Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

In Cold Blood is a very fitting title, because Capote presents a cold and unemotional view of Holcomb,Kansas. His tone, Imagery,and Selection of details create a distant and detached picture of the community.

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.

In Cold Blood tells the “true” story of the murder of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas, in 1959. Capote wrote In Cold Blood as experiment in literature because he wanted to write a "nonfiction novel." But a book such as In Cold Blood actually a novel? Or is it a creative work? Or is it simple journalism? But the work in its entirety is rather abstract. It seems more likely that Capote’s book is more an argument. But what is an argument. Well literally it is a reason or set of reasons given with the aim of persuading others that an action or idea is right or wrong. But to who? Well that is the audience’s job. And no it is not just who reads it; it

Holcomb, Kansas, appears to display rickety, ramshackled buildings lining a dusty, arid street to consist of the downtown area, according to Truman Capote’s depiction of the town in his novel, In Cold Blood. Nothing stops in Holcomb, with the exception of rare freight trains. Capote, while describing the town as boring, old, and dry, focuses his positive attributes towards the center of education in the town. Holcomb’s school stands out like a needle in a haystack to the rest of Holcomb, with its polished walls and modernized interior. Capote utilizes imagery and diction to accurately illustrate to his readers the layout of Holcomb and the people who reside there.

Of all the characters in In Cold Blood, Perry proves to possess the most surprising and dynamic traits. Unlike Dick, whose character remains consistent throughout the book, Perry portrays innocent, child-like characteristics juxtaposing his title of a murder. Capote sympathizes with Perry using pathos to achieve this, as evident in his writing. On many occasions, Capote illustrates Smith with humane characteristics. Particularly in the chapter “Persons Unknown”, Capote goes in-depth of Perry’s past. In this section, readers learn that Perry has suffered from (childhood) abuse and neglectance caused by authoritative figures in his life, including his parents, and the caretakers of his youth (132). More importantly, Capote also discloses a “composition

I chose this passage because of its significance to the plot. Once Officer Dewey was assigned to the Clutter case his life was consumed by evidence, witnesses, and long nights reading over potential breakthroughs. The murders injected fear into Dewey’s family and the entire Holcomb community. Therefor, he was constantly being asked for any breakthroughs or information he has obtained about the case and he began to feel overwhelmed. One night Dewey has a nightmare in which he is chasing Hickock and Smith. They stand beside the graves of Herb, Bonnie, Nancy, and Kenyon Clutter and laugh and mock him. Dewey repeatedly shoots the men directly at their heart but they are unharmed. He wakes up in a cold sweat and learns that Dick Hickock has been

Capote takes his inspiration for In Cold Blood from first hand accounts of a committed crime in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas. The progression of the story is exhibited as it really occurred. Capote conducted extensive research out of general curiosity as well as the need for entertainment, and thus the research was used to relay the story of the infamous Clutter case. Part four, The Corner, gives in depth insight into several characters, most notably the murderer Perry. Capote dissects Perry’s psyche and describes his final thoughts and actions in incredible detail. In order to accurately portray this sensitive subject, Capote interviewed, studied, and even befriended Perry before his sentence to death. Due to his wealth of firsthand knowledge, no one was more qualified to explore the complex and psychotic mind of Perry Edward Smith than Truman Capote.

When researching or learning more about a person or event, it is often easy to become attached to them, and develop biased opinions on the subject. However, exceptional authors of crime nonfiction avoid this bias, creating a strictly objective account of the criminals and events for the reader. Truman Capote clearly demonstrates this concept in his excellent nonfiction novel, In Cold Blood. Throughout the novel, Capote maintains a completely objective tone when describing the stories of the criminals Perry and Dick, including their traumatic past leading up to the crime, and the crime itself. In addition, he frequently quotes the characters involved with the criminals and crime, allowing the reader to get every point of view and come to a conclusion by him/herself.

In the non-fiction novel, In Cold Blood, Truman Capote follows the tail of the Clutter family murder in Holcomb Kansas. Four members of the Clutter family are brutally murdered by two ex-cons and the story follows the hunt for the murderers, their capture, and eventually some country justice. The murder took place on the night of November 15, 1959. The investigators had no motive for the crime and the only clues that they had were two pairs of boot prints left by the killers. Capote took all of his notes and after the murder had been solved he began to formulate a new kind of non-fiction novel, a feat that no one had truly succeeded at before. Many challenges faced him due to not being able to change facts like a fiction writer might be

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 a population of about 270 people, the community is well connected and everyone knows everyone. In the first page of the non-fiction novel, it says “The village of Holcomb, Kansas stands in high wheat plains of western Kansas, a lonesome area that other Kansans call ‘out there’ (In Cold Blood, Pg. 1). The similarities between the novel and film is well-constructed and lets the reader use literary devices such as imagery. In relation with the plot, Holcomb is not a place where the reader or audience expects someone to commit first degree murder. The saying “out there” from others who reside in the state of Kansas gives a bigger connection to a rhetorical appeal such as pathos. Into a deeper context, others who live Kansas may know town as mystery or something even more horrifying. Even the people who resided within Holcomb during the late 1960’s never knew an incident would happen like this. While observing the film, you can tell something suspenseful is about to happen. This theory previously stated has too much of the narrative. Capote pushes the dynamic of the plot of why two mischievous criminals who try flee out of Holcomb, Kansas. As Capote based his platform of this by a true story, “why would the author generalize the morale of the narrative behind murder.” This also connects with the question against fiction and nonfiction. The questioning creates a theory of why Capote puts the majority of the spotlight on the

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.

In Cold Blood is a novel written about a real life event that happened in Holcomb, Kansas, 1959. A family of four is murdered in their house in cold blood. While this seems intriguing enough, Truman Capote keeps the entire novel interesting by being descriptive in the way characters are described “Marie examined the front­view and profile of Smith: an arrogant face, tough, yet not entirely, for there was about it a peculiar refinement; the lips and nose seemed nicely made, and she thought the eyes, with their moist, dreamy expression, rather pretty­­rather, in an actorish way, sensitive. Sensitive, and something more: “mean.” Though not as mean, as forbiddenly “criminal,” as the eyes of Hickock, Richard Eugene. Marie, transfixed by Hickock’s eyes, was reminded of a childhood incident—of a bobcat she’d once seen caught in a trap, and of how, though she’d wanted to release it, the cat’s eyes, radiant with pain and hatred, had drained her of pity and filled her with terror. “ (Capote, 164) The novel is challenging and continues on with a large vocabulary to keep readers from becoming bored of continuous phrases, “The sound of

(1958),took much of its inspiration from these experiences”(www.pbs.org). Although Capote didn’t experience the killing of the Holcomb family in the novel In Cold Blood he did experience it through following the killers after it had happened. He took time out of his life to learn about the murderers Dick and Perry to get a better understanding of what to write about. “Capote left his jet-set friends and went to Kansas to delve into the small-town life and record the process by which they coped with this loss. During his stay, the two murderers were caught, and Capote began an involved interview with both.

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.