Research Paper On In Cold Blood

In Cold Blood Essay

In Cold Blood is a non-fiction novel first published in 1966, it was written by american author Truman Capote. It tells the story of the brutal murder of the Clutter family, in Holcomb, Kansas in 1959. Truman Capote was immediately interested in the case when he learned about it, he decided to travel to Kansas to write about it, even before the murderers were caught. Capote interviewed the townspeople to learn more about the lives of the victims. Capote’s book also explored the minds of the two mentally ill murderers. The killers Dick Hickock and Perry Smith were arrested six weeks after the murders. Though Capote’s book is non-fiction novel, he can still select the information he wants, and put it in a different light. Capote therefore can, and does alter the reader’s point of view and opinion on certain things throughout the book.

The entire novel clearly shows a whole process of selection.

Capote manipulates thee readers by choosing the moment when he wants brings back information. He waits for us to get to know the Clutter Family and the murderers, before he tells the story of how the murder was done, so that way we don’t put the book down and never finish it. He also uses a similar technique used in propaganda films, he directs the reader’s opinions and emotions, by simply selecting the information he likes,and placing it in the order he wants. If he doesn’t like the information, he does the following: “...if I put something in which I don’t agree about I can always set it in context of qualifications without having to step in the story myself”(Truman Capote), this means that his work is not entirely objective. He has the power to indirectly manipulate the reader’s thoughts and the way the reader looks at some information. Capote also manipulates our opinions and thoughts on the characters, so they could be similar to

his.
For example, when Capote tells us that Dick and Perry murdered the family, we immediately feel disgusted and hate these men, however, as the book progresses we begin to have sympathy for Perry because he feels remorse towards his actions, unlike Dick who does not care. It is known that Capote was very attached to Perry, this consequently made him biased in the way he tells the story. Because it is a non-fiction novel he is trying to be objective, but it is human-nature to be biased, and in this case Capote indirectly influences the readers thoughts on Dick and Perry by selecting when and where he places some information. For example when Dick and Perry stopped to go and eat on their way to Mexico, Capote creates contrast