In Cold Blood Capote Reflection

I was pleased with how Capote wrapped up the end of the documentary. I have already taken civics, and although it was not my favorite class, I found the trial and court process in this book very interesting. I feel like I learned more about criminal trials and processing in this documentary than I did in civics class, perhaps because it was easier to understand a real-world example. Capote wrote in a style that made it easy for readers to understand what was happening in the case and why. I like how Capote used this documentary to inform people of some of the flaws in the court process, as well as the broken government system in general. Capote actually created a lot of meaning by relating many real-world problems to the documentary, some of which are still pertinent today.

Capote did a great job explaining the nature of some crimes in order to help readers gain a better understanding of why people do the things that they do. The question is, after you understand someone’s mental state, what can you do to help them? This question relates to the topic of the ethics of capital punishment (regardless of mental state), which I have already mentioned a few times in this assignment. Capote included several examples of metaphors and symbolism in the documentary, even if the actual details did not occur in real life. One of these examples is the wild squirrel that Perry tamed, which I believe represents the fact that Perry is intellectually gifted and capable of being civil, but he is still tempted into committing crimes. The other example is the two grey tomcats that prowl through the city, which represent Dick and Perry wandering around causing trouble with their “strange and clever habits” (writing bad checks &, stealing). I also mentioned this symbolism in my dialectical journal. I think Capote used these animals to symbolize the animalistic nature within all of us, namely the savage act of