In Cold Blood Should Not Be Banned Essay

Juned Lalani

Ms. Trippe

Dear Truman Capote,

I am a junior in highschool and have just completed your amazing and suspenseful masterpiece, In Cold Blood. The name itself speaks volumes to how thrilling this book was to read. I am writing to you today about the controversial topic of banned books and whether it was justifiable for this book to be banned. This book was one of 737 books to be banned for violence. In Cold Blood should not have been banned because it provides an excellent source of great literature and controversial politics. According to Huffington Post, one of the biggest reasons books are banned is because it is unsuited for the age group. In Cold Blood is suitable for students because they should be learning about literature

First off, you did an amazing job of incorporating the infamous death penalty and the controversy behind it. When Perry and Dick are on trial for the murder of the Clutter family, Perry must write an autobiography for the psychologists that is called in. Him writing about the traumatic parts of his life, including how he was sent to an orphanage although having two alive parents, hints that Perry just might have some type of mental diagnosis. The Kansas' M'Naghten Rule basically is where the court determines if the criminal could not tell right from wrong due to being mentally insane. When the court called for the psychologists to determine if he could not tell right from wrong, he says he does not know, and the court assumes that he is not mentally insane. What is really interesting is how you included what the psychologist would have said, which is that Perry might be a paranoid schizophrenic. The psychologists says that “when [Perry] attacked Mr. Clutter he was under a mental eclipse, deep inside a schizophrenic darkness”(Capote 302).This cleverly shows what is wrong with the M’Naghten Rule and why it is not fair. Also, it leaves readers in controversy as to whether or not Perry was actually mentally insane throughout the book because the psychologists was very unsure. This is another reason why the book should not have been banned. In Cold Blood gave readers a chance to formulate an opinion on a situation like this one and keeps the students thinking. Although “opponents say teens are already overexposed to violence via video games, television and movie”(O’Neil), free thinking in this book overcomes the whole obstacle of