Analysis Of In Cold Blood By Truman Capote

Categorized as non-fiction, the novel, In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote, held fictional attributes. Many critics believe the novel falls into the fiction category better. A nonfiction novel consists of legitimate events, facts, and actual people; Capote’s novel does not tell the entire truth about the Clutter family and the murderers. Capote’s journalistic style led the reader to believe the story as factual, however, his personal attitudes about certain characters bled through into his writing. These attitudes of Capote’s may have manipulated the reader’s feelings to more closely resemble his. Capote’s novel falsely characterizes two people, Perry Smith and Bonnie Clutter, turning them into fictional characters instead of real people. Capote characterized Smith as a follower and a

Many readers believe that Capote did not tell the entire truth about Smith’s character because of his personal relationship with Smith. In the novel, Smith says, “Am I sorry? If that’s what you mean-I’m not. I don’t feel anything about it. . .Half an hour after it happened. Dick was making jokes and I was laughing at them. . .I’m human enough to feel sorry for myself. Sorry I can’t walk out of here when you walk out. But that’s all” (Truman 290-91). This side of Smith did not come out until the end of the book because Capote manipulated the reader into feeling bad for Smith, in the beginning, believing that Smith did not want to commit the crime. Additionally, Capote falsely characterized Bonnie Clutter, the mother of Beverly, Eveanna, Nancy and Kenyon. Capote never spoke to Bonnie Clutter, he did not personally know her; nevertheless, he developed her character. He described Bonnie as anxious, depressed and isolated from the family, however, the members of her family and friends recalled her differently. Howard Fox, the brother of Bonnie Clutter, stated in an interview,