Both Truman Capote’s nonfiction novel In Cold Blood and Peter Weir’s film The Truman Show illustrate society as a primary influence on one’s self-identity. Based on environmental influences and personal backgrounds, one can tell that people’s actions depend greatly on society’s impact. External forces and pressures placed on a person from society during childhood shape each protagonist’s personal beliefs and perspectives on the outside world, causing them to hold manipulated standpoints.
Dick Hickock, one of the major criminals in the novel, grew up in a steady, two-parent household. His parents never fought and he always managed to keep relatively average grades for his age. Also, he was an exceptional athlete all throughout high-school even …show more content…
He lives a life hindered directly by authority right down to the people he sees and the places he visits on a day to day basis. Since childhood, Truman has never known a world other than the one he is allowed access to; therefore, he lacks authority over his own life in adulthood. His life operates completely around entertaining viewers. Christof, the producer of the show and brains behind the operation, when asked why he believes Truman has never come close to discovering the true nature of his world responds by stating that people “...accept the reality of the world with which we’re presented,” (Weir). He knows that Truman expects nothing different from the world because he has never had the privilege of deciding his own fate. Instead, he has always simply accepted the one that has been laid out for him. He has never known anything different and therefore lacks the ability to decipher between reality and manipulation later on in life. Once Truman eventually discovers the true meaning behind his life he begins to question the authenticity of everything including himself. "You were real,” Christof told him, “That's what made you so good to watch. There is no more truth out there than there is in the world I created for you. The same lies, the same deceit. But in my world,
Dick Hickock, one of the major criminals in the novel, grew up in a steady, two-parent household. His parents never fought and he always managed to keep relatively average grades for his age. Also, he was an exceptional athlete all throughout high-school even …show more content…
He lives a life hindered directly by authority right down to the people he sees and the places he visits on a day to day basis. Since childhood, Truman has never known a world other than the one he is allowed access to; therefore, he lacks authority over his own life in adulthood. His life operates completely around entertaining viewers. Christof, the producer of the show and brains behind the operation, when asked why he believes Truman has never come close to discovering the true nature of his world responds by stating that people “...accept the reality of the world with which we’re presented,” (Weir). He knows that Truman expects nothing different from the world because he has never had the privilege of deciding his own fate. Instead, he has always simply accepted the one that has been laid out for him. He has never known anything different and therefore lacks the ability to decipher between reality and manipulation later on in life. Once Truman eventually discovers the true meaning behind his life he begins to question the authenticity of everything including himself. "You were real,” Christof told him, “That's what made you so good to watch. There is no more truth out there than there is in the world I created for you. The same lies, the same deceit. But in my world,