As a reporter, Capote reveals more than just the surface value of Perry Smith and Al Dewey. Perry is more than a cold-blooded killer, Al Dewey is more than a source of clues and information on a compelling murder case. Capote delves deep into the lives of both Smith and Dewey, exposing the depth and complexity of who they are. By doing this, Capote reveals the true nature of these two men, and therefore plays on the reader’s emotions, creating a sense of sympathy for these key characters in his book, In Cold Blood.…
In 1959, the savage murder of the Clutter family attracted thousands of journalists to the remote town of Holcomb, Kansas. One of them was author Truman Capote, who had recorded the details and consequences of the murder in his best-selling novel: In Cold Blood. Debated hotly regarding its credibility and writing style, the novel remains a controversial and unique work. In Cold Blood is important to be read by high school students since it exposes students to a renowned work of a unique genre of novels, exhibits Capote’s mastery in characterization and provides a vast amount of information about a significant event in criminal justice history.…
When we think of murderers we often think of maniacal and evil individuals. Through the way that many works of literature and cinematic pieces depict murdered, we often see them as absolute evils. Murderers are flawed humans, albeit more than usual, they are not the absolute evil in fall in more of a gray area. Within Truman Capote’s novel, In Cold Blood, readers get an in-depth look at a pair of murderers and are able how one can fall down such a wicked path. In his novel, Capote recounts the events of 1959, when four members of the Clutter Family were murdered and the investigation that followed.…
Truman Capote was the is credited with inventing the nonfiction novel with In Cold blood. The novel tells the story of the Clutter family and the two men that murdered them, Dick and Perry. Capote became fascinated with these murders after seeing them in a news paper, so much so that While he was writing his book Capote spent a lot of time getting to know Dick and Perry personally, visiting them in prison and exchanging letters with them. Doing so allowed for him to acquire information about the two and their lives before and after the murders. If Capote did not have this information he wouldn't have been able to invent the nonfiction novel for he wouldn't have enough information to write an entire novel based on the information in the newspapers…
In his novel In Cold Blood, Truman Capote explores a significant controversy in the American justice system: the death penalty. He carefully describes a dramatic incident in Holcomb, Kansas when four members of the respected Clutter family are killed. When the murderers, Perry Smith and Dick Hickock, are finally caught after an extensive investigation, they are given the death sentence. Through a historically accurate and compelling novel, Capote criticizes capital punishment by humanizing Perry and Dick, suggesting their sentence to be unnecessary, and exposing its brutal nature. Capote paints the death penalty in a negative light by presenting the criminals’ more humane characteristics to create sympathy for them.…
What drives people to the edge? So far gone that they commit heinous crimes, and become compulsive liars for only their benefit. That’s the question Truman Capote tries to answer in his novel, “In Cold Blood”. Capote analyzes the two killers of the Clutter family, Dick Hickock, and Perry Smith, to inform the audience on who they were and not just what they were. First off, the Clutter’s were a family who lived in the small town of Holcomb Kansas.…
Despite being a known murderer, when the name Perry Smith is heard a feeling of innocence is felt. Truman Capote, a writer of many breathtaking novels, creates an intriguing impression of Perry Smith, a main character and murderer in In Cold Blood, by outlining his broken childhood, personality and actions, and the sympathy he feels for Smith. Capote shares a deep connection with Smith by their similar upbringings. Capote rarely saw his parents growing up, and after their divorce he went with his mom, as well did Perry when he was put in the same situation. Both of their mothers drinking habits went out of control, and made their life more unstable.…
Throughout Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, there is a reoccurring theme of good and evil. The readers are constantly wondering if the murderers were evil. The quote, “Inside of us, there is the speed of both good and evil. It is a constant struggle as to which one will win. And one cannot exist without the other” relates to the texts main characters (Burdon).…
Through the use of rhetorical strategies, Truman Capote manipulates the reader’s emotions by portraying Perry Smith in In Cold Blood as a sympathetic character. Perry Smith, along with his partner Dick Hickock, murder the Clutters, a well loved family in the town of Holcomb, Kansas. This small town consists of people, who immediately outkast the murders because they only understand their own lives, and nothing outside of Holcomb. Although there are two murderers, this rhetorical analysis will solely focus on Perry’s traumatic childhood. To share an outsider’s point of view of the situation, Capote uses simile, alliteration, and theme to influence the reader to sympathize with Perry, rather than to condemn him.…
“Two wrongs don’t make a right, but it damn sure makes us even.” This famous quote relates well to the concept of the death penalty. In Truman Capote’s book, In Cold Blood, the two villains, Dick Hickock and Perry Smith commit an act of murder against a family of four. The murder takes place in the family's’ home in Holcomb, Kansas. The storyline is told from the eyes of law enforcement and also from the eyes of the two murderers.…
In Cold Blood shows how the criminal justice system has flaws and inequality. Both Dick and Perry were aware that the actions they took were wrong, because of this they ruled out insanity. But throughout the book the reader questions Perry’s state of mind. Capote reveals many details about Perry’s past. In the book he uses appeal to emotion in order to create pity within the audience towards Perry.…
In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote, is a nonfiction novel about the mass murder of an innocent family. Though highly acclaimed, the book ends up falling short of its nonfiction description, as the article, “Critical Essay on In Cold Blood”, argues that there is great bias in In Cold Blood in the form of sympathy towards the main character, Perry Smith, which is certainly true. Instead of following the conventional format of a nonfiction mystery novel, Capote uses In Cold Blood as an outlet to express his sympathy towards Perry Smith, the man who ruthlessly murdered four innocent members of the Clutter family. This evident bias hampers Capote’s attempt at an impartial account of the Clutter family mass homicide.…
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, we learn about the horrific murder of the Herbert Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas. Capote uses a lot of detail to help illustrate the insanity of the murderers and the effect the murder had on the small farming community. The suspense that is a result of minimal facts and descriptive settings was an elaborate stylistic technique that gave effective results throughout the book. Capote writing the story in more than one perspective allows Capote to not have a bias towards either side. In one section in particular, Capote uses juxtaposition to emphasize the differences between the two murderers.…
In Truman Capote’s novel In Cold Blood, he depicts the horrors of a crime which happened in a small and quiet neighborhood. What gave the novel its legacy, was not only that it was based on real events, but the horrendous details about the crime that was described. In the novel, Capote’s primary focus centers on the character Perry who suffers from Paranoid Schizophrenia. Perry Smith is…
“Manipulation is all about reading between the lines and recognizing the lies for what they are” (No Author), Truman Capote wanted to gain the the reader's pity and remorse for Dick Hickock and Perry Smith. At first, capote just wanted to tell the facts of the case to the world but he became attached to Smith. In the novel, In Cold Blood, written in 1965, Truman Capote, a well-known author, asserts that the Clutter family was murdered and that Perry Smith should have the reader's’ pity by using first hand accounts, the murder, and the murderer's story. In “The Last to See Them Alive” section, Capote sets the scene and gives the eyewitness statements of the day leading up to the murder.…