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Unactuality In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

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It is a fact that Truman Capote published his bestselling novel, In Cold Blood, in January 1966. It is a fact that Richard Eugene Hickock and Perry Edward Smith confessed to, and were hanged for the murder of the Clutter family. However, it may not be true that Capote’s new form of novel, the nonfiction novel, is entirely factual as he claims in numerous interviews. Instead Capote uses a creative interpretation of events to manipulate the characters and to advance the narrative of In Cold Blood. Despite Capote’s desire to write a book that was completely factual, the addition of information intended to influence the audience, the characterization of Perry, and fabrication of certain events all lead to a book that is less than factual. The novel, In Cold Blood, is Truman Capote’s first attempt to deviate from the traditional mold of the novel, towards a fact-based work of literature, that he called a “nonfiction novel.” Capote describes his intent with In Cold Blood to The Saturday Review when he says that “I got the idea of doing a really serious big work- it would be precisely like a novel, with a single difference: every word of it would be true from beginning to end” (Voss). In this interview with The Saturday Review, Capote expresses that In Cold Blood would be written as a record of fact, juxtaposing the traditional novel that is based on the creation of events and of characters. However, a novel that is free of the creation of events and certain character traits seems

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