote, exploits foreshadowing in his book. He takes

Indeed, one should not be satisfied with a clear-cut division between the good and the bad, the successful and the rejected. Capote’s presentation of the family and his description of the two young murderers whose troubled pasts and toxic personalities have preyed on an innocent family resulting in tragedy which is driven in part by ignorance, disillusionment and self-deception, according to Perry Smith’s own account (Olsza, 2009). In the play, like

Truman Capote 's In Cold Blood is a stupendously written book, regularly acclaimed for it 's unparalleled style. As needs be, readers mustn 't look exceptionally far before they discover a surplus of rhetoric. Capote is regularly credited with having made the first crime novel, and he didn 't get this praise by composing such as others. He utilized his fascinating composition style to make his readers feel as if they were really in the book, rather than preserving the barrier between the reader and the page. He permitted them to get inside the character 's heads and truly know them, seeing flickers into the character 's pasts while, likewise, foretelling events to come. He wrote with a very, for the time, eccentric style, but also one that ended up being incredibly powerful.

Capote presents alternating perspectives, the four members of the Clutter family Nancy, Kenyon, Mrs. Clutter and Mr. Clutter, being victims, and the two murderers, Dick Hickock and Perry Smith. These different perspectives allow the reader to relive each side of the story for

In In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, the device of juxtaposition is used to contrast the differing mental states of Dick and Perry, which is emphasized by the syntax, diction, and tone throughout the two passages. Capote uses opposing accounts of the same situation to add a deeper characterization of the two men, and to emphasize their differences psychologically. Throughout the book Capote attempts to show the true complexity of the killers, and how their backgrounds and psyches affected their actions. Although Capote is talking in the third person omniscient, he changes his style when describing the two characters.

On November 14, 1959 the police were called early in the morning of a small town called Holcomb in Kansas, the Clutter family had been killed in cold blood. Herb Clutter, the loving husband of Bonnie Clutter the mother of two children Kyen and Nancy Clutter, were all murdered brutally by Dick Hancock and Perry Smith. Truman Capote wrote the book In Cold Blood to show all points of views of this trial and to show his own view on the case. As Capote writes he grows close to the two murderers, Dick hickock and Perry smith. Capote shows Perry 's character as many things such as a quick learner, a follower and he talks a lot about how his past life made him like this. This is not only how Capote portrays perry through the book but he also backs everything up with a story to show why he is like this. This is how Perry Smith was and the way he acted up will he was hung on April 14, 1965 at the age of 36 for the murders of the Clutter family.

Capote uses Perry as a sympathetic character; asking the reader if Perry’s life had been easier growing up, would he have committed the murders? A point often overlooked is Capote’s detailed exploration into Perry’s childhood and life

As Truman Capote guides his readers through the thrilling story of the homicide of the Clutters family in his nonfiction novel, In Cold Blood, he gives the them a clear conception of the characters in his story. The characterization of Dick Hickock and Perry Smith, the two vicious killers, enhances the richness of the story by adding depth to the characters. Capote manipulates ethos and visual imagery to illustrate Dick’s corrupt nature, while he skillfully exploits assumption and pathos to characterize Perry as a sympathetic character.

For example, Capote uses witnesses’ statements to achieve a sense of historical accuracy. Capote describes Mr. Ewalt’s reaction to the Clutters’ murders by quoting the man himself: “‘I couldn’t make head nor tails,’ Mr. Ewalt subsequently testified. ‘I thought maybe the child was hurt’” (60). Capote reports the immediate reaction of one of the first people to see the murdered Clutters through the man’s witness statement in order to emphasize the novel’s basis in fact and its historical accuracy. By quoting Mr. Ewalt’s exact statement in court, Capote reports an important turning point in the story from a historically accurate point of view. In addition, Capote uses fictional aspects to evoke specific emotions. To illustrate, Capote concludes the novel by describing Dewey’s return home from Nancy Clutter’s grave: “Then, starting home, he walked toward the trees, and under them, leaving behind him the big sky, the whisper of wind voices in the wind-bent wheat” (343). The fictional devices within this quote, such as imagery, contribute a sense of closure by creating a peaceful and final conclusion to the story of the Clutters. As Dewey was the chief detective in the Clutters’ case, the idea of Dewey leaving provides a sense of finality, while the idea of the calm wind and the bent wheat contributes to an overall tranquil and relaxed mood. The fictional devices evoke specific emotions, creating a more compelling story that captures key features of fictional writing. By combining journalism and fiction, Capote is able to provide a more creative take on historical

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