ipl-logo

In Cold Blood Truman Capote Analysis

1853 Words8 Pages

The Protagonist Versus Me Although it’s often times difficult to catch my attention with a book, In Cold Blood, written by Truman Capote was able to do that. This non-fiction crime bestseller begins with immediate action, which, in my opinion, is the best way to intrigue the reader. Two men, Dick and Perry, are both ex-con men. During their jail sentence, Dick spent time talking to a cellmate, Willie-Jay. They discussed how Willie used to work for a well-known family referred to as the Clutters. They were the typical wealthy and friendly family that the whole neighborhood knew. Money hungry, Dick knew his game plan as soon as he was let out on probation. Perry told Dick a fictional story about how he killed a man which made Dick think he’d be perfect for his master plan. They both proceeded to Holcomb, Kansas to murder the family and collect the expected currency, supposedly hidden in Mr. Clutter’s safe. After killing …show more content…

I would have felt the need to eliminate all witnesses to reassure myself that I would only be caught through faults of my own. However, I feel that Dick Hickock and Perry made the smart decision by not killing each other because it seems to be the least morbid way to approach their situation. When it comes to their position on returning to Kansas City to pass bad checks so they can have money before leaving the country or just proceeding to Mexico, I completely disagree with going back. This is because returning to a place where you have just committed a crime seems foolish to me. In order to earn money, I would have rather robbed someone who was around me in the new area I have migrated to rather than risking it all to pass fraud

Show More
Related

  • In Cold Blood Book Report

    777 Words  | 4 Pages

    Meanwhile, Dick and Perry know that they have to get out of the small town of Holcomb, so that they are not found and accused of the slaying of the Clutters. They continue to run from place to place including Mexico, Colorado, Las Vegas, and Iowa. Floyd Wells, a former friend of Dick Hickock, whom Dick had told his plans for killing the Clutters, hears the news of the Clutter familiy’s murder on the radio and reported it. Dewey and 3 other KBI agents, recieve information from the Las Vegas police that Perry Smith’s license plate has been spotted, and arrest Dick and Perry. The book goes on to detail Dick and Perry’s time in prison, right up to their

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Capital Punishment In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

    1512 Words  | 7 Pages

    After most people hear what Perry has gone through you immediately give him a get out of jail free card right? You think that since he had a difficult upbringing he should be exempt from receiving the death penalty? Although you may think this, this is certainly not an excuse for such a violent act. Throughout In Cold Blood, Capote attempts to portray to the reader that Smith in a way should be exempt from the crime he commited and how one should not blame it on Smith himself, but his psychological background. Specifically when Al Dewey, the head of the Clutter murder investigation, states how the crime was not in fact Smiths fault.

    Read More

  • Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

    961 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Word Choice In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

    1006 Words  | 5 Pages

    In Cold Blood, written by Truman Capote in 1966 tells the story of the murder of a prominent family in 60’s Kansas. Capote traveled to the small town of Holcomb, and befriended many of the townsfolk and the detectives involved in the trial to tell the story of a violent event that shaped this community for the decade until the eventual conviction and execution of the killers. Because of information being told, Capote makes the choice of writing his novel as if it were a news report. This journalistic structure and word choice helps to establish the serious and dark tone of the novel.

    Read More

  • A Rhetorical Analysis Of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

    1254 Words  | 6 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Sympathy For Characters In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

    573 Words  | 3 Pages

    Through similar tactics Capote allows the reader to feel sorry for Dewey, even though he is the man who catches the killing pair. Detective Dewey is first introduced in part two of In Cold Blood, where the readers learn that this would not be an easy case and the Dewey would be the head detective, even though he had personal ties with the Clutter family. The reader would automatically feel sorry for Detective Dewey because he was going to do heavy investigating on a murder of a family he knew and there was very little time to mourn the deaths. Detective Dewey spent countless hours trying to chase down every lead that popped up, taking family time away, which wears on all family members. The reader feels sympathy for Dewey as he loses time with his family around the holiday time because he has become so involved in the case.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Death Penalty In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

    432 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout In Cold Blood, Truman Capote hints at his own opinion of the death penalty, yet lets the readers decide for themselves what they believe Hickock and Smith's punishment should have been. When the murderers are being hanged, a conversation occurs between a reporter and an investigator about what it might feel like to be hanged: "'They don't feel nothing. Drop, snap, and that's it. They don't feel nothing.' ' Are you sure?

    Read More

  • Death Penalty In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

    596 Words  | 3 Pages

    In In Cold Blood, the issue over the death penalty is prominent. Did Perry and Dick deserve to die? Should the severity of one’s crime determine one’s fate? Although Truman Capote writes the novel in a straightforward, “from a distance” way, he conveys, through his characters, theme, and plot development, that the death penalty is an issue that should be looked at from all sides and that the legal system itself is the real issue at hand, and that the death penalty is used as a means to suppress the distress and indignation of the citizens surrounding the case, instead of suppressing the victim himself.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

    539 Words  | 3 Pages

    How crazy would it be to interview criminals who murdered 4 people in cold blood? Well that’s exactly what Truman Capote did in this chilling book. In the novel In Cold Blood, Truman Capote used different rhetorical strategies to create sympathy and influence the idea that there are always two sides to every story. Some of the mainly used rhetorical strategies throughout the novel were imagery, diction, tone, and pathos. Furthermore, Capote also illustrated sympathetical emotion towards both types of characters, the protagonists and antagonists.

    Read More

  • Growing Up A Sociopath In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

    1483 Words  | 6 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Truman Capote's Manipulation Of Perry In Cold Blood

    590 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Manipulation Of Language In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

    1177 Words  | 5 Pages

    He is portrayed as a mastermind in the cold-blooded killing of the Clutters family, a man with little respect for the lives of others, which can be seen through Dick’s expression before the murder of the Clutters when he converses Perry, “We’re gonna go in there and splatter those walls with hair” (Capote 234). This sudden tone shift enables Capote to depict Dick as a cruel and immoral character. Dick’s lack of empathy and concern for other people beside himself allow him to commit crimes without remorse, which is in contrast to Perry’s moral contemplation after each bad actions they committed. Moreover, Dick is represented as the true criminal with evident motives in murdering the Clutters, while Perry is seen as a vulnerable victim who depends on Dick for validation and acceptance, something in which Dick happily provides in order to manipulate Perry, as Capote writes, “Dick became convinced that Perry was that rarity, ‘a natural born killer,’—absolutely sane but conscienceless, and capable of dealing with or without motive, the coldest-blooded deathblows. It was Dick's theory that such a gift could, under his supervision, be profitably exploited” (Capote 205).

    Read More

  • Guilty In Richard Eugene Hickock's In Cold Blood

    971 Words  | 4 Pages

    Dick did not have any second thoughts about the murder. He had firmly wanted to walk-in and kill the Clutter family despite their innocence. Dick viewed the Clutters’ as an opportunity that was going to make him rich. There was not any

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Techniques In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

    969 Words  | 4 Pages

    This quote illustrates that Dick, being raised in a well environment, also had some faults. He could not achieve his American Dream due to lack of money that his family did not

    Read More

  • Symbolism And Diction In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

    1142 Words  | 5 Pages

    Everybody has desires that constantly weigh over their heads, pushing them to be diligent in all their endeavors, but what would you do if you knew that one day you would no longer have the opportunity to fulfill these desires? Everybody lives their lives so focused on the end goal that they are oblivious to the world around them, and the sad part is that in some cases the end goal is unattainable or never reached because the person dies. In In Cold Blood, Truman Capote utilizes symbolism and descriptive diction to tell his readers Perry’s wants and wishes. Throughout this subchapter the reader is able to learn more about how Perry feels in the moments after the Clutter family murder. The reader learns that Perry wishes he was loved by others

    Read More

More about In Cold Blood Truman Capote Analysis

Open Document