An Analysis Of Nature Vs. Nurture In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

Growing up a Sociopath; Born a Psychopath In Cold Blood by Truman Capote is a true story of a quadruple homicide in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas that greatly impacted the community in 1959. Capote begins his novel by introducing a prominent, well respected family in the community, the Clutters. The Clutters lived average everyday lives until they were abruptly ended at the mercy of a 12 gauge shotgun. The killers were two men unknown to the Clutters, who had two completely different backgrounds and personalities. By choosing to include details about each of the killers, Capote delineates the differences between psychopaths and sociopaths and suggests that the combination of the two personality disorders creates the environment for horrific

Capote used qualitative research methods to write one of the greatest American books called In Cold Blood. The movie shows how Capote obtained information from people who were connected to the murder of a family in a rural setting to write this award winning book. Post at least two salient points regarding the ethics (or lack or ethics) that you gleaned about obtaining the information for the book from the movie in your discussion post.

Page 4-5 Destiny & Fate, Effects on dreams Destiny and fate correlates with the theme that dreams will fail and die. Characters do not decide their destiny. However, they do decide their dreams. A character's fate and destiny affects their dreams. Whether their dreams come true or not, has many contributing factors.

In Cold Blood Persuasive Essay The debate nature versus nurture is a prevalent topic in today’s society because the violence going on. People would like to know whether a criminal is born or a criminal is made. A great example of nature versus nurture is the nonfiction novel In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. This book follows around two characters Perry Smith and Richard (Dick) Hickock.

Truman Capote, the author of In Cold Blood, creates sympathy for almost every character the reader comes across. Through the use of manipulating the reader's emotions and connecting them to each character, Capote successfully pulls it off. There are four main groups that Capote chooses to create sympathy for the murder victims, the murderers, the law officials involved, and the ordinary citizens of Holcomb, Kansas. Truman Capote created the most sympathy for two characters, Perry Smith and Detective Dewey.

Murder can be defined as “the unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another”. How then, are others able to make us sympathize with not only murderers, but people who have committed horrendous crimes? For example, the media is constantly attempting to humanize rapists and even terrorists with phrases like “lone wolf” or “alienated and adrift.” Such phrases make some of us want to pity the criminal. This can be seen when we compare Perry Smith and Dick Hickock from Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood. Capote portrays only one of these two seemingly distinct characters (Perry) in a way that the reader feels the need to relate to and even sympathize with him. One can be taken aback by such an attachment to a murderer. This is not surprising as the author uses his compassionate diction to manipulate the reader’s emotions with a use of pathos, the appeal to emotions. At one point Capote goes as far as to write that “Smith’s life had been no bed of roses,” (Capote 245) attempting to have the readers relate to Perry. On the other hand, Capote has Dick say this about himself: “Deal me out, baby, I’m a normal” (Capote 116). By using phrases such as these, Capote creates an unfavorable impression of Dick and and a biased tone. The same cannot be said for Perry as Capote produces an almost benevolent tone toward him with the help of pathos, “the most powerful appeal” (Noel, 2011).

Facts and Fiction: A Manipulation of Language in Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood English is a fascinating and riveting language. Subtle nuances and adjustments can easily change the understanding of a literary work—a technique many authors employ in order to evoke a desired response from their readers. This method is used especially in In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, a literary work which details a true event about the murders of four members of the Clutter family in the small community of Holcomb, Kansas, in 1959. Although Capote’s 1966 book was a bestseller nonfiction and had successfully garnered acclaim for its author, there is still a great deal of confusion about the distinction between the factual and fictional aspects in the book.

Truman Capote’s book In Cold Blood, focuses on a quiet town in eastern Kansas where the slaughter of the Clutter family occurred. Although Perry is a brutal murderer, he is the result of his troublesome past; therefore, indicating that the past plays a part in the character of one's future self. Throughout his childhood, Perry has encountered abuse, separation, and abandonment from his home and it directly affected who he has become. The way that Capote writes about Perry’s past makes it evident that it was miserable.

Perry smith is a main character and murderer who struggles against his own personality characteristics. He fails to achieve this goal because of certain characteristics. But what really mad perry tick? Who really knows; could it be because the way he was raised, was it only for attention or was he looking for someone to show him differently; what's right and what’s wrong. In the book “ In Cold Blood” By Truman Capote's he shows a different side of Perry.

The non-fiction novel ‘In Cold Blood’ interestingly begins as a fiction novel would-with the author setting up the scene of the gruesome quadruple murder about to take place, unbeknownst to the victims. Capote describes the isolated flatlands of rural Kansas, and introduces the victims and their killers as if they were the main characters of a fictional murder mystery.

Once the two culprits were captured, it was determined that they would be hanged for murder. However, the townspeople were unnerved by the seemingly innocent personality of Perry Smith. In Crime and Punishment in Kansas: Capote's In Cold Blood, George Garrett’s analysis of the novel, he states that Perry is Capote’s “sacrificial victim [who was meant] to ease the reader's reluctant conscience and to appease... the reader's taste for conventional morality” (Garrett, GALE).

Although Perry is responsible for the murder of four innocent people, Perry’s actions do not reflect on who he is as a person because he is easily influenced, therefore; showing how easily people can be pressured into doing something they would not typically do. Dick, a violent, cold-hearted, manipulator, has molded Perry into the person he is today. As Perry is a follower, Dick has taken advantage of that by turning Perry into the cold-blooded killer he is today. Capote displays Dick’s manipulation of Perry through symbolism to make evident that while Perry did pull the trigger on four innocent people, although the fault does not entirely lay on him, as he was taken advantage of by Dick.

In Cold Blood Rhetorical Analysis Typically upon hearing about a murder, especially a brutal and unwarranted one, we find ourselves feeling a great sense of disgust for the murderer or murderers who committed these crimes; however, in Truman Capote’s novel In Cold Blood, the lives and experiences of the murderers, particularly Perry Smith, are displayed in a way the makes you feel pity for him as well as the victims. When comparing Capote’s Novel to a typical news article on a similar topic it is easy to see the that Capote's style varies from typical journalism. An article written by Frances Robles and Nikita Stewart titled “Dylan Roof’s Past Reveals Trouble at Home and School,” discusses the childhood and background of Dylann Roof, a twenty-one

Although Dick’s childhood has been much more “fortunate” than Perry’s, Dick still grows up to be the more immoral, and cold-hearted human being. For instance, the day after Dick and Perry had murdered the Clutter family, Perry feels very remorseful and cannot get out of bed while Dick simply carries on as if nothing had happened, and visits him parents’ house: “Perry had merely fallen face down across the bed, as though sleep were a weapon that had struck him from behind… A few miles north, in the pleasant kitchen of a modest farmhouse, Dick was consuming a Sunday dinner… his mother, his father, his younger brother—were not conscious of anything uncommon in his manner” (73). Dick is an absolute sociopath; that is not fazed by murder or anything.

Another one of his main points refers to the nature-nurture issue. Fallon suggests that upbringing has a significant role in creating the perfect recipe for a psychopathic killer. Certain traumatic incidents have to happen during specific developmental stages in order to potentially raise a killer psychopath. Throughout the story he also explains and develops his Three-Legged Stool theory. This theory illustrates how three elements and how they interact create the basis of Fallon’s psychopathy theory.