The Identities Of Life In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

The Clutters were the embodiment of the American Dream and an all-American family who were respected throughout the community. People who knew the Clutters thought they were “...gentle, kindly people (p.66).” This is what good is supposed to be: gentle, kind, respected, and hard-working. While in Part Two, Capote describes Perry in immense detail, giving us Perry’s entire backstory with letters from his father, sister, and friend Willie-Jay from his time in prison. Perry doesn’t seem to be as evil as Dick is throughout the novel.

Within Truman Capote’s work of In Cold Blood are several dynamic characters. Though these characters serve different purposes in the plot, and have different motives, there are key underlying similarities between them. Bonnie and Perry are introduced to the audience in very different circumstances. Capote introduces Mrs. Clutter along with how her post-partum depression has affected her. She tries to carry on with daily life, but is unable to do so fully.

In the movie Capote, the townspeople of Holcomb, Kansas had an appalling thing that happened to their town. The Clutter family, the most loved family in the town, was murdered in cold blood. Capote found out about this murder and went down to interview the people with his childhood friend, Harper Lee. He then wrote the book “In Cold Blood,” about everything that had happened. But, Capote used ways that were controversial, such as not taking notes during interviews. Capote was self serving and manipulative but unknowingly served the greater good.

We see two heartless, cold blooded killers that slain the innocent family of the Clutters with the intent to leave no witnesses and to rob them of their hard earned money but Capote deceives the reader's emotions throughout the entirety of the book to humanize straight killers and make them likable. We often see a murderer as a psychopath without any emotion but it is hard to label Smith and Hickock one because Capote brings the reader into their lives in a way that we would feel sorry and have pity for them. Capote makes the reader relate to Smith and Hickock by describing their families and showing insight into the killers’ dreams and aspirations so we could perceive them as people and forget that they ended the future of the Clutters. Perry was a lonely child growing up and had a drunkard mother that forced him into foster care where he was abused and bullied

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.

The most dominant strategy that Capote utilizes in order to achieve his purpose is pathos, as he plays on our emotions to get us to feel true sympathy for Perry Smith. This is strategy is overall the most effective one because it allows the viewers to perceive Perry differently. Capote mentions Perry’s abusive and neglectful childhood several times throughout the story’s course in order to make the readers feel empathic, and pitiful towards him. In one instance of the novel, Capote makes out Perry as a hero in a way. He sets up a picture of the killers at the beach, and he mentions how uncomfortable Perry is when he sees Dick talking to a young girl. He describes another instance like this when he says, “Hadn’t they almost got in a fight when quite recently he had prevented Dick from raping a terrified girl” (Capote 202). Perry is willing to stand up to his partner when he comes to situations like this. Readers can’t help but view Perry as a hero in his own way as he protects the young girls from Dick’s pedophilic mind. Capote plays on the assumption that everyone hates child predators, which is almost always true. In a way, Capote makes us feel admiration for Perry’s heroic effort in protecting the innocent, as he “prevented Dick” from doing something horrible. As Perry confesses his crime to Dewey and Duntz, he admits, “But I hoped we could do it without violence” (234). This is one of several moments where the readers get a sense of reluctance from Perry to commit the crime. Although Perry did eventually

The captivating story of In Cold Blood by Truman Capote is a beautifully written piece describing the unveiling of a family murder. This investigative, fast-paced and straightforward documentary provides a commentary of such 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. As this twisted novel unravels, Capote defines the themes of childhood influences relevant to the adulthood of the murderers, opposite personalities, and nature versus nurture.

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

In the literary world, the concept of using a silent narrator is complex. The novel In Cold Blood was the first nonfiction novel published in an era of journalism. Capote gained many fans and critics. Truman Capote, in his nonfiction novel In Cold Blood effectively uses a silent narrator to influence the reader’s opinions of characters based off of actions and words, but as the novel continues Capote begins to reveal his true opinions and thoughts to the reader.

When placed in stressful or uncomfortable situations, people often create lies to validate acts of escapism that provide momentary relief from the reality of their problems. This is act is typically known as self-deceiving. In Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, the use of self-deception as a form of escapism is evident in Perry Smith, one of the Clutter murderers. In the book, Perry’s self-deception manifests itself in his delusional dreams, his fatalistic beliefs, and his addiction.

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.

Following the emotionally ‘flat’ perspective by Dick, is Perry’s self-pity attitude during his own chapter. Perry knows the annoyance of his voice to Dick, but has no control over his actions. With only having one thought repeated indefinitely, “I think there must be something wrong with us” (capote 30), one would need to vent in some manner. To continue, Perry’s pity persona even has the author himself take pity on him: “Look at his family!” (Capote 30). Capote demands the reader to acknowledge Perry’s grim adolescence and suicidal family: “His mother, an alcoholic, had strangled to death on her own vomit...Fern...jumped out a window...Jimmy...had one day driven his wife to suicide and killed himself the next” (Capote 30). Capote pities Perry and portrays him as human, instead of the monster everyone believes him to be. Capote explains how Perry’s mental state and upcoming is the reason he is mentally unstable. Capote exposes not all criminals are monsters. Referring back to Dick’s passage, Dick claims “Perry could be “such a kid,” always wetting the bed and crying in his sleep” (Capote 29). Perry never matured from his depressing childhood, and he remained a in this state into adulthood. Returning to Perry’s

The dynamic partnership between Dick and Perry stems from their egos, or lack thereof. Perry is especially self-conscious, and his behavior as presented in the book is due to his sense of lacking and

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.

Truman Capote is described in the biography section of the book as being born in 1924 in New Orleans. He, over his lifetime, wrote a variety of works from short stories to memoirs. In the acknowledgments, he says that the information presented in the book “is taken from official records or is the result of interviews.” He then goes on to mention some of the important people to help make the book happen like the members of Finney County, the place where the event happened, and notable members of institutions like Kansas State University and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. Capote did not find any of the information first hand, nor is he from the state in which the crime occurred. He simply wrote a clear account of what happened by using interviews and police notes after the fact. Truman Capote’s relationship to the topic was simply that he volunteered to be the voice of a case that otherwise might not have been heard throughout the country and around the world in full detail and for years to come.