Summary of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood
opinion Essay
919 words
Book Information: Author : Capote, Truman Title : In Cold Blood Publisher : Random House Original Publication Date : 1965 Book Outline: In a small town in Kansas a family of four were murdered for no apparent reason. The murderers ran for a few years and finally they were caught, tried, and accused for murder. In 1965 they were hung for the crime. In the story a family was killed for no reason. This well respected farming family had no enemies, and no quarrels. Although they were wealthy, Mr. Clutter never kept cash in the house. The whole region and eventually the country was shocked by the randomness and brutality of the act, in much the same way it was by the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. The two men in which didn't even know the Clutter family went into their house and shot all four of them. There were two main characters. Dick is the first one that I will talk about. Dick was 33 years old and he did not have the best character. Dick was one who helped participate in the killing of the Clutter family. I didn't like him from the very beginning. He struck me as the type that is your friend one minute and enemy the next. Perry is the other charecter that I will talk about. Perry wasn't as bad as Dick but yet he still struck me as having a bad character for what he did to the family. It took me awhile to get a good impression of Perry. Perry was a really nice guy and I think that he just got mixed in with the wrong crowd. At the beginning, when they first started to kill all of the family members, they had them tied up and Perry didn't want to kill the family but he thought that if he acted like he was gonna kill Mr. Clutter then Dick would stop him. Then they would let them all go but when Dick didn't stop him Perry became a mad man and went ahead and killed the whole family. Later at the gallows Perry started to have second thoughts a little to late so he tried to starve himself but didn't succeed. He was finally hung, during the hanging period he apologized to everyone for what he did. "This is it, this is it, this had to be it, there's the school, there's the garage, now we turn south." To Perry, it seemed as though Dick was muttering jubilant mumbo-jumbo. They left the highway, sped through a deserted Holcomb, and crossed the Santa Fe tracks.
In this essay, the author
- Describes how a family of four in kansas were murdered for no apparent reason.
- Narrates how he struck me as the type that is your friend one minute.
- Opines that dick and perry's words were chosen because it was what they were saying right before they went to school.
- Opines that one of the main points they saw by reading this book was the way the country portrayed itself.
- Opines that this book is on the law reading list because it provides the story that satisfies them.
- Narrates how they noticed many crimes, which were later resolved in a court of law.
- Describes the legal aspects of the book, including the arrest, trial, and trial.
- Compares the randomness and brutality of the act to the 1995 oklahoma city bombing.
- Opines that dick was the first character that they will talk about. he was 33 years old and he didn't have the best character.
- Analyzes how perry struck them as having a bad character for what he did to the family. it took them awhile to get an impression of perry.
- Narrates how perry didn't want to kill the family but thought that if he killed mr. clutter then dick would stop him. he killed the whole family at the gallows.
- Analyzes dick's muttering about the school, garage, and now we turn south.
- Opines that the headlights disclosed the santa fe tracks.
- Opines that the accused were out to commit a robbery, and had no original intent to kill the clutters.
- Analyzes how the murderers used the clutters to remove their anger from not being able to locate the money they were looking for.
- Opines that if the murder had occurred in today's society people would not have been as shocked as they were then.
- Opines that the book made them realize that not all people are good natured, and that their mind can be changed by their friends.
Related
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In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how truman capote's purpose is to show how humanity is found in even a seemingly malicious person.
- Analyzes how capote removed the cloak that shrouded perry, revealing just another human being. perry would go great lengths to gain dick's friendship, which is exactly what perry did with dick.
- Analyzes how capote contrasts dick's conniving personality with perry' naive, benevolent nature through juxtaposition.
- Analyzes capote's pity for perry based on anecdotes from his childhood. perry suffered from mental issues that led him to ruthlessly murder a family.
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- Analyzes how dick's attitude changed throughout the novel. he was proud of himself for renting a room.
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In this essay, the author
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- Analyzes how wolfe demonstrates to the reader an important lesson about violence and what excessive destruction it causes.
- Analyzes how the act of violence in the short story "the child by tiger" allows wolfe to grab is audiences' attention and finish the story without it seeming too abrupt or offering any excess information.
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In this essay, the author
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In this essay, the author
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In this essay, the author
- Explains that roog is the first short story that phillip k. dick sold. it tells the story of borris, a dog who is scared of the neighborhood garbage men.
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- Analyzes the title of the story, "roog," which sounds similar to a dog's bark, but sounds foreign, almost alien. the title works on multiple levels.
- Analyzes the intention of the garbage men, the "roogs", as the antagonists in the story, they seem to have something sinister in mind.
- Analyzes how phillip k. dick's roog is an interesting story that requires attention to detail and may need more than one reading, but is well worth the effort.
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In this essay, the author
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- Opines that any people he did see along the way looked as though they had seen.
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In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how rudyard kipling's "the light that failed" is the most important of his adult novels.
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- Analyzes how kipling's response to horror drove a good deal of his mature art, as it drives dick heldar. he wants to succeed based on some absolute standard of work, not in terms of material rewards.
- Analyzes kipling's harsh and unrewarding creed that triumph and disaster are not the same.
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- Analyzes how kipling's bleak and bitter book shows the poet at his lyrical best.
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In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how dick uses literary devices such as narrative structure and symbolism to comment on one's perception of what is real and fiction. dick exposes the feelings of paranoia and insecurity that were experienced during the fifties, but implies that peace can still be attained.
- Analyzes how dick illustrates that one's perception of reality is entirely based on what one believes to be fact by structuring his novel where time is out of joint.
- Analyzes how dick uses symbolism in time out of joint to symbolize america in the fifties, which is the time period in which the novel was published.
- Analyzes how dick uses the scene to mirror the anxiety and paranoia felt by many during the fifties.
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- Analyzes how the major shift in power within the novel is significant because by the end of time out of joint, there is hope that there will be peace.
- Analyzes how dick makes conclusions about reality when he discusses ragle's temporary family. narrative structure was crucial to this understanding of fiction versus reality.
1068 wordsRead More