Opposing Themes In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

What would drive someone to kill four innocent people in cold blood? In Cold Blood is a very famous book that focuses on a controversial case where four innocent people get brutally murdered. Although the parts of sporadic violence are entertaining, suspense and mystery are intertwined within this novel. Along with the action, suspense, and mystery involved in this book, Truman Capote has included many enriching themes that add to the books superior rating. One of those amazing themes is this: family and friends are an important part of life. In the novel, there are many incidences and happenings that show how family, and friends, are an important part of life. “‘I don’t know what to say,’ said Mrs. Hartman, her voice indignantly astonished, and also despairing. The Ashidas were part of the Holcomb community everyone appreciated—a family likably high-spirited, yet hard-working and neighborly and generous, though they didn't have much to be generous with.” (Capote, 116) The Ashida family, as stated above, was a very well liked family. Mrs. Hartman was reacting to the news that the Ashida family was moving away. The fact that everybody knows everybody in the close-knit town of Holcomb makes the move even more difficult. Friends are an important part of life, but so is family. …show more content…
“He missed Dick. Many thoughts of Dick, he wrote in his diary. Since their arrest they had not been allowed to communicate, and that, freedom aside, was what he most desired—to talk to Dick, to be with him again.” (Capote, 259) Although this quote doesn’t seem like it relates to families, it does. To Perry, Dick was his only family. Perry has been abused all his life, so,understandably, he had trust issues. Perry had accepted Dick as a part of his life, so Dick is the only remnant of family he has left. Although forming close family and friend bonds are an important theme, it isn’t the only