Intrigued by Cold Blood

742 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essay on literature and censorship

As Laurie Halse Anderson said, “Censorship is the child of fear and the father of ignorance.” After reading this quote it’s easy to realize that censoring or banning books is not a good choice. Even if the book is Truman Capote’s novel In Cold Blood which has been banned in several high schools, but later reinstated. This novel is about the true murders of the Clutter family that happened in Holcomb, Kansas. It’s easy to see why Capote’s novel is censored at first glance. However when you look at the entire book, it’s hard not to be fully intrigued by Capote’s writing and overlook why it was banned. After reading Capote’s captivating novel there is no doubt why this novel should be kept in schools.
One morning Capote was reading the New York Times when he stumbled on a story about a murder that happened to an average Kansas family. Capote was instantly drawn to this story, and that’s what made him spend six years of his life researching for this novel. In Cold Blood is not merely restating facts from Capote’s research, but making the murders come alive again. Capote’s writing will transport you to Holcomb and experience everything that the detectives and the killers experience. Jack Olsen, a famous true crime author, told a reporter that he “recognized it (In Cold Blood) as a work of art.” Why would you not allow someone to read a piece of literature art? This novel meant a great deal to Capote and he put everything he had into In Cold Blood. Capote was never able to finish another piece of literature and he said, “No one will ever know what In Cold Blood took out of me. It scraped me right down to the bone. It nearly killed me. I think, in a way, it did kill me.” Capote did everything to make his novel a true piece of art and he ...

... middle of paper ...

...whelming, but without it the personality traits and plot would not true. This piece of work is truly captivating because of the amount of detail Capote put into it, even if it does entail sex, violence, and profanity.
In Cold Blood should be enjoyed by everyone, and by banning a book as captivating as this wouldn’t help anyone. Banning this book would be like pretending that these murders didn’t happen, so why not share the events with others? In Cold Blood was Capote’s “claim to literary fame,” which was declared by the New York Times, therefore everyone should be able to have a chance appreciate this novel. After reading In Cold Blood it will be easy to see why tons of people appreciated this gripping and intriguing novel. Reading Capote’s novel and having a first person account of how captivating it is will make you realize why this novel should never be banned.

Show More
Related

  • Use Of Imagery In Richard Capote's In Cold Blood

    1127 Words  | 3 Pages

    Capote in his book In Cold Blood set out to create an image of the murders and their motives with the use of rhetorical devices. He uses certain devices, such as diction and syntax to give each character their own distinct personality and also develops their characteristic and tendencies as a person as well. Capote also brings the characters to life with the switching of tone between them and with the things they say about themselves and events going on in the story. Another way Capote develops the reader's perception of the murderers was by the use of imagery to draw the reader a picture in their minds to what the character would look like face to face. With all of these combined he gave each murderer their own personality and views, ultimately

    Read More

  • The Impact Of Harper Lee In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

    1029 Words  | 3 Pages

    This lesson will examine the impact of Harper Lee on Truman Capote 's true-crime novel, 'In Cold Blood. ' Lee helped her childhood friend with much of the research for the book, although she was not credited when the book was published.

    Read More

  • Explorial Contributions In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

    766 Words  | 2 Pages

    Unlike any other novel, In Cold Blood's novelistic elements offered a deceptive way of reading the novel itself. This is because Capote's primary intention was to break the conventions with regard journalism (Smith). Aside from that, Capote sought to challenge the traditional modes by which stories were told. When readers explore Capote's book, it would be natural for them to think that murder in all-American family is

    Read More

  • In Cold Blood Rhetorical Analysis

    700 Words  | 2 Pages

    Truman Capote showcases his very distinct style of writing in his true crime novel, In Cold Blood. Capote intentionally frames ruthless murderer Perry Smith as a relatable, well-intentioned human throughout the whole novel, and employs various rhetorical devices to show us that Perry is not just a stone cold killer. Specifically, Capote uses diction comprised of complex words, interviews conducted by Capote personally in which he interacted with the suspects and their loved ones, and sentence structure that came off as very to the point, in order to illustrate Perry’s dynamic and unique personality, opposed to the one dimensional heartless murderer many made him out to be.

    Read More

  • Ethical Behavior in the Film Capote

    639 Words  | 2 Pages

    The film Capote, based on the how the writer of “In Cold Blood” did his research to write his book, a masterpiece of literature, has portrayed Capote’s behavior during his research vividly. Capote’s behavior during the years Perry waits on death row in order to get personal testimony of the night of killings is a controversial topic. Some argue that what Capote did was absolutely necessary for an ambitious writer to create such a master piece while other argue that human ethics is more important than the creation of an ideal “non-fiction noble” and the paths he took to get there are morally ambiguous. Even though he gave the world a milestone in literature, his behaviors seem unethical because he lied, pretended to be a friend of an accused murderer who was in a death row, and did not have any empathy to him.

    Read More

  • Narrative Style of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

    662 Words  | 2 Pages

    Capote's structure in In Cold Blood is a subject that deserves discussion. The book is told from two alternating perspectives, that of the Clutter family who are the victims, and that of the two murderers, Dick Hickock and Perry Smith. The different perspectives allow the reader to relive both sides of the story; Capote presents them without bias. Capote masterfully utilizes the third person omniscient point of view to express the two perspectives. The non-chronological sequencing of some events emphasizes key scenes.

    Read More

  • Personality Disorders In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

    1807 Words  | 4 Pages

    In 1966, Truman Capote published the novel In Cold Blood that pierced the boundaries of literary genres, as he narrated the events of the 1959 Clutter family massacre in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas and the quest that took place afterwards through the perspectives both the murderers and those looking for them. As Capote bends these genre normalities, he ventures with the killers and the detectives and describes the murderers’ lives in-depth to further characterize Dick Hickock and Perry Smith--their psychological states and the possible contributing factors to their undeniable personality disorders. The two killers are ultimately diagnosed by a mental health professional with mental illnesses rather than chronic personality disorders,

    Read More

  • Different Ways To Humanize The Killers In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

    1485 Words  | 3 Pages

    Truman Capote finds different ways to humanize the killers throughout his novel In Cold Blood. He begins this novel by explaining the town of Holcomb and the Clutter family. He makes them an honest, loving, wholesome family that play a central role in the town. They play a prominent role in everyone’s lives to create better well-being and opportunity. Capote ends his beginning explanation of the plot by saying, “The suffering. The horror. They were dead. A whole family. Gentle, kindly people, people I knew --- murdered. You had to believe it, because it was really true” (Capote 66). Despite their kindness to the town, someone had the mental drive to murder them. Only a monster could do such a thing --- a mindless beast. However,

    Read More

  • Books that Shaped America

    739 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain, 1884. The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger, 1951. Gone With the Wind, Margaret Mitchell, 1936. The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1925 (www.bannedbooksweek.org). All of the books mentioned in the last sentences were books that “shaped America,” and were in some way or another banned or expurgated by taking all of the explicit words, and content, out of them. In doing so, the people who made the decisions to ban the books, or otherwise take out the content, greatly decreased the viewpoints that the author was trying to conceive. I believe that, unless the reading is for children under the age of, say, 13, then books like the aforementioned ones above, should not be banned or censored at all. Sometimes you have a rare case, like mine, where kids skip a few grades, and are really ahead of their class, and still a little immature, but if they are in a certain grade, they should be allowed to read, and understand what the author was originally trying to portray before the “people who think they know best” go and censor the author’s initial intent.

    Read More

  • Vengeance in Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

    2070 Words  | 5 Pages

    ...ion...” (“Truman” 84). Capote creates a story that was based on true events while being able to evoke emotions out of the readers. The use of an objective writing style was a fundamental part in adding to the garnering of emotions to the story as well. Through In Cold Blood, Capote alerts the audience to “...Ambiguities of the American legal system and capital punishment” (“Truman” 84), stating that in the court of law in America there are some flaws and laws that are obscure in their purpose that one should be weary about. Capote wrote In Cold Blood in order to convey the idea that whenever a person or a group of people is murdered, vengeance is always sought upon the murderers. In a place where everyone knows everyone, it is hard for the community to adjust to the losses without proper compensation, and sometimes the only way is through punishing those by death.

    Read More

  • Banning Books

    4607 Words  | 10 Pages

    The American Association of School Administrators (AASA) defines censorship as: “The removal, suppression, or restricted circulation of literary, artistic, or educational materials… of images, ideas, and information…on the grounds that these are morally or otherwise objectionable in light of standards applied by the censor” (Miner 1998). In schools there are three types of censorship, one type is a “parent who doesn’t want their child to read a particular book. Another is a parent, teacher, administrator, or school board member who argues that no one in the class, or school should read the book in dispute. Lastly, there is censorship that involves someone who is part of an organized campaign, whether of a local or national group, and who goes in ready for a fight and wants to make a broader political point” (Miner 1998). Although there are many others ways that a piece of literature could get censored, most censored works are asked to be removed from classrooms and school libraries.

    Read More

  • Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

    1239 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Cold Blood truly is a masterpiece. The resulting chronicle-agonizing, terrible, possessed proof that the times, so surfeited with disasters, are still capable of tragedy (Knickerbocker 85-86). Today, it’s hard to imagine what journalism was like before Capote and the others started looking closely at “ordinary” people, before beginning to make an effort to. Even though In Cold Blood contained sex, violence, and profanity we see it all the time, it happens everywhere. There is no way to get away from these kinds of things, this book should not be banned just because of these certain reasons, because it actually tells a true story, and can show that people can get through traumatic experiences.

    Read More

  • In Cold Blood: Nature vs Nurture

    877 Words  | 2 Pages

    Capote uses different voices to tell the story, creating an intimacy between the readers and the murders, the readers and the victims, and all the other players in this event—townspeople, investigators, friends of the family. This intimacy lead...

    Read More

  • Cold Blood

    1000 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Truman Capote’s non-fiction novel In Cold Blood, the Clutter family’s murderers, Perry Smith and Dick Hickock, are exposed like never before. The novel allows the reader to experience an intimate understanding of the murderer’s pasts, thoughts, and feelings. It goes into great detail of Smith and Hickock’s pasts which helps to explain the path of life they were walking leading up to the murder’s, as well as the thought’s that were running through their minds after the killings.

    Read More

  • The Catcher In the Rye Should Not be Banned

    793 Words  | 2 Pages

    Banning a book on the basis of profanity is merely a superficial reason of those who wish to limit beliefs that do not coincide with their own. By excluding a novel from a high school curriculum in order to shelter students from profanity, is an attempt to do the impossible. Profanity is found everywhere. According to TV Guide, "Profanity is uttered once every six minutes on American primetime television...

    Read More

More about Intrigued by Cold Blood

Open Document