In Cold Blood Personification

In the novel “In Cold Blood” , Truman Capote uses the Clutter family to represent the rising middle class in the nineteen fifties. The book is about a homicide murder in Holcomb Kansas on November fifteen nineteen fifty nine. This was the last day anyone would see the Clutter family alive. The Clutter’s were an average middle class American family in the nineteen fifties, nearly perfect. The Clutter family owned their own land in Holcomb with a big house away from mostly everything and everyone. Bonnie and Herb Clutter had fairly talented and humbled children Kenyon and Nancy. Kenyon and Nancy were both very popular at school participating in sports and having all A’s. They were very respected by people in Holcomb mainly just for being generally good people. In this novel Truman Capote takes us through the minds of cold blooded

Fresh in the beginning of the chapter Capote uses a metaphor to present the horrors of what happened in the previous chapters and how it affects those around the. Capote starts out with explaining Herb Clutter 's close friends then he tells of something unusual to the norm, stating, “Today this quartet of old hunting companions had once again gathered to make the familiar journey, but in an unfamiliar spirit and armed with odd, non-sportive equipment - mops and pails, scrubbing brushes , and a hamper heaped with rags and strong detergents.”(Capote 77) They came with different equipment because they came for a different reason. To cleanup the mess left by the murderers. They felt that it was “their duty, a Christian task” to clean up the Clutter’s house but it is actually cleaning the town of the bloodshed and uncertainty the people of Holcomb have. The metaphor

The novel, In Cold Blood, is an anomaly in the literary paradigm. The author, Truman Capote, designed his novel in a way that made it unique when compared to others. His fundamental purpose was to present the problem of American violence and the fragility of the American Dream and how it can be so easily shattered. In order to portray his purpose, he used many rhetorical devices including syntax, diction, tone, ethos, logos and pathos. These devices allowed Capote’s novel to be different from the spectrum of other non-fiction novels and to support his purpose.

In the novel, In Cold Blood, Truman Capote chose his words in a subjective manner. Capote inaccurately described many characters in his novel. He based his writing on his feelings and emotions rather than facts and evidence. Capote characterized Richard Hickock, Perry Smith, and Bonnie Clutter falsely.

“The Red Convertible” by Louise Erdrich and “Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin both have the common theme of death; however, in “The Red Convertible”, the death of Henry ends the very close relationship that he has with his brother Lyman while in “Story of an Hour”, the death of Mr. Mallard marks an opportunity of independence and freedom for Mrs. Mallard which shows that the relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Mallard was unsatisfactory.

Next, have a discussion with students about the town of Holcomb, Kansas, the townspeople, and the family that is murdered. Make sure students have a firm understanding of Part I of In Cold Blood by asking an array of questions about the people in the book. You may wish to have students take notes on the discussion, in addition to answering the questions verbally. Questions to consider for discussion:

Barbara refutes the nurture debate. In the letter to Perry, she explains how their brother, Jimmy, had the right mindset to succeed: “I remember how he worked & went to school when there was no one to tell him & it was his own WILL to make something of himself” (Capote 140). Even in a bad environment, Jimmy, still strived to do the right thing. His mindset was set to succeed, unaffected to a bad environment. Barbara compares Jimmy to Perry saying that if he can strive for success after a bad past, then Perry can too. Barbara knows Perry can learn to overcome a personality trait by a change of attitude: “Your confinement is nothing to be proud of and you will have to live with it & try & live it down & it can be done but not with you attitude

It’s Sunday and it’s the Clutter’s funeral. School is cancelled so all of the kids may go to the funeral. Over a thousand people attend the Clutter funeral. As Susan Kidwell stood there and stared at her best friend, Nancy Clutter, she couldn’t help herself from crying. Susan ran out of the viewing and into the car. She could not handle staring at her dead best friend any longer. All Susan could think of was Nancy, in her red velvet dress, dancing.

Although Capote conveys Holcomb as an even-tempered place, his true intent is to take advantage of its shift to insecurity; therefore he affirms evil corrupts the most perfect of places.

The mistrust and betrayal is real. Throughout the reading, I did not want to believe that Amy and Billy Holcombe had anything to do with Hollands death. The truth came out of the darkness not instantly but slowly revealing the truth of everything and why it happened. It’s so devastating and disturbing of how a woman could even do that to a human being. Holland had feelings and trusted Mrs. Amy. The way she acted through this chapter was so irrational, such as going to meet Widow Glendower, she tempted Holland, and not have any sympathy for Hollands death.

Truman Capote characterizes the Village of Holcomb is a vast, desolate place where nothing of significance occurs very often to foreshadow and bring to light the drast contrast between that and the fact that the reader knows the horrific murder takes place there. He promptly builds up the tone of the Holcomb as a picturesque place where everything is perfect and nothing ever goes wrong. Capote sets it up as a ‘perfect’ place only to later poke cracks in its perfection, exposing its flaws. Ultimately the exposure of these flaws will lead up to the murder, the one drastic twist that eventually crumble the entire foundation of the perfect little village.

The work In Cold Blood was written with extremely varying syntax. Sentence length became shorter and more urgent when it coincided with the plot, and the length became long and drawn out during sections with no real action. Truman Capote utilized telegraphic sentences after the murders, many being very similar to the quote above. The author inserts a four word sentence followed by a one word sentence and then a 3 word sentence, emphasizing the fact of the matter, the Clutter family truly was no more; the wholesome ideal family was never coming back and the citizens of Holcomb were coming to that realization. If Capote had written the sentence differently, the reader would not have felt the blunt truth that the townspeople did. For instance,

Although Capote portrays Holcomb as a quiet, safe, little town, he displays that Holcomb was the 7th victim in the murder; therefore he exhibits that even the most safest of places can succumb to evil.

According to traditional gender roles, the father is the provider for the family. He is

As to illustrate the events, Capote uses descriptive and parallel structure to describe the shift Holcomb has experienced after the taste of pure evil washed through. As Capote describes an occurrence on the Sixteenth of November, ¨..the quartet of old hunting companions had once again gathered to make the familiar journey, but in an unfamiliar spirit and armed with odd, non-sportive equipment--mops and