Who’s Dream?: A New Historicist Analysis of The American Dream in the 50’s and 60’s
I
The mantra the United States of America was founded upon proclaims that all men are born with natural rights and created equal. While promising freedom and protection to all its citizens, the very heart of the country only beats for a small percentage of its able bodied, sound minded, financially stable, men of certain races and lifestyles. Although the 50’s and 60’s are often portrayed as ideal decades for all people living in the United States, Truman Capote’s novel, In Cold Blood, changes that mindset because it reveals some of the more controversial ideas of the time exposingthat the American Dream was not for everyone.
II
In Cold Blood was published …show more content…
Dick, however, fought against his sentence until the day he was hung. Dick accepted his part in the robbery and took responsibility for his other crimes and their sentences, but while in jail studied law to put forth all action possible in order to protest his conviction. Dick explained himself saying that “many a man has killed and never seen the inside of a death cell. And I never killed anybody.” (Capote 334) This is Dick’s commentary on the punishment he and many others have received through the American criminal justice system. There have been 1000 proven innocent people executed since just the 70s. That is a large number while there are still unknown innocent people in jails or on death row, including from all the years before the death penalty was temporarily banned the year after Dick and Perry were killed. Not to say Dick was innocent, but that he had his idea of what happened which contradicted with what he was charged for. Whether or not he should have been executed is a different matter, but the fact alone that he did not get a chance to be heard on his requests shows the limited rights criminals …show more content…
"Capote in Kansas." Capote in Kansas. New Republic. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.
Standen, Amy. "“In Cold Blood”." Salon. Web. 22 Mar. 2016.
Hellikers, Kevin. "Capote Classic 'In Cold Blood' Tainted by Long-Lost Files." WSJ. The Wall Street Journal. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.
Francisco Ubarte, Juan. "La Vida Es Una Pésima Novela." El Comercio. 2015. Web. 23 Mar. 2016.
Hargreveas, Steve. "El Sueño Americano, ¿en Verdad Existe?" Expansion. CNN. Web. 22 Mar. 2016.
Snelle, Mike. "From Care to Incarceration: The Relationship Between Adverse Childhood Experience and Dysfunctionality in Later Life." The Independent. Independent Digital News and Media. Web. 25 Mar. 2016.
"Part I: History of the Death Penalty." Death Penalty Info. Death Penalty Information
Anaserril, Daniel E., MD. "Care of the Mentally Ill in Prisons: Challenges and Solutions." Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and Law Online. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.
Cheney, Cat. "Nation Swell." One Author Believes the American Dream Is Available to Everyone Comments. 2014. Web. 23 Mar.
I
The mantra the United States of America was founded upon proclaims that all men are born with natural rights and created equal. While promising freedom and protection to all its citizens, the very heart of the country only beats for a small percentage of its able bodied, sound minded, financially stable, men of certain races and lifestyles. Although the 50’s and 60’s are often portrayed as ideal decades for all people living in the United States, Truman Capote’s novel, In Cold Blood, changes that mindset because it reveals some of the more controversial ideas of the time exposingthat the American Dream was not for everyone.
II
In Cold Blood was published …show more content…
Dick, however, fought against his sentence until the day he was hung. Dick accepted his part in the robbery and took responsibility for his other crimes and their sentences, but while in jail studied law to put forth all action possible in order to protest his conviction. Dick explained himself saying that “many a man has killed and never seen the inside of a death cell. And I never killed anybody.” (Capote 334) This is Dick’s commentary on the punishment he and many others have received through the American criminal justice system. There have been 1000 proven innocent people executed since just the 70s. That is a large number while there are still unknown innocent people in jails or on death row, including from all the years before the death penalty was temporarily banned the year after Dick and Perry were killed. Not to say Dick was innocent, but that he had his idea of what happened which contradicted with what he was charged for. Whether or not he should have been executed is a different matter, but the fact alone that he did not get a chance to be heard on his requests shows the limited rights criminals …show more content…
"Capote in Kansas." Capote in Kansas. New Republic. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.
Standen, Amy. "“In Cold Blood”." Salon. Web. 22 Mar. 2016.
Hellikers, Kevin. "Capote Classic 'In Cold Blood' Tainted by Long-Lost Files." WSJ. The Wall Street Journal. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.
Francisco Ubarte, Juan. "La Vida Es Una Pésima Novela." El Comercio. 2015. Web. 23 Mar. 2016.
Hargreveas, Steve. "El Sueño Americano, ¿en Verdad Existe?" Expansion. CNN. Web. 22 Mar. 2016.
Snelle, Mike. "From Care to Incarceration: The Relationship Between Adverse Childhood Experience and Dysfunctionality in Later Life." The Independent. Independent Digital News and Media. Web. 25 Mar. 2016.
"Part I: History of the Death Penalty." Death Penalty Info. Death Penalty Information
Anaserril, Daniel E., MD. "Care of the Mentally Ill in Prisons: Challenges and Solutions." Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and Law Online. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.
Cheney, Cat. "Nation Swell." One Author Believes the American Dream Is Available to Everyone Comments. 2014. Web. 23 Mar.