Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

Capote masterfully places rhetorical appeals to keep readers engaged while staying true to the facts of the murders. The author first establishes his use

In comparison to the film Capote, there are many inconsistencies within Capote’s story and the novel he wrote. In the novel, Capote writes the story as if he was never there. He reports strictly on lives of Dick and Perry after the

Truman Capote was the type of writer who could make a mass killing into a six year project; he used his time for research and preparation. The “literary photographer” never used a tape recorder in his time writing the book, he took everything from memory and from the help of his assistant, Harper Lee. He had a way of writing that was described as literary nonfiction. Capote worked for a year on the notes before he ever wrote a line; he

“In Cold Blood” by Truman Capote is a nonfiction book based on a real crime happened in the peaceful town of Holcomb, Kansas. Capote wrote from both victim and criminal side to show both thoughts and point of view of the story to avoid the one-sided account. In the book, Truman Capote, a former journalist and the author of “In Cold Blood” is making readers feel sympathy for Perry since Capote befriended with Perry while interviewing him. Capote uses of pathos and strong diction effectively in order to evoke sympathy for Perry’s childhood environment and deleterious effect it had on Perry’s mind. To begin with, Capote uses emotional appeal in order to illustrate Perry’s devastating past.

Capote talks about the lives of both killers previous to the murders in fairly significant detail. In the case of Perry Smith, his parents divorced early in his childhood and neither his mother nor father really wanted him. This produced feelings of abandonment and uselessness early on in Perry and affected the rest of his life. Capote brings up a letter written to the Kansas State Penitentiary about Perry by Perry's father, who was trying to have Perry paroled for a previous crime he had committed. Perry says that "this biography always set racing a series of emotions--self pity in the lead, love and hate evenly at first, the latter ultimately pulling ahead" (130). Perry didn't feel as though his father ever knew him very well, or even wanted to know him. He says, "whole sections of my Dad was ignorant of. Didn't understand an iota of...I had this great natural musical ability. Which Dad didn't recognize. Or care about...I never got any encouragement from him or anybody else" (133). When Perry's father threw him out of the house one evening because his father could no longer afford to have Perry live with him, Perry lost his sense of direction in life. He even says

Capote immersed himself into this novel, getting all the facts and details to stay true to the Clutter family while revealing the mindset and motivations of the

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

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

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

Capote has a unique way of creating characters, he had a very special style of writing, and because of this he has written many books that have become best-sellers. He used his childhood hardships to influence and shape the characters in his novels. Along with his unique writing style,

In the late 1960s, Capote has risen to stardom as a true-crime novelist. He then started a venture into Journalism. His “gifted” ability to observe people minutely for probing their “soft spots” was one of the major factors which helped him in “getting stories” from even those who were supposedly “press-shy”. The cultural background of late 60sin Kansas,

Capote was born in New Orleans as the son of a salesman and a 16-year-old beauty queen. His father worked as a clerk for a steamboat company. He never stayed with any job for long, and was always leaving home in search of new opportunities. This put a strain on his parent’s

Many murder novels have been written but few give the killers the benefit of the doubt. In Cold Blood author, Truman Capote, shows an unusual amount of empathy for the Clutter Killers Dick Hickock and Perry Smith. Capote shows compassion towards the two by focusing on their misfortunate upbringings, tragic life experiences and questionable unstable mental health. Both Dick and Perry had their share of misfortune prior to committing the murders. Capote uses subtle attempts to sway his reader’s outlook on the killers by sharing their backstories and exposing their side to the story.

Therefore, Capote generates sympathy, pity and empathy towards a character who performed something almost unforgivable. This extreme empathy created by an epigraph, a backstory, and another character is a valuable result of a well-written story. With something as strong as this emotional experience, Capote proves James Bryce’s quote, “The worth of a book is to be measured by what you can carry away from it.” With such a strong takeaway, it’s no wonder this book is considered a

First, Capote involves his reader. "This immediacy, this spellbinding 'you-are-there' effect, comes less from the sensational facts (which are underplayed) than from the 'fictive' techniques Capote employs" (Hollowell 82). Capote takes historical facts and brings in scenes, dialogue, and point of view to help draw the reader in (Hollowell 82).