When living amongst a countless number of societies, there are bound to be different races, genders, sexual orientations or religions. This variation could lead to disagreements or issues based on ones’ opinion on a certain matter. Studies have shown that humans are greatly influenced by their environment; this means that different societies around the world have different opinions about social and global issues. While diversity in opinions and thoughts can bring out the best in humans, it can also tear the bonds between multiple groups of people. Oftentimes, hate and unthinkable actions arise with disagreement. While examining In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, these novels portray social issues, …show more content…
The setting of the story is based around a racial problem where many Afghans were forced to leave their homes due to chaos, hunger, and oppression. In fact, the author adds that around eight million people were living abroad as refugees and were seeking homes in neighboring countries. This was due to all the violence Laila saw, as she “took grim inventory of the people in her life. Ahmad and Noor, dead. Hasina, gone. Giti, dead. Mammy, dead. Babi, dead,” (Hosseini 219). She has no one really left to help her since the militia has taken everything she has. In a more extreme example, the militia “drags boys right off the streets. And when soldiers from a rival militia capture these boys, they torture them. I heard they electrocute them-it 's what I heard- that they crush their balls with pliers. They make the boys lead them to their homes. Then they break in, kill their fathers, rape their sisters and mothers.” (Hosseini 254). Racial inequality has flown to new levels when sub-social issues including rape, torture, and death in Afghanistan are now everyday …show more content…
The reader learns from the novel, In Cold Blood, that family is a significant factor for a person’s mental state of mind and their development throughout their childhood. In addition, the reader understands how the concept of self-image affects the human mind. In the novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, the reader recognizes the inequality towards women who live in Afghanistan during the Taliban reign. They are also made aware of the racial conflicts the country of Afghanistan is experiencing as whole. Overall, each of the novels explains life situations that many people who live on earth encounter
Richard Mulcaster, a British instructor of English, once wrote, “Nature makes the boy toward, nurture sees him forward.” Mulcaster recognizes that both genetic and environmental factors determine the type of a person one becomes. Truman Capote’s nonfiction novel, In Cold Blood gives the reader an opportunity to see prime examples of how nature and nurture influence one’s character. Capote’s novel, In Cold Blood introduces the reader to two men; Richard Eugene Hickock known as Dick throughout the novel, and Perry Edward Smith whose lives of crime are almost identical; although both Perry and Richard come from very humble backgrounds, their childhood particularly their family life, has very little in common. It is not until later in their lives that we begin to see similarities between the two men. Despite their differences, Perry’s upbringing and Dick’s genetic disposition allow both men to share a disregard for life, which becomes apparent on the night they gruesomely burglarized and murdered four innocent members of the Clutter family.
Similarly, the book’s three leading protagonists ultimately possess a common objective, escaping their unjust circumstances in pursuit of seeking the “warmth of other suns.” For this reason, they abandon the laws of Jim Crow and the familiarity of their hometowns as they flee to a better life. In the process, they all assume a level of risk in their decisions to rebel against the system. For example, Ida decides to embark on a precarious journey while in the beginning stages of a clandestine pregnancy. Any number of unpredictable events could have resulted from this judgment, including fatality. All of the migrants shared an unspoken agreement that the rewards would far outweigh the dangers involved.
The Taliban regime was infamous for its treatment of women. Windows had to be painted black so men could not look into the windows of houses and see the women inside. Women were unable to work. Under Taliban rule, women were not allowed to be educated, unable to go to school or university. 9 out of 10 Afghan women are illiterate. Unfortunately, Meena was unwillingly cast into the role of teacher to young girls who wanted to learn how to read. Because she had been to university, girls flocked to...
This book teaches the importance of self-expression and independence. If we did not have these necessities, then life would be like those in this novel. Empty, redundant, and fearful of what is going on. The quotes above show how different life can be without our basic freedoms. This novel was very interesting and it shows, no matter how dismal a situation is, there is always a way out if you never give up, even if you have to do it alone.
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.
Any events that occur as a child can either have a good impact or a bad impact. Children often learn to cope with certain circumstances differently than adults. The insecurities of Truman Capote’s childhood are psychologically conveyed through the tragic events of In Cold Blood. According to William L. Nance, an associate professor of English, “Some knowledge of Capote’s early life is essential to an understanding of his work, for that work, even through In Cold Blood, bears the clear marks of his childhood” (133). Capote’s parents divorced when he was very young. All throughout his childhood, he moved from relative to relative who each lived in small southern towns. Capote himself even said that it was “the most insecure childhood I know of” (133). He often performed poorly in school although “ . . .Psychological tests proved that his Intelligence Quotient (IQ) was above genius level” (n.p.).
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
...tiple times that they succeeded in getting Rasheed to stop. They were willing to fight back despite the consequences and the fact that they knew Rasheed could bring out so much more anger. Even after attempting to run away and being beaten so badly, they both still showed their bravery. They were on the edge of death, but they still fought every day to stay alive. Mariam shows amazing inner strength when a loved one is involved. Sadness and evil are two things that are very evident in their lives, enough to cause anyone to lose hope in humanity. But, Mariam and Laila are both able to stand up to violence in order to find their courage, inner strength, and even happiness in the end. Life in Afghanistan has always been hard for women, but just like Mariam, women are able to take on these obstacles and overcome them, helping to make the world a safer place for others.
Truman Capote’s non-fiction novel, In Cold Blood, was a breakthrough in literacy in that it was accredited as the first non-fiction novel. There was a lot of controversy when the book was first published because of the incredibility of the work. This could be expected in that time, because people where not familiar with the concept of non-fiction novels yet, but this is where the beauty of this style of writing lies, the recreation of the truth. It would have been impossible for Capote to have documented the occurrence fully, because he only read about the murder after it had happen, after all, this was not what he wanted to do. Capote got a lot of criticism for the book, because of him bending the truth, putting in scenes that never happened and his ways of gathering information, but people still saw the talent that went into creating the non-fiction novel. Truman Capote will forever be recognized for this novel and the contribution he made to literacy. In this essay we will be discussing the strengths and weaknesses of In Cold Blood when it delivers facts and the credibility of the work. We will also be discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the novel when Capote bends reality and ad some parts of fiction.
For decades there had been people who were racist and others that felt better because of their skin color. In Truman Capote’s book In Cold Blood these characteristics are captured; however, since its publishing ideals have changed. Some believed that two killers were not given a truly fair trial. Furthermore there was a fight between the system and if the killers should be sentenced to death. This book although effective with style could have used fewer details.
reflects upon the theme of the novel. As it highlights the fact that if people in the society
I was in the car with my friend and we were listening to Tiesto and we were living the part, singing along and clapping as if we were in some concert in Las Vegas. Truth was, we were in Ashrafeye and we were just passing time until we went home. While rocking around, a sudden knock on the window startled me and I looked out to see a woman holding a child. This woman looked young, maybe no more than 21 and she had a small girl in her hand. I opened the window and she started begging for money. I had seen many fair shares of beggars before but what struck me about this girl was that she was almost my age, and was also a Syrian. This girl…. Could be my sister. I suddenly thought how scared this girl must be, living in a terrible conditions away from her country, and on top of that being forced to beg for money and food. This girl is doing this mostly not for herself but for her baby child, for whom she is willing to die. The story of this girl is very similar to the poem of Mahmoud Darwish “A Gentle Rain in a Distant Autumn” in that poem the poet is describing how he left his country and he was then searching for a new reasons to die, in that poor girl case the reason to die for was her small child. The author also quoted “form the country that slaughtered me” and by this he is referring to his own country. This is very much similar to this girls story by which the war that happened in her country, my country, slaughtered her and made
In a nation brimming with discrimination, violence and fear, a multitudinous number of hearts will become malevolent and unemotional. However, people will rebel. In the eye-opening novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns written by Khaled Hosseini, the country of Afghanistan is exposed to possess cruel, treacherous and sexist law and people. The women are classified as something lower than human, and men have the jurisdiction over the women. At the same time, the most horrible treatment can bring out some of the best traits in victims, such as consideration, boldness, and protectiveness. Although, living in an inconsiderate world, women can still carry aspiration and benevolence. Mariam and Laila (the main characters of A Thousand Splendid Suns) are able to retain their consideration, boldness and protectiveness, as sufferers in their atrocious world.