Similarities Between Good And Evil In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

Throughout his nonfiction novel In Cold Blood, Truman Capote continuously contrasts the kindheartedness and innocence of the Clutters to the malicious, manipulative demeanor of Dick Hickock and Perry Smith to emphasize the cold, cruel nature of their crime. By harshly interrupting peaceful, endearing images of Nancy Clutter baking a pie with descriptions of Dick and Perry planning the town darling’s very murder, Capote consistently juxtaposes good and evil. His tactic descriptions of the seemingly discordant yet parallel occurrences in different settings and employment of strong imagery and pathos throughout the novel prove effective in not only developing characterization and appealing to the reader’s emotions but building the contrast between good and evil that

would prove critical in determining the innocence and moral character of Hickock and Smith later on in the novel.
Capote employs vivid imagery and powerful detail in the first passage to assert the innocence of Nancy Clutter and thus juxtapose her purity with Hickock and Smith’s guile and deceptive nature. Images of teddy bears strewn across the pink and white room that would not much later be splattered with her own blood emphasize Nancy’s chaste, childlike innocence. Furthermore, descriptions of countless photographs and memories enforce Capote’s characterization of Nancy as well-loved and personable and thus emphasize the grief felt by her loved ones even months after her death. Capote’s imagery and carefully-selected details also emphasize Nancy’s amiable normalcy; despite her notoriety as an almost unusually generous, good-natured model student, descriptions of lake vacations and picnics allow the reader to relate to her charming, amiable character. Her room is orderly and organized, illustrating the uncompromising control she had of her incredibly busy life until it was snatched away from her. In addition, the details and imagery add nsight into her daily life and habitual nightly routine, thus further developing her character.
Capote’s use of pathos in establishing “town darling” Nancy Clutter as a driven, kindhearted all-A student who only allowed herself to be “selfish and vain” during the midnight hours starkly contrasts Hickock’s carnal impulses of lust, greed, and self-indulgence and appeals to the reader’s emotions.

By immediately introducing her as a completely normal and remarkably kind-hearted girl, the reader is later on more affected by her brutal death than if she had been introduced in another light. The description of her lifestyle also emphasizes the sudden unexpectedness of the murders; no one expected a brutal murder in Holcomb, let alone the brutal murder of a girl like Nancy Clutter of all people. The seemingly insignificant details surrounding her handwriting and her developing maturity also make the reader sympathize with Nancy as she was murdered in the middle of her teenage years, right as she was beginning to understand herself and think about her future; her diary, meant to be read in the distant future, symbolized the future she’d never have. The image of Nancy setting out the dress she would eventually be buried in evokes sympathy in the reader as well and emphasizes the lost potential in Nancy’s

life.

The passage is one of the most descriptive regarding the members of the Clutter family and one of the last before the novel shifts absolute focus on their murders and a tone of fatalism is established. Though Nancy Clutter isn’t exactly considered a major character in the novel, she plays an important role in contrasting Hickock and Smith and appealing to the reader’s emotions. She is vital to achieving Capote’s purpose of making the reader understand that the Clutters were, in fact, killed “in cold blood.”