American Violence In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

In the novel, In Cold Blood, Truman Capote writes about the killing of four members of the Clutter family due to two men, Perry and Dick, trying to get money in 1959. The author reconstructs the murder and investigation of the Clutter family in a mesmerizing suspense and astonishing empathy, which gives a view into the nature of american violence to the reader. Throughout the novel, Capote makes the audience feel as if they were actually in the book and allowed them to get into the character's head with his interesting writing style and use of imagery, diction, and the point of view.

As a result of the use of imagery, the reader gets to feel as if they were in all the places discussed. The story does not only take place in the place of the

killing, Kansas, but also in all the places the killers traveled, such as Nevada and Mexico. The imagery used to describe the day the Clutter family was killed helps create the image of a calm and unsuspecting environment before the ruthless killing, “It was ideal apple-eating weather; the whitest sunlight descended from the purest sky, and an easterly wind rustle, without ripping loose, the last leaves on that the Chinese elms”(p10). Once the killers were finally caught in Las Vegas, they are taken to an interrogation room. Instead of stating that Perry and Dick are uncomfortable rooms, it is described in a way to get a full experience of what they are viewing, “...fluorescent-lighted chambers measuring ten by twelve, with walls and ceiling of Celotex. In each room, in addition to an electric fan, a metal table, and folding metal chair, there are camouflage microphones, concealed tape recorders, and, set into the door, a mirrored one-way observation window”(p215). Through Capote’s ability to paint a picture of the setting, he is able to captivate and rope the audience in.