Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

Literature, the dictionary defines it being the art of written works that is simultaneously designed to entertain, educate and instruct its audience; writers, using their skill of telling stories, use literature in an attempt to transfer their ideas from paper to the reader; for some, this task means bringing their story to a different place and time that is entirely separate from what the could be perceive as ordinary, on order to serve the writer’s intent. With this, the impossible, becomes the probable, and the worst fear imagined becomes the breathed reality; with no separation between the truth, and fiction. The word “literature” in itself cannot be accurately defined, and by attempting to do so, it limits the word not only in its

Around the time of the novels publication in the late 1960s, a new literary genre had begun to surface: New Journalism. New Journalism sought to combine the elements of news writing and journalism with the elements of fiction writing. Described as being a form of literature that “engages and excites”, it sought to challenge its readers not only “emotionally” but also “intellectually”. Typically, New Journalism consists of four major characteristics such as

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.

Written by Truman Capote, In Cold Blood is a riveting narrative that documents a historical American crime. Written seven years following the murder of the Clutter Family, Capote was able to produce such a unique novel that reflects the countless hours that he had spent obtaining information. The extensive amount of interviews and reports add a great amount of depth to the storytelling. The abundance of vivid perspectives captivates the audience and leads them to delve into the inner workings of the character’s actions and thought processes. Resulting in the unveiling of psychological conflicts that raise the question of morality. Capote believes that it is

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote is considered one of the first novels to establish a new genre. Capote combined fictional elements to a real crime story that set the groundwork for future true crime novels. The foundation of the story is the tragic murder of the Clutter family, Herbert, Bonnie, Nancy, and Kenyon, and the effect it had on small town of Holcomb, Kansas. In Cold Blood is a “journalistic novel” that has “the credibility of fact, the immediacy of film, the depth and freedom of prose, and the precision of poetry,". Throughout the novel, Capote switches between the perspective of the killers, the victims, and those who live in the town. This creates a unique and at times truly staggering parallel that ultimately forces the reader

Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" is the story of Perry and Dick and the night of November 15, 1959. This investigative, fast-paced and straightforward documentary provides a commentary on the nature of American 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.

Truman Capote’s non-fiction novel, In Cold Blood (1963), implies that the death penalty should only be used as a last resort.

Imagery plays a significant role in Capote’s piece. The description of the setting allows the reader to visualise the town of, Holcomb Kansas, as if the reader had been a traveller just passing through. Capote states the village having, “hard blue skies” and “desert clear air” featuring “an aimless congregation of buildings”. Capote infuses the reader's mental image of Holcomb as being dull, lifeless, and unvarying. Capotes imagery in the beginning can leave Holcomb being pictured figuratively as if it were black and white.

When speaking of Mr. Clutter, “He was not as rich as the richest man in Holcomb - Mr. Taylor Jones…” (Capote 6) Capote emphasizes the economic status of Herb Clutter. By comparing him to the richest man in the county, the audience can assume he is neither rich nor poor and classify his family as middle-class citizens and most anyone else in his town. Through exemplifying the economic status of the Clutters, Capote is trying to convey to the audience the prevalence and rise of middle-class citizens during the time period.

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 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

Throughout their childhood and later adult life Dick and Perry are exposed to experiences which contribute to their lawlessness in the book In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. Recurring trends throughout each man’s lives such as their involvements in traumatic car accidents and higher education contribute to their unstable mental being, which eventually leads to the murders of the Clutter family. In Cold Blood argues that Dick and Perry’s backgrounds make their criminality inevitable.

Almost everyone knows that “perfect” family that they perceive never has any conflicts within it, and they often use that family as a cookie cutter to shape their own. What people frequently don’t know is that behind the closed doors of that household, there are rebellious teenagers and fighting parents. In the case of the Clutters they are the town’s icon for a flawless, midwestern family. If the town of Holcomb dug just a little bit deeper into their rolemodels’ lives, only then could they notice the life draining depression and the lies of the children that takes place in the home of the Clutters. Throughout In Cold Blood, Truman Capote displays to the reader through the characters Mr. Clutter, Nancy, and Mrs. Clutter that perfection is only a delusion that no one can fully achieve.

Capote goes to great lengths to show that the townspeople viewed the Clutter family as an ideal American family. Mr. Herbert Clutter was the most successful farmer in Holcomb: "He was, however, the community's most widely known citizen, prominent both there and in Garden City, the close dash by county seat..." (6). Capote details his numerous

John Hollowell's, critical analysis of Truman Capote's novel In Cold Blood focuses on the way Capote used journalism and fiction to try and create a new form of writing (82-84).