Although Dick were partners in the murder of the Clutter family, Capote primarily wants to reveal the emotional gap between Dick and Perry; therefore, Capote’s depicts Perry as more sentimental than Dick.
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).
In Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood,” Dick and Perry have murdered the Clutter family and are on their way to Mexico. In this passage, Dick makes an astounding statement.
Edgar Allen Poe and Rey Bradbury were known for dealing with suspense in their stories. Even though their styles are similar, they lived in drastically different places and time periods. Edgar Allen Poe was discovered as an author in Baltimore Maryland, and he was born in 1809. Rey Bradbury lived most of his life in Los Angeles, and was born in the 1920’s. These two writers are well known for their specific writing genres. Poe was one of the first people to write horror and suspense stories. Bradbury was one of the first people to write about science fiction the way it is written today. Even though these two writers share a similarity, there are drastic differences in their stories.
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.
Truman Capote, in his non-fiction journalistic narrative, gives readers the opportunity to reconsider the dichotomy of ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal’. Capote also suggests true normality differs from society’s concept of normality. The concept of normality is challenged throughout the entirety of ‘In Cold Blood’, first in the Clutter family, then in Dick and Perry and in sexuality throughout the text. The Clutters, a seemingly ‘normal’ family who have obtained a wealthy and successful life, are polite and hardworking, community-driven and respected. However, the Clutters have certain aspects which could be considered ‘abnormal’, especially in the case of Bonnie, a depressed and reclusive mother. Perry and Dick are juxtaposed with the Clutters, they are a seemingly abnormal duo, who are antisocial, have a hunger for murder and are even physically disfigured. Both Perry and Dick have attributes that are still somewhat ‘normal’ despite their surface abnormality. Perry is sensitive, creative and sings, Dick has had an upbringing that was completely typical of any American child, that is, he was brought up in a loving and caring environment, with enough money to live comfortably and attend secondary education. Dick also constantly defends himself saying: “I’m a normal”. Sexuality between Dick and Perry is explored as well as Perry and Dick’s individual sexualities.
Truman Capote, who was born Truman Streckfus Persons on September 30, 1924, in New Orleans, Louisiana, was one of the most well-known American writer of his time. His ability to say clever and amusing things and his overt homosexuality kept him on television and in magazines as a major personality. He worked for The New Yorker magazine where he wrote articles and short stories. Many of his stories were about bizarre incidents and were adapted for stage and film. Later, he started to write nonfiction novels in which he combined fact and fiction. In Cold Blood, which describes the mysterious murder of four members of a Kansas family, The Clutters, was the most known and best seller nonfiction novel. At the beginning, it started out as an article for The New Yorker, then it was published in January 1966 in book form.
Jon Krakauer has a high amount of respect for Christopher J. McCandless; not only because they have many similarities, but because McCandless searched deep for the meaning of life and did as he pleased. In the book, “Into The Wild,” Krakauer not only tells the story of McCandless, but also of his own life, and how he has been shaped into his own.
In the novel In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, he uses pathos, diction and tone to characterize the killers. He characterizes Dick Hickock as the main character and Perry Smith as a tag-along. Capote mainly shows sympathy towards Perry because of Perry’s messed up past and his mental instability. Capote creates this sympathy through syntax and his elaborate sentence structure with the use of specific punctuation. He also has a very unique writing style with an interesting character development. The author characterizes the two characters by using flashbacks although he sympathize Perry more than Dick, which can be seen through the long descriptions of Perry’s past compared to the few sentences given to Dick’s.
Dick from In Cold Blood maintained that he was less guilty and did not deserve the death penalty. In stating this, Dick was not correct that he was less guilty. There are justifiable proofs that diminish his chances of being less guilty. These proofs are found within the book and can be represented through his demeanors and actions prior to and after the night. Richard Eugene Hickock (Dick) in In Cold Blood is just as guilty as Perry in that he had clearly displayed his intent for killing the Clutter family.
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. Much
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. Together, they killed a small town family for forty dollars in cash. Capote tells of their lives before the killing, on the run, and when they were on death row. It is clear to the reader that Perry was not born a criminal, but his horrible childhood coupled with mental illness allowed him to not feel the wrong he was doing. Dick, on the other hand, was born a criminal, and this is shown through his pedophiliac episodes and the fact he was able to be ashamed of what he was. Nurture is more important than nature because with good nurturing what nature has given somebody can be erased or made better.
The movie McFarland (USA) can relate to the book Talking Sides by Gary Soto. The two stories can both related because McFarland and Talking Sides by Gary Soto are both a sports them stories. McFarland sports them in Cross Country but in Talking Sides the sports them is Basket Ball. In addition, when both stories started both of the coaches where hard on the teams but in McFarland, the coach softened up on the team. Secondly, in the story McFarland the coach moved from a nice and safe environment to a more violent and not as clean informant. However, in Talking Sides, the kid Lincoln moved for a ghetto and brown skinned environment to an all-white nice and clean environment. Furthermore, both of the stories are similar because at the end of
This Quote represents Insanity (Sociopathy) because it shows both Perry’s killer natural way of thinking and it also shows Dick’s colossal use of them to get what he desires. Dick suffers brain damage he received from a concussion and Perry has paranoid schizophrenia . This could possibly contribute to their questionable mental state of mind. Some symptoms of insanity include : frequent lying, stealing , fighting , no guilt or remorse for anything whatsoever , breaking the law repeatedly , the ability to act charming and witty, disregarding of the safety of others, manipulating other people 's emotions, and inability to tolerate frustration . Both Dick and Perry poses some of these traits / symptoms which may lead us to believe they could
World War I (WWI) and World War II (WWII) had many causes. They also had many devastating effects on the world. They both have one main similarity and difference for both the causes and effects of the wars. The main similarity in the causes of both wars was imperialism, but the main difference was that WWII had appeasement; the main similarity in the effects of both wars was that there were many political tensions leftover that caused another war, but the main difference was that after WWII, the United Nations (UN) was created.