Analysis Of In Cold Blood By Truman Capote

773 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: how does truman capote in cold blood essay

Truman Capote was born on September 30, 1924 in New Orleans with the name Truman Streckfus Persons and he died on August 25, 1948 due to liver failure at the age of 59. (Krebs, 1984). He wrote his first novel which, was Other Voices, Other Rooms that was published in 1948. He had sympathy for killers and would watch executions. In 1965, he published In Cold Blood, but it took him six years to write. As he studied the Clutter murder case Harper Lee, who was his long time friend and next door neighbor, went along with him to Kansas for two months. He also wrote many other works like Breakfast at Tiffany’s and A Christmas Memory (Biography.com Editors, n.d.) He was nominated and won a few awards, in 1997 he was nominated for a Golden Globe award for best acting debut in a motion picture – male, he won a Primetime Emmy in 1967, he won an Edgar Allan Poe award and was nominated for a Writers Guild of America award in 1962.
The book In Cold Blood is about a true story murder of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas, but Capote decided to make it a non-fiction novel. The members of the Clutter family that were murdered are Herbert Clutter, Bonnie Clutter, Nancy Clutter, and Kenyon Clutter. Only two of the Clutter children survived at the time because they moved away from Holcomb, Kansas. Truman Capote demonstrates in his novel, In Cold Blood, how people who commit heinous crimes must have the capacity, mentally and emotionally, to execute their crime. The crimes may not make sense from the victim’s point of view, but Capote portrays how unavoidable the process seems to be. Truman Capote does nothing to tone down the horror of the crimes, yet makes them even more horrific by illustrating that real murderers can sink low and believe that their actions can be justified. Truman Capote’s main purpose of writing the book was to test the artistic merit of

Show More
Related

  • Death Penalty In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

    220 Words  | 1 Pages

    Throughout the Non-fiction novel In Cold Blood Truman Capote convinces the reader the idea of death penalty as a punishment, seeing it as hypocritical. This is achieved through Capote’s ability to succeed to the reader’s credibility and emotions.

    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

  • 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

  • Dualism in Truman Capote's in Cold Blood

    448 Words  | 1 Pages

    Capote's narrative method also emphasizes two language systems--the first based on punishment, the second on psychological analysis of personality-- that demonstrate opposing ways of judging human behavior, thus making it impossible for one to judge the killers or the novel from one specific viewpoint. This example, and the example regarding two channels for reader sympathy, illustrates the theme of dualism presented in the novel. In order to evaluate these opposing issues, one might investigate the critical "confession" scene, in order to get a more lucid sense of how Capote's narrative is supposed to make the reader feel. This scene provides a basis for reading the murders, for placing them within a coherent design for In Cold Blood as a whole. The narrative promises to create an understanding of the crimes and get to the bottom of the killers' motives--if not through the legal system, then perhaps through the process of psychological analysis. Capote utilizes this consistent sense of dualism that never allows the reader to think only from one biased perspective.

    Read More

  • Major Themes In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

    1014 Words  | 3 Pages

    A required reading list should consist of books that present readers with new insights and knowledge while encouraging them to analyze the context of the book and identify major themes. Truman Capote 's In Cold Blood should be kept on high school required reading lists because it appropriately covers each of these criteria. The non-fiction novel introduces readers to a world of criminal psychology, raising questions about the cause and manner of American crime. Additionally, the book 's author is steeped in controversy regarding his faithfulness to the truth, providing an excellent opportunity for high school readers to research and discuss the role biases play in the writing of a novel. Meeting the final criterion, In Cold Blood contains

    Read More

  • In Cold Blood Book Analysis

    1053 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Cold Blood, a novel written by Truman Capote and published in 1966, is, though written like fiction, a true account of the murder of the Clutter family of Holcomb, Kansas in 1959. This evocative story illuminates new insights into the minds of criminals, and how society tends to act as a whole, and achieves its purpose by utilizing many of the techniques presented in Thomas C. Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor. In In Cold Blood, Capote uses symbols of escape and American values, and recurring themes of egotism and family to provide a new perspective on crime and illustrate an in-depth look at why people do the things they do.

    Read More

  • Good Vs. Evil In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

    896 Words  | 2 Pages

    When classifying someone as evil, one may only look at the act of the person but not their mental state. In the essence of this topic, the nonfiction novel by Truman Capote, In Cold Blood, references the idea of people being either pure evil or not. One of the murderers, Perry Smith, is an example of this idea, even though he murdered an entire family. By reading the story, we learn that Perry Smith is not inherently evil from specific points made within the novel. Truman Capote’s use of diction, tone and flashback help convey the idea of the character, Perry Edward Smith, as not inherently evil instead having evil tendencies.

    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

  • The American Dream In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

    2008 Words  | 5 Pages

    In the early morning of November 15, 1959 four family members of the Clutter family were brutally murdered in the small town of Holcomb Kansas. Two men make an escape, fleeing across the country living what those two thought to be the dream. While on the run, a detective works tirelessly night and day to catch the despicable people who could commit such an atrocity. Truman Capote captures both realities, putting them together in a true crime story of convicts, Perry Smith and Richard Hitchcock who run from the law and Al Dewey’s hunt for the killers. In his nonfiction novel In Cold Blood, Truman Capote reflects on the events of his turbulent and lonesome life, exposes his internal struggles with the murder mystery case, but also the search

    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

  • 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

  • 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 Role Of The American Dream In In Cold Blood

    1177 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the nonfiction novel, “In Cold Blood” by Truman Capote, the author tells a story of the murderers and victims of a slaughter case in Holcomb, Kansas. Instead of writing a book on the murder case as a crime report, the author decides to write about the people. The people we learn about are the killers, Dick and Perry, and the murdered family, the Clutters. The author describes how each family was and makes the portrayals of Dick and Perry’s family different from the Clutters.The portrayal of the Clutters and of Dick and Perry’s families, was used to describe what the American Dream was for each character. In the beginning we learn about what type of family the Clutters were and how they represented the American Dream for the people of Holcomb.

    Read More

  • Psychological Trauma in Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

    903 Words  | 2 Pages

    Brian Conniff's article, "Psychological Accidents: In Cold Blood and Ritual Sacrifice," explains how Truman Capote's nonfiction novel demonstrates the psychological trauma that the murderers and the townspeople of Holcomb face after the murders of the Clutter family. Conniff begins his article by stating that in the last twenty-five years imprisonment and execution has reached an all-time high level of obsession among the American public. Since this type of violence has been so normalized it is rarely properly understood (1). With this in mind, prison literature has continually suggested that "the most fortified barriers are not the physical walls and fences between the prison, and the outside world; the most fortified barriers are the psychological walls between the preoccupations of everyday life . . .and the conscious realization that punishment is the most self-destructive kind of national addiction" (Conniff 1).

    Read More

More about Analysis Of In Cold Blood By Truman Capote

Open Document