Truman Capote's In Cold Blood Essay

Picture your life taking place in a small town where nothing ever happens and suddenly out of nowhere, a family murdered in cold blood. In the nonfiction novel, In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, he uses many rhetorical devices and strategies. By using these strategies he creates a nonfiction novel worth reading. Capote uses devices such as pathos, imagery, foreshadowing, and an always changing tone. He uses these devices to lead on a mysterious murder first hand in which they are investigating to…

The greatly known, Truman Capote, a novelist and short story writer, pioneered the genre he called “a nonfiction novel” and transpired into the popular book “ In Cold Blood ”. The heart-wrenching account of The Holcomb murder took a turn throughout all of Kansas. Holcomb, Like all of the rest of Kansas is “ dry”, with a little bit of everything, has a flat land and great extensive views; horses, and herds of cattle. The population is mild with decent neighbors surrounding the small town.…

The rigid traditional views of the Bible Belt in the 50’s are challenged in the 1965 nonfiction novel In Cold Blood. When two petty thieves murder a prominent family and devastate the countryside town of Holcomb, Kansas the ideal family environment is tainted. At first, there is no clear motive, but as the novel progresses, the reader gets a taste of the convicts’ warped American Dreams. At that time in history, Americans were enjoying the post WWII prosperity and families like the Clutters were…

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:…

of violence as something that involves loud sounds, heart wrenching tales, and disturbing pictures. On the other hand, violence is reality. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote is a novel describing the horrific night where a family was murdered and the after effects on the small town community. Although violence is prominent in the book In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, the raw emotions displayed through the novel gives high school honor level students the exposure that they need for the real world.…

Truman Capote brings Dick and Perry front and center during “The Corner” chapter of In Cold Blood. Capote allows the reader to empathize with Dick and Perry in completely different ways. Each character shows how the arrest, interrogation, and sentencing affects them and the way they process life. These emotional attachments that Capote creates allows the reader to discover that not only are Dick and Perry not ruthless murders, they are actually humans with fears and regrets. The arrest that…

Throughout In Cold Blood, the readers are challenged to see different points of views behind the story. They are pushed to see the motives of the killers and feel an attachment toward the more ‘sentimental’ culprit, Perry Smith. The town of Holcomb was very quiet and had minimal crime until unexpectedly, a seemingly perfect family, the Clutters, were murdered. The readers are taken captive in the book as they uncover the truth of the Clutter murder. Capote’s usage of strong literary devices such…

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…

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…

Truman Capote wrote In Cold Blood as non-fiction. Although not fictional, the novel is structured deliberately to establish several themes and issues. One such issue is the morality and efficiency of capital punishment. Capital punishment is ineffective, due to the time and money spent on it and the fact that it isn’t much of a deterrent from murder. The death penalty is not an adequate consequence for crime. Death is permanent, which creates a large issue out of capital punishment. Taking a…