Historical/cultural background: Author Truman Capote grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana and spent much time in Los Angeles, California where he passed away. He had a troubled childhood with parents who were divorced and a mother who was absent. In 1959, Capote came across a small newspaper section about a mysterious murder of a four-person family in rural town Holcomb, Kansas. Capote wanted to write a non-fiction novel that would contain more intricate detail than any newspaper article would ever have. So after intrigued by the story, he started his 5 years of research. During this time Capote became very familiar with the two killers Richard Eugene Hickock and Perry Edward Smith, who were executed in 1965 a year before the book was published. Famous friend Harper Lee accompanied Capote as they interviewed local residents and dug deep into the minds of the psychotic duo as they planned to kill the innocent Clutter family, who were active members of the Methodist church and owned an 18-acre farm. The two murderers were compulsive robbers and wanted to leave no sign when venturing into the Clutter home for the safe full of Herb Clutter’s well-earned money. They were going to escape to a new life in Mexico, where no one would know who they were or what they have done. Language Use/ Syntax: Truman Capote uses several different language devices to draw the readers in, such as the pathos towards one of the main characters Smith. Smith is one of the murders who killed the Clutter family, he came off as the more brutal murder but as time went on the audience builds sympathy towards Smith. He turned out to have an incredibly unfortunate childhood with no parents and abusive nuns, and with little hope or education, “Nonetheless, he found i... ... middle of paper ... ...important characters Smith and Dick are both extremely self conscious of their image and it highly effects their lifestyle and decision making. Capote reveals the life stories of both the killers, and the audience starts to realize the rival the two hold is because of their battle of self-recognition. They both have a very low social status compared to the Clutters; they’ve lived in jail, and have no money and nowhere to go. Especially for Perry, this crime involved with the Clutters brings back the feelings of shame from the past. In the novel Perry is describe as “overly sensitive to criticisms that others make of him, and cannot tolerate being make fun of (Capote 297).” There’s “jealousy” of the Clutter family because of their stable lifestyle that many would be thankful to have, they both committed a horrible felony just for the chance at a fresh start.
“Straining his eyes, he saw the lean figure of General Zaroff. Then... everything went dark. Maggie woke up in her bed. “Finally woke up from that nightmare. Man… I miss my brother. Who was that person that my brother wanted to kill?” she looks at the clock and its 9:15am “Crap I’m late for work!” Maggie got in her car and drove to the hospital for work.
The deaths of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas on November 15, 1959 as portrayed by Truman Capote in his classic work “In Cold Blood?” Or the violent slaughter of classmates at Columbine High School nearly a half century later? Two males. Check out the full list of products. Outcasts.
In the book “In Cold Blood” we meet Perry Edward Smith one of the men accused of killing the Clutter family. Perry is a unique man for how he see the world and how the world sees him. Although the townspeople and those who had heard of the murder only saw Parry as a murder. There is however one man who sees Perry more than he appeared to be and that man was Truman Capote. Perry had an interesting life from how he was raised, becoming friends with Richard Eugene Hickock, to the murder of the Clutter family, all the way to Capote writing about him and the trail he and Dick must face. It was Capote who brought the idea that Perry was not a bad person persa but rather he made a mistake that has caused him to spend the rest of his life behind the bars of a jail.
Truman Capote establishes respect and trust in what he writes from with audience, ethos, through the use of an extensive variety of facts and statistics, logos. Capote uses so many dates, times, and other facts about the crime committed in the book and the subsequent investigation that the reader has to believe what the author is writing. The use of all these facts shows that Capote did his research and he interviewed, questioned, and obtained the opinions of every person that even slightly important to crime itself and the investigation/trial. The author is obviously very meticulous when it comes to dates and times; every important event in the book has a date and sometimes even a time of day to go with it. Some examples of dates included were the day of the murders (November 15th, 1959), dates of when Perry and Dick were here or there (December 31th, 1959- a small restaurant in Texas or noon on December 25th, 1959- beach in Miami Florida), date when the two criminals were apprehended (January 1st, 1960), dates when they were brought from this prison to that one and finally when they were brought to death’s row (April, 1960). Other small facts are also used by the author, like facts about the criminal’s early lives or experiences that they had, which could only have been obtained through extensive interviews with Perry and Dick. The use of all these logos by Capote establishes strong ethos, showing the reader that the author did more than enough research to show that he has the knowledge to write a whole book on the subject.
Capote uses recurring themes in In Cold Blood to emphasize the role of family and egotism in criminals. “On their way, and never coming back - without regret, as far as he was concerned, for he was leaving nothing behind, and no one who might deeply wonder into what thin air he 'd spiraled. The same could not be said of Dick. There were those Dick claimed to love: three sons, a mother, a father, a brother,” (Capote 66). This quote is important because it shows the background of both Perry and Dick. Perry came from a “broken home” where no one had ever truly loved him, not even his father. Dick, on the other hand, came from a loving family, and the fact that he loved them back was a sign that he didn’t have a mental illness and he was rather committing these crimes for other reasons. The role of families is highlighted in a way that shows that while families can be a source of protection and love (such as the Clutters), a lack of one (Perry Smith) can make you a social misfit. Perry Smith had nothing to lose. On the other hand, Dick actually had a family who loved him. Both of these aspects give deeper insight into the characters and their minds. Egotism is also a motif within the novel. "Why should that sonofabitch have everything, while he had nothing? Why should that
The detailed account of the killers’ childhoods makes the reader sympathize with the Clutter family’s killers Smith and Hickock. Should they reserve the death penalty? Did Truman Capote take a stand on the death penalty? By giving the reader a detailed account of Perry Smith’s and Dick Hickock’s childhood, Capote sets up the reader for a nurture vs. nature debate on the death penalty. The question then becomes, do the effects (if any) caused by environment in childhood make for a trained killer or a natural born one?
The main purpose of In Cold Blood by Truman Capote is to offer insight into the minds of the murderers of the Clutter family, Dick and Perry. However, asking an audience to be open-minded about men who have committed such heinous crimes is no easy task. Capote instead methodically and rather artfully combines imagery, parallel structure, and perspective in two separate passages found between pages 107-113 to contribute to his characterization of Perry and Dick where the former is deserving of sympathy and the latter, disgust.
Truman Capote finds different ways to humanize the killers throughout his novel In Cold Blood. He begins this novel by explaining the town of Holcomb and the Clutter family. He makes them an honest, loving, wholesome family that play a central role in the town. They play a prominent role in everyone’s lives to create better well-being and opportunity. Capote ends his beginning explanation of the plot by saying, “The suffering. The horror. They were dead. A whole family. Gentle, kindly people, people I knew --- murdered. You had to believe it, because it was really true” (Capote 66). Despite their kindness to the town, someone had the mental drive to murder them. Only a monster could do such a thing --- a mindless beast. However,
...as granted as Perry and Dick were hanged for their horrifying actions against the Clutters. Throughout the story, Capote’s use of dashes make the effect that the murders had on Holcomb stand more. In order to do so, he describes the setting, which is implied by the meaning of the dashes. Capote describes the feelings of the villagers and describes how Holcomb changed after the incident. According to Lemony Snicket, “ We all know that our time in this world is limited, and that eventually all of us will end up underneath some sheet, never to wake up. And yet it is always a surprise when it happens to someone we know. It is like walking up the stairs to your bedroom in the dark, and thinking there is one more stair than there is. Your foot falls down, through the air, and there is a sickly moment of dark surprise as you try and readjust the way you thought of things”.
In the novel, the innocent Clutter family is murdered in their own home one night, but the details of the case are not disclosed at first. The reader, however, is aware that Dick Hickock and Perry Smith embark on a nationwide road trip after committing the brutal crime. The childhoods of both characters are brought up in great detail, but the reader is especially meant to sympathize with Perry who grew up with much adversary in his life like a physical handicap, divorced parents from different states, and suicidal siblings. Because Perry did not receive much good behavioral leadership, tried to convince Dick not to follow through with the homicides, and likely had a mental illness that inhibited rational thinking, the audience was outraged when Perry Smith was sent to death row and eventually killed. In Cold Blood argues that committing a capital crime did not erase the good person that Perry was, but that he simply trusted the wrong people and made poor decisions that should not be punished by
To establish the idea of an impressionable Perry, Capote needs an example of Perry conforming to Dick’s values. This opportunity arises when Dick questions the validity of Perry’s past killing. Perry has described that he had, “picked up this bike chain… hit him across the face… kept right on… left him there” (Capote 112). Vulnerability is exemplified by Perry’s anecdote, because he, “was not a gifted liar, or a prolific one” heavily implying that Perry has not killed before the recent murders (Capote 112). Capote’s inclusion of this fallacious anecdote reveals the truth about Perry’s moral obligations, namely that he has none. Perry simply grasps the moral values which appear closest at hand and clings on to them for dear life. In this case Perry’s true morals are synthesized into Dick’s, proving how evil can infest mentally defenseless people.
In Truman Capote’s non-fiction novel In Cold Blood, the Clutter family’s murderers, Perry Smith and Dick Hickock, are exposed like never before. The novel allows the reader to experience an intimate understanding of the murderer’s pasts, thoughts, and feelings. It goes into great detail of Smith and Hickock’s pasts which helps to explain the path of life they were walking leading up to the murder’s, as well as the thought’s that were running through their minds after the killings.
In the nonfiction novel, “In Cold Blood” by Truman Capote, the author tells a story of the murderers and victims of a slaughter case in Holcomb, Kansas. Instead of writing a book on the murder case as a crime report, the author decides to write about the people. The people we learn about are the killers, Dick and Perry, and the murdered family, the Clutters. The author describes how each family was and makes the portrayals of Dick and Perry’s family different from the Clutters.The portrayal of the Clutters and of Dick and Perry’s families, was used to describe what the American Dream was for each character. In the beginning we learn about what type of family the Clutters were and how they represented the American Dream for the people of Holcomb.
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.
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote begins by describing a wonderfully organized, and well put together family named the Clutters. Mr. Herbert Clutter is going about his daily business providing for the ranch and planning the family’s activities for the day. On the opposite side of Kansas, the reader learns of two men named Dick Hickock and Perry Smith. As Capote describes the two men and the business that they are attending to, it seems as if they are preparing their car for a long trip. On the next morning, Susan Kidwell, Nancy Herbert’s friend, finds Nancy and the rest of her family have been brutally murdered. The police are clueless as to who could have possibly committed such a crime in such as peaceful community as Holcomb, Kansas. With only a bloody shoe print as evidence, Alvin Dewey, the KBI agent in charge of th...