Hypocrisy In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

Improved Essays
Throughout the Non-fiction novel In Cold Blood, Truman Capote convinces the reader the idea of the death penalty as a punishment, seeing it as hypocritical. This is achieved through Capote’s ability to succeed to the reader’s credibility and emotions. Throughout In Cold Blood, Capote appeals to the reader’s credibility, including religious beliefs to persuade the readers seeing the death as hypocritical. Capote demonstrates this by writing“ A tough, strutty little man said, I believe in capital punishment. It’s like the Bible says- an eye for an eye. And even so we’re two pair short” (Capote, 248). By Capote incorporating this he is connecting with the reader through credibility by illustrating the hypocrisy of the death penalty. By this …show more content…
By stating a quote from the bible almost gives the people of Garden City and Holcomb reassurance that God “gives them permission” and it is an okay thing to do. The hypocrisy is clearly shown throughout In Cold Blood by the people wanting to kill Dick and Perry for killing the Clutter Family. Capote illustrated these people as hypocrites because they want to kill Dick and Perry that killed the Clutters, which essentially makes the towns people killers, but they are punishing Dick and Perry by death. But essentially at the same time they will not feel guilty for killing Dick and Perry, because they think it is the right thing to do and it is “morally” okay and the State should do it. Capote also demonstrates shared beliefs by writing “It fell silent, as though amazed to find them humanly shaped” (Capote, 248). This indicates that the people of Holcomb and Garden City do not see Dick and Perry as human, since they did a non-human thing, they see them as monsters. By the people seeing them as monsters, …show more content…
Never allowed any visitors. Just sit there staring at each other till the day they die” (Capote, 248). Evidently the people of Holcomb and Garden City don’t want these people to live, they want them punished for killing the Clutters. That punishment is the State killing Dick and Perry. By saying they have to stare at each other that they don’t deserve any freedom shows that they want revenge. The hypocrisy is shown through this is by showing that they don’t want Dick and Perry to have freedom because they killed the Clutters, if the State killed the Clutters for the people that wanted to be dead, they wouldn’t have to be punished like Dick and Perry were. Capote also persuades the reader to see the death penalty as punishment as hypocritical through wishful thinking by stating, “ No one lingered, neither the press corps nor any of the towns people warn rooms and warm suppers beckoned them and as they hurried away leaving the cold square to the two gray cats” (Capote, 248). This demonstrates wishful thinking because they want to have hope that the courts will decide the right thing. The thought of the courts deciding to kill Dick and Perry isn’t affecting them at all like it is Dick and Perry because through all of this thinking the people of

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