The Critical Response To Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

Usually when we think of nonfiction writing we typically think newspaper articles, scholarly journals, and memoirs. The novel In Cold Blood written by Truman Capote was noticed as a game changer in its time. It is classified under a non-fiction genre, however the novel itself is told as though it is a fiction story. Capote uses a peculiar writing style when telling the tragedy of the Klutter family murders. Sophia Leonard takes notice to this in her article “Journalism as Artistic Expression: The Critical Response to Truman Capote's In Cold Blood.” Leonard goes into depth detail about Capotes primary literary elements that make his nonfiction novel atypical for a nonfiction genre. In Cold Blood tells the story of the Klutter family murders

However, that was not the only reason it gained so much respect and noticeability. Capote had declared that every single word of his novel was completely true (Leonard 6). This brought excitement to readers, due to when reading the novel, the reader feels as though they are there trying to figure out exactly what happened during the scene of the crime. Capote demonstrates an unusual literary style while writing his nonfiction novel. Capote had spent six years analyzing and talking to not only the murderers themselves, but the families in Holcomb Kansas that were affected by the misfortunate death of the Klutters. With that being said, some scholars argued the fact that Capotes work was completely factual, with no author input. Those scholars claim that Capote stays silent in his novel, rather than writing manipulatively in his work and putting his own twist on the story.

Yet, Capotes ideas and views on certain objects are implicated in parts of the novel. The Kansas M'Naghten Rule is a test applied to determine whether or not a person accused of the crime is mentally sane. It is a test for criminal insanity. In the novel, the psychologist states he is unsure whether or not Perry was able to tell right from wrong, and the judge does not press further on the situation. However, Capote includes that the psychologist would have diagnosed him definitely being mentally ill with the potential of being a paranoid schizophrenic. Capote wants to inform the reader on what the court did not allow even though the diagnosis did not occur in the court room. Even after this is stated, Capote seems to go on a rant about the psychologists in depth analysis of Perry and almost leaves it up to the reader to decide if Perry is given the correct