Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

Truman Capote, in his critically acclaimed novel, In Cold Blood, masterfully recounts the murders of the Clutter family while experimenting with a new style called non-fiction. Some critics have called Capote out, saying that his claims about his novel being 100% factual are false. Capote’s purpose was to write a nonfiction novel based on the facts and witness accounts to describe the murder of a family. Truman Capote strategically uses various literary devices to keep his readers engaged while staying informed about the murders of Clutter family in 1959.

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

“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.

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.

On November 15, 1959, in a small town in the Southwest called Holcomb, a family’s life was abruptly ended. Four innocent people were Savagely murdered, without any clue or motive. After the fact, Truman Capote himself traveled to this town as a journalist, to reconstruct the murder and investigation through his captivating work. A truly influential work, responsible for creating the nonfiction genre. This groundbreaking work, In Cold Blood, serves as a poignant insight into the anatomy of a murder, and the nature of American violence. Through his use of rhetorical strategies, such as foreshadowing and effective use of pathos and imagery, he successfully generated suspense and empathy, reverberating the central theme of the book.

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

The title of this book and vignette make it seem as if Capote’s purpose was to write a mystery novel. However, this is proven wrong almost immediately after he describes the vivid setting of Holcomb. He reveals the identity of the murderers, leaving no guessing for the reader as to who committed the horrific crime. In other words, his purpose is not to write a mystery novel, but to describe in detail a cryptic murder in small town Holcomb, Kansas. On top of that, this novel was far from fiction.

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

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).

Many people say the documentation of the murder of the Clutter family is Truman Capote’s best work. It started out as an article for The New Yorker, and evolved into the non-fiction novel; the first of its kind. Capote traveled to Kansas with friend Harper Lee to research the killings. In the course of six years bringing this narrative together, Capote began taking drugs and drinking heavily due to the dark nature of the book. Truman Capote tells the true story of a family murdered in In Cold Blood, through character analysis and symbolism to prove nature is a stronger force than nature in shaping a person’s character.

He was born on September 30, 1924, in New Orleans, Louisiana. His parents, Arch and Lillie Mae Persons, greatly neglected him as a child. Capote was often left in the care of his mother’s relatives, and spent most of his younger years in Monroeville, Alabama with his aunt. While in Alabama, Capote befriended the young Harper Lee. Rumors say he helped Lee to write To Kill a Mockingbird.

He was born on September 30, 1924, in New Orleans, Louisiana. His parents, Arch and Lillie Mae Persons, greatly neglected him as a child. Capote was often left in the care of his mother’s relatives, and spent most of his younger years in Monroeville, Alabama with his aunt. While in Alabama, Capote befriended the young Harper Lee. Rumors say he helped Lee to write To Kill a Mockingbird.

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 Cold Blood, Other Voices, Other Rooms, and many more (Biography). Capote’s In Cold Blood was a non-fiction novel. Based on real-life murder of Kansas family, the book was supposed to take a toll on flamboyant Capote.

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