Truman Capote’s nonfiction novel, In Cold Blood, effectively explores the effects of the Clutter family’s unexpected murder on the small community of Holcomb, Kansas. This unexpected murder had lasting and detrimental effects on the people of the town. Having been in Kansas during the time the trials and court cases had been executed, Capote observed that the murder had destroyed the community’s sense of trust, shattered their image of the American Dream, and prompted them to reevaluate their stance on the death penalty. The sudden murder of the Clutter family played a huge role in shaking the foundation of trust that had been built up throughout the years in the small town of Holcomb. Upon the murder of the well-respected family, many …show more content…
The American Dream is built on the ideal that any citizen of the United States can achieve wealth and success through hard work and perseverance. In the beginning of the novel, Mr. Clutter is characterized as a man who was “always certain of what he wanted from the world” and “had in large measure obtained it” (Capote 6). Due to the fact that he has succeeded in becoming prosperous, he is portrayed as the embodiment of the American Dream itself. The murder of his family had shattered the town’s perspective of the American Dream, as they are forced to face the reality of fate. The townspeople come to realize that although they are capable of achieving the American Dream, there is nothing that can protect them from their inevitable fate. The people of Holcomb are thus stripped of their false conviction that the achievement of the American dream guarantees both stability and security. Charles L. Crow explores various issues in American culture throughout literature in his novel, History of the Gothic: American Gothic. In discussing Capote’s In Cold Blood, Crow describes the novel as “an attack on the pastoral and therefore on America’s sense of identity and security” (Crow). In this, Crow states that Capote’s novel is intended to criticize the glorified portrayal of rural life as safe and secure; in other words, Capote criticizes the American Dream, and the idea that wealth and prosperity will …show more content…
Once the two culprits were captured, it was determined that they would be hanged for murder. However, the townspeople were unnerved by the seemingly innocent personality of Perry Smith. In Crime and Punishment in Kansas: Capote's In Cold Blood, George Garrett’s analysis of the novel, he states that Perry is Capote’s “sacrificial victim [who was meant] to ease the reader's reluctant conscience and to appease...the reader's taste for conventional morality” (Garrett, GALE). Perry’s disturbing past urges both the reader and the townspeople to view the culprit’s entire story from a moral standpoint. Thus, this causes them to empathize with him and question whether such a brutal punishment should be inflicted upon a man who may potentially have mental issues. The uncertainty that arises in the minds of the townspeople is portrayed in the prosecutor’s conversation with the newsman after Perry is hanged. The newsman states that he never killed four people in cold blood, to which the prosecutor replies that “hanging the bastard” is “pretty goddamn cold-blooded too” (Capote 306). In this statement, the prosecutor expresses his belief that it is not morally correct to hang a murderer who has had such a traumatic past without testing for any sign of mental illness or
In result, the reader will begin to sympathize with the criminals. In the novel, Capote uses imagery to tell of the peaceful atmosphere where these gruesome murders happened. Capote describes Holcomb as an area being “with hard blue skies and desert-clear air”(Capote 1). He describes Holcomb as a peaceful small town, with nobody ever expecting a grisly crime to happen there. But as time goes on, the unthinkable happens, and the citizens are now in fear of each
In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote, was a non-fictional novel published in 1965. Written in four parts, Capote meticulously details the brutal 1959 murders of the recognized farmer Herbert Clutter, Bonie Clutter, Nancy Clutter and Kenyon Clutter in the small, once peaceful, city of Holcomb, Kansas. Throughout the book, while Capote sympathetically depicts the murders of the Clutter family, we also realize that the author has a strong sympathy for one of the murders called Perry Edward Smith. Although the novel was intended to be written in a journalistic form, Capote seems to fictionalize much of the information used to write the novel in order to add suspense and certain reactions from the readers. Truman Capote’s new literary form of “the non-fictional novel” leaves the readers feeling conflicting emotions
The book In Cold Blood by Truman Capote explains and reconstructs the murder of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas on November 15th, 1959. The Clutter family, Herbert “Herb”, Bonnie, and two of their children Nancy and Kenyon were all killed, each with a twelve-gauge shotgun. No one knew who killed them or why the crime took place, as the family was well-liked and in high standing in their town. Truman Capote wrote this novel based on information he had gathered about the case. He begins the story with a background on the Clutter family and locks in on the actions of Richard “Dick” Hickock and Perry Smith, the perpetrators of the crime.
In Cold Blood In the story In Cold Blood Truman Capotes’ tone expresses lamentation and sorrow. The Clutters family brutally murdered by two viciousness killers. The diction of Truman Capote is of resent, and ambivalence. The murder scene left the town “furious” and “wondering” of who the killers had been they found the grotesque action “disquieting.”
Felicity Miller Mrs. Terpstra College English-1st Hour 1 May, 2023 Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood: Unveiling the Murderers A single bloody footprint tracks its way through the Clutters’ home, corpses tied up, silenced until their last breaths. In Holcomb, Kansas, two murderers killed four people without warning, under the guise of thievery, but hardly any money was stolen. An author, Truman Capote, was inspired after engrossing himself in the peculiar violence, and the event resulted in the creation of a well-known piece of literature that was published in 1965:
A total of 20 were actually executed, some hung, some burned, and some drowned. It was a matter of whether the judges and court liked you or not, or if you were wealthy. They very much envied people with money or large plots of land. Such a tragic event shaped the society we live in today. The trials impacted the society in many ways, this essay
In the book, “In Cold Blood,” Truman Capote takes us through the lives of the murderers and the murdered in the 1959 Clutter family homicide, which transpires in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas. The first chapter, “The Last to See Them Alive,” vividly illustrates the daily activities of the Clutter family—Herbert, Bonnie, Nancy, and Kenyon—and the scheming plot of Dick Hickock and Perry Smith up to point where the family is found tied up, and brutally murdered. In doing so, he depicts the picture-perfect town of Holcomb with “blue skies and desert clear air”(3) whose safety is threatened when “four shotgun blasts that, all told, ended six human lives”(5). Through the eyes of a picture perfect family and criminals with social aspirations, Capote describes the American Dream and introduces his audience to the idea that this ideal was no more than an illusion. Herbert Clutter: the character Capote describes as the epitome of the American Dream.
Truman Capote’s novel, In Cold Blood epitomizes the shifting sentiments related to the murder of the Clutter family which range from terror, to sorrow, to pride, and all mixed emotions in between. Yet through Capote’s particular descriptions about each character, the connection between their feelings and their actions become further clarified. In effect, the readers experience feelings of sympathy for the victims, their friends and family, the investigators, and even the brutal murders of the innocent family. In order to craft this association, Capote employs a pathos appeal to amplify the audience’s ability to sympathize with each and every character.
Throughout In Cold Blood, Truman Capote hints at his own opinion of the death penalty, yet lets the readers decide for themselves what they believe Hickock and Smith's punishment should have been. When the murderers are being hanged, a conversation occurs between a reporter and an investigator about what it might feel like to be hanged: "'They don't feel nothing. Drop, snap, and that's it. They don't feel nothing.' ' Are you sure?
How crazy would it be to interview criminals who murdered 4 people in cold blood? Well that’s exactly what Truman Capote did in this chilling book. In the novel In Cold Blood, Truman Capote used different rhetorical strategies to create sympathy and influence the idea that there are always two sides to every story. Some of the mainly used rhetorical strategies throughout the novel were imagery, diction, tone, and pathos. Furthermore, Capote also illustrated sympathetical emotion towards both types of characters, the protagonists and antagonists.
Facts and Fiction: A Manipulation of Language in Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood English is a fascinating and riveting language. Subtle nuances and adjustments can easily change the understanding of a literary work—a technique many authors employ in order to evoke a desired response from their readers. This method is used especially in In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, a literary work which details a true event about the murders of four members of the Clutter family in the small community of Holcomb, Kansas, in 1959. Although Capote’s 1966 book was a bestseller nonfiction and had successfully garnered acclaim for its author, there is still a great deal of confusion about the distinction between the factual and fictional aspects in the book.
Pathos is the primary literary device used throughout the story that actually had readers sympathize the merciless murderers. Pathos as in a general statement. What Capote does that is so brilliant and differs from other style of books, is he offers multiple point of views. They all differ. It varies as well.
No matter how we try to change our situation or better ourselves in society, variables will obstruct the path we choose. One cannot take control of everything that surrounds us as fate decides what happens to us. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote explains the murder of the Clutter family in the quiet town of Holcomb, Kansas. The murderers, Richard (Dick) Hickock and Perry Smith, try to escape the consequences of their actions, believing that they can get away with what they did. The story tells what the murderers were thinking after and before they committed the crime and their various interactions.
Caitlin Fuhs Mrs. Koshholek Capp English January 27, 2023 In the beginning chapter of In cold blood (1959) the author Truman Capote initiates suspense throughout his passages by slowly foreshadowing the outcome of the Clutter case, this provokes the reader to further their curiosity. The setting of the murders in Holcomb, Kansas, is portrayed through similes that contrast normal concepts in order to imply to his audience that Holcomb was an average, quiet, small town. Capote creates the setting of Holcomb using alliteration. He does this by providing multiple concepts that illustrate it as the typical hometown before contradicting the setting post murders, This intentionally creates empathy for the community that suffered a great loss and went unrecognized.
Title: In Cold Blood Author: Truman Capote Genre (include original copyright date): True crime (1965) Setting (remember setting is not just time and place): 1959 Holcomb, Kansas- small, rural town where the people feel safe; the conservative, church-going members of the community all know each other and trust one another “Good neighbors, people who care about each other” (33) “Theretofore sufficiently unfearful of each other to seldom trouble to lock their doors” (5) The Corner- Kansas State Penitentiary; Dick and Perry are on death row; no escaping Characters and Brief Description: Perry Smith- Responsible for the murder of the Clutter family; injured in a motorcycle accident and his “chunky, dwarfish legs….