Death Capote Rhetorical Analysis

On Pages 339-340, Capote uses selection of detail and diction to argue against the use of the death penalty. (Dick) “...hung for all to see a full twenty minutes before the prison doctor at last said, ‘I pronounce this man dead.’” (Capote 339). (The guard says), “They don’t feel nothing. Drop, snap, and that’s it. They don’t feel nothing.” (The reporter says) “Are you sure?... I could hear him gasping for breath.” “Uh-huh, but he don’t feel nothing. Wouldn’t be human if he did.” “Well. And I suppose they feed them a lot of pills. Sedatives.” “Hell, no. Against the rules... “ (Capote 340) On page 339, Capote uses selection of detail in this passage to help further his argument against the death penalty. Capote explains that for a “full twenty minutes”, Dick was struggling to stay alive as he was hanging with a rope tied around his neck. Which is a very long time to be fighting for your life, the reporter even admitted that he could “hear

Every few minutes the doctor (would check for a heartbeat, then step outside). I wouldn’t say he was enjoying his work - kept gasping for a breath, and he was crying, too… (He would step outside) so the others wouldn’t see he was crying. Then he’d go back and listen to hear if Andy’s heart had stopped. Seemed like it never would. The fact, is his heart kept beating for nineteen minutes.” (Capote 331-332). Capote uses irony to argue how the death penalty is harsh and merciless. Dancing is supposed to be happy and enjoyable, but in this case Capote is using the word dancing in a different connotation. Capote makes it ironic by saying when Andy was hanging by his neck, his feet dangling above the ground, and struggling to stay alive for nineteen minutes was his dance. In this connotation “danced” is presented to the audience as Andy’s struggle to stay alive which helps supports Capote's argument by using irony to show the inhuman side of the death