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Figurative Language In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

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Symbolisms are significantly meaningful to thoroughly produce an influential impact on humanity’s understanding of life and death. It can either mold an atmosphere of assurance to a nation or a condition of skepticism and turmoil to a society. In “In Cold Blood” by Truman Capote, there are countless of powerful imageries that establish the harsh reality of violence through thrilling uses of figurative language. To initiate, Truman Capote uses substantial diction to create a candid, yet gloomy tone. Capote attempts to deliver only the facts of what had happened to Holcomb city. The author expresses that no one in the small peaceful city heard the “four shotgun blasts” that “ended six human lives” (Part 1, page 5). Truman wants to remain unbiased …show more content…

There is a plethora of unique strategies to compare the bodies of the Clutter family. When the four members of the Clutter family are seen in their caskets, Capote intentionally reminds the reader about the way they were murdered and where they were shot, in detail, by conveying that the Clutter family’s heads were “completely encased in cotton” and had an appearance of a “blown-up balloon” that “twinkled like Christmas-tree snow” (Part 2, page 95). The first impression this quote gives the reader is that the author has an incredibly cynical tone because balloons and Christmas are all joyous and celebratory in matter, but Capote compares the dead bodies, which are mournful and melancholy. This causes a mix of different feelings to the receiver because of its extremely delirious correlation. However, the same interrelationship of the bodies and the warm and cheerful things that Capote deliberately composed is also tragic in tone. It is also signified to formulate that the Clutter family will never be able to celebrate another birthday or another holiday. It’s gone. They’re gone. The Clutter family will never have another joyous moment ever again because of the disturbing realism a society lives in. Capote intentionally created this piece of cruelty and hurt to emphasize the genuineness of this world filled with ferocity and savagery, but also to

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Truman Capote incorporates unusual diction into his writing to convey a haunting tone. For example, he uses the words “wet twilight” to enhance his tone. These words are not commonly placed together and when they are, they create an eerie feeling. The way that the author chooses to use to word “staring” creates a spooky mood. It reconstructs the way people feel when they feel like they are being watched.

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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.

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Although Capote seems to be explaining the progression of the ongoing investigation regarding Clutter family murder, his words delve deeper to explain the resounding effects that a senseless crime has had on the residents of Holcomb. Therefore, Capote depicts the shattering loss of innocence that these murders have caused to interrupt this small, tranquil community. Through structure, the author transforms the simple town of Holcomb into a dreary community. Capote introduces the second section of the book with a depiction of the leisurely activities of days past; “...Andy Erhart had spent long pheasant-hunting afternoons at River Valley Farm, the home of his good friend Herb Clutter, and often, on these sporting expeditions, he’d been accompanied

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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

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Sympathy for all Truman Capote was a well known author for Breakfast at Tiffany's, House of Flowers and his most famous In Cold Blood. The one he is most famous for, In Cold Blood, is about the spontaneous murder of the Clutter family; it sparked a new genre of writing - the nonfiction novel. The book describes how the detectives are solving the murders and also includes the perspective of the ones who committed the crime. Capote additionally encompasses the towns people’s outlook on the situation. He was able to create sympathy for all characters in this book, including the murderers and also show that there are always two sides to every story by using the rhetorical devices of pathos, foreshadowing and conceit to create the effect of giving

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Holcomb, Kansas. (Seen as a lonesome area that other than Kansas calls “out there,” by author Truman Capote in the novel “In Cold Blood.”) Capote adopts strong imagery to characterize the small wasteland that the people of Holcomb call home. He views Holcomb almost as a cemetery, where the town is dead. He paints the reader living in this town, and uses an oxymoron to state to the reader that not everything is a peaceful as it might seem.

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That specific phrasing can make someone’s skin crawl, and sounds like something one would find in a coroner’s report rather than a novel. Later, Capote goes on to talk about what happened to the townsfolk after, and how it was almost

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Although the author set himself the task of using the natural materials of this case to write a nonfiction novel, it is clear that the audience is given information about the murders, and murderers however, the author’s emotions are also present. Capote's tone in the novel strives to be objective, but he cannot help but let his compassion towards the criminals and the Clutter family emerge. His compassion shifts the novel in a way to pull on the heartstrings of the audience and to allow for a deeper understanding of his purpose. Many of the tones included in the book brings out the importance of the American Dream and life being a gift. The quote, “Then, touching the brim of his cap, he headed for home and the day’s work, unaware that it would be his last,” is an example of the author’s serious tone to support his purpose of how the gift of life can be taken so unexpectedly.

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“He did not smoke, and of course he did not drink; indeed, he had never tasted spirits, and was inclined to avoid people who had—a circumstance that did not shrink his social circle as much as might be supposed, for the center of that circle was supplied by the members of Garden City's First Methodist Church,a congregation totaling seventeen hundred ,most of whom were as abstemious as Mr. Clutter could desire.’’ (10) ( Culture and Community ) Capote used this quote to illustrate the culture of the village of Holcomb, where Mr.Clutter lived and how the social life of a religious family is rooted in their church. This quote represents culture, because is trying to tell us that people in Holcomb should live a life according to their religion ,because their actions affect their social circle and their community.

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He succeeds in creating these complex personalities that many can relate to by using a myriad of tones to illustrate every aspect of those engaged, such as their childhood, their family, or their emotions. For instance, Bobby Rupp, Nancy’s boyfriend and Perry Smith, one of the slayers, represent two individuals who readers commiserate with due to their distinctive characterization. Capote presents Bobby Rupp as the “school basketball hero”, and “dependable” for his age; Capote not only highlights his maturity, but also his emotional condition after the homicides. The readers understand that Bobby loves Nancy dearly, and her loss shocks him as demonstrated through Capote’s text: “He was ill, that grief had made him so, that grief had drawn a circle around him he could not escape from and others could not enter”

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Disturbing, horrendous, and gut-wrenching could be words used to describe the complex and twisted movie, Capote (Baron, Vince, & Ohoven, 2005). Based upon the murder of the Clutter family in 1959, Truman Capote traveled to Kansas to cover the story for The New Yorker (Baron, Vince, & Ohoven, 2005). However, during his own personal investigation he realizes that the story is too extensive for a magazine article, so he decides to write a book (Baron, Vince, & Ohoven, 2005). Finally, this is where Capote’s story of troubling, and unprofessional research commences (Baron, Vince, & Ohoven, 2005). First, at the start of his research collection Capote did not seek approval from any review board or ethics board (Baron, Vince, & Ohoven, 2005).

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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.

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908 Words | 4 Pages

Truman Capote uses variety of language devices to vividly develop Perry Smith in his novel In Cold Blood. These language devices include, diction, similes and symbolism. Throughout the novel diction is used to develop Perry Smith’s character, and suggest reasons for the murder. When Smith explains what happened that night at the Clutter’s family home, he tells agent Alvin Dewey about his moment with Nancy Clutter.

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In the book, “In Cold Blood,” Truman Capote takes us through the lives of the murderers and the murdered in the 1959 Clutter family homicide, which transpires in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas. The first chapter, “The Last to See Them Alive,” vividly illustrates the daily activities of the Clutter family—Herbert, Bonnie, Nancy, and Kenyon—and the scheming plot of Dick Hickock and Perry Smith up to point where the family is found tied up, and brutally murdered. In doing so, he depicts the picture-perfect town of Holcomb with “blue skies and desert clear air”(3) whose safety is threatened when “four shotgun blasts that, all told, ended six human lives”(5). Through the eyes of a picture perfect family and criminals with social aspirations, Capote describes the American Dream and introduces his audience to the idea that this ideal was no more than an illusion. Herbert Clutter: the character Capote describes as the epitome of the American Dream.

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Facts and Fiction: A Manipulation of Language in Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood 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.

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