While Perry Smith and Dick Hickock’s murder of the Clutter family from Holcomb, Kansas in 1959 shook the nation, the graphic reports of the murder scene resulted in tremendous anxiety and the devastating loss of trust amongst families. A nationwide hunt for the cold-blooded murderers began, but the lack of clues from the crime scene stumped the best of investigators and encouraged a growth of uninformed, panicked claims about what the criminals were like. In the nonfiction novel In Cold Blood, Truman Capote refutes labels and stereotypes developed regarding Perry and Dick, therefore demonstrating the individuality of humans. Capote presents a refutation to the public perception of the Clutter murder as being cold-blooded. For instance, as
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For example, Josephine Meier, the undersheriff’s wife, admitted that “We [Perry and I] talked some, he was very shy . . . he smiled kind of and I decided--he wasn’t the worst man I ever saw” (253). The hesitant tone developed in this passage by the double negative in “he wasn’t the worst man” and the slow pacing enhances Capote’s purpose in illustrating that any positive statements of the murderers were seen as controversial. Regardless, since she never knew Perry until he was caught by investigators, Josephine’s perception was not influenced by prior knowledge or experiences regarding Perry, and therefore is genuine and trustworthy. Additionally, in his letter to Perry, Donald Cullivan, the “young staid Catholic, a successful engineer who had taken his degree at Harvard, a husband and the father of three children” writes that “You always seemed cheerful and cocky, you were good at your Army work and I can’t remember you did much griping” (288, 261). Capote’s elaboration on Cullivan as a hardworking, religious man serves to enhance the credibility of the ideas conveyed in Cullivan’s letter--that Perry was a optimistic, hard-working man. The use of ethos is effective in revealing that the label of being heartless does not apply to Perry. Capote’s inclusion of a variety of viewpoints on Perry exemplifies that labels are often stray from
For example, Josephine Meier, the undersheriff’s wife, admitted that “We [Perry and I] talked some, he was very shy . . . he smiled kind of and I decided--he wasn’t the worst man I ever saw” (253). The hesitant tone developed in this passage by the double negative in “he wasn’t the worst man” and the slow pacing enhances Capote’s purpose in illustrating that any positive statements of the murderers were seen as controversial. Regardless, since she never knew Perry until he was caught by investigators, Josephine’s perception was not influenced by prior knowledge or experiences regarding Perry, and therefore is genuine and trustworthy. Additionally, in his letter to Perry, Donald Cullivan, the “young staid Catholic, a successful engineer who had taken his degree at Harvard, a husband and the father of three children” writes that “You always seemed cheerful and cocky, you were good at your Army work and I can’t remember you did much griping” (288, 261). Capote’s elaboration on Cullivan as a hardworking, religious man serves to enhance the credibility of the ideas conveyed in Cullivan’s letter--that Perry was a optimistic, hard-working man. The use of ethos is effective in revealing that the label of being heartless does not apply to Perry. Capote’s inclusion of a variety of viewpoints on Perry exemplifies that labels are often stray from