ipl-logo

In Cold Blood Essay

708 Words3 Pages

In Cold Blood is a non-fiction novel by American author Truman Capote, first published in 1966. In the tiny town of Kansas, a family of four were murdered for no reason whatsoever. The murderers were on the run for a couple of years and were finally caught and accused of murder--in 1965 they were hung for the crime. The Clutter family were a well-respected farming family that had no enemies, and no disagreements. Although the Clutter were very wealthy, Mr. Clutter never stored his wealth in the house. The whole district and eventually the country was shocked by the unusual, random and brutality of the act. The two men, Dick Hickcock and Perry smith, in which didn't even know the Clutter family entered their house and murdered the family …show more content…

They left the highway, sped through a deserted Holcomb, and crossed the Santa Fe tracks. "The bank, that must be the bank, no we turn west-see the trees? This is it, this has to be it." The headlights disclosed a lane of Chinese elms; bundles of wind-blown thistle scurried across it. Dick doused the headlights, slowed down, and stopped until his eyes were adjusted to the moon-illuminated night. Presently, the car crept forward. This passage was chosen because it was what Dick and Perry were saying right before they went to the Clutter house and killed the family. I feel that this quote is an important one. To me I feel that it suggest's that the accused were out to commit a robbery, and had no original intent to kill the Clutters. Due to Mr. Clutter not keeping any money in the home, the criminals were unable to locate any money to steal. The criminals then proceeded to kill the family of four. I feel that the murderers used the Clutters as a way of removing their anger from not being able to locate the money they were looking for. The book follows the story to the trial and execution of the killers, and spares few details throughout. The outcome of the trial was guilty and the punishment was

Show More
Related
153 Words | 1 Pages

On the morning of Sunday, November 15 1959, Nancy Ewalt and Susan Kidwell arrived at the Clutter 's house to carpool to church. After ringing the bell several times and receiving no response, they decided to enter the house. Upon entering, they found all the telephone connections severed and Nancy Clutter 's purse laid ransacked on the floor. Dumbfounded, they ran upstairs for any signs of the Clutters. There, they found Nancy Clutter 's body, she had suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the head.

Read More
723 Words | 3 Pages

The family is murdered by Smith and Hickock on a late Saturday night. After murdering the Clutters’, Smith and Hickock travel to Mexico and stay there until they are broke. In the meantime, Alvin Dewey is put in charge of finding out about the Clutter murder. Smith and Hickock eventually return to Kansas where Dick writes several bad checks. Soon enough, the two murders are caught in Las Vegas and found guilty so they receive a death penalty by hanging five years later.

Read More
875 Words | 4 Pages

Their youngest daughter, Nancy, is extremely organized and intelligent. The youngest child, Kenyon, is a 15 year old boy who spends most of his time with electronics. Capote also introduces the two men who murdered the Clutter family, Perry Smith and Richard Hickock, often referred to as “Dick”.

Read More
969 Words | 4 Pages

The novel, In Cold Blood, is an anomaly in the literary paradigm. The author, Truman Capote, designed his novel in a way that made it unique when compared to others. His fundamental purpose was to present the problem of American violence and the fragility of the American Dream and how it can be so easily shattered. In order to portray his purpose, he used many rhetorical devices including syntax, diction, tone, ethos, logos and pathos. These devices allowed Capote’s novel to be different from the spectrum of other non-fiction novels and to support his purpose.

Read More
2210 Words | 9 Pages

Tanjim Alam Ms. Bricker American Literature 3 March 2016 In Cold Blood: People of Kansas vs. The Clutter Family Murderers During the fall of 1959, an event happened that was never heard of before in the city of Holcomb, Kansas. As a city with virtually no crime, no disputes, and hardworking people, Holcomb is an ideal city with honest people. The Clutter family is a family admired by those around them due to their accomplishments and contributions to the community.

Read More
798 Words | 4 Pages

Question Presented Does the movie My Cousin Vinny adequately represent realistic values and rules that actual cases and trials do. Also the question that under Delaware law and the ABA rulebook did Vinny Gambini abide by the rules during the course of the trial. Introduction

Read More
961 Words | 4 Pages

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).

Read More
1429 Words | 6 Pages

A sizable amount of today’s literary classics were written during the twentieth century, books that have continually stimulated the mind for years or broken new ground in writing. One such publication is To Kill a Mockingbird. To Kill a Mockingbird was published in 1960 and written by Harper Lee, and is considered to be one of the best works of literature ever written. It attracted attention and criticism from the moment it was published, and To Kill a Mockingbird continues to be criticized to present day. A book similar to To Kill a Mockingbird in scrutiny and controversy is Truman Capote’s

Read More
654 Words | 3 Pages

John Brown was an extreme abolitionist who believed so much in the eradication of slavery, that he resulted to violence and bloodshed in order to achieve his goal. He felt he was "called by God" to end slavery by any means necessary. He failed to achieve his goal in his lifetime, but his actions had a major impact on the North and South before the Civil War. John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry was probably his most effective attack against slavery. This attack on slavery caused tensions to boil over in the North and South, creating a conflict which could only be resolved with war.

Read More
563 Words | 3 Pages

Roylin stole money from Mr. Miller and Tuttle saw it. Tuttle told Roylin Mr. Miller died from a heart attack. Tuttle said, Mr. Miller woke up and saw that a lot of his money was gone and had a heart attack, and that he seen Roylin sneak into Mr. Miller’s apartment and he thought Roylin only took a couple of dollars but Mr. Miller cried out to Tuttle and was clutching at his chest about the missing money. Tuttle said they could just say Mr. Miller moved away and they would just take his body downstairs and let it be the end of it. Tuttle wanted Roylin to do all his chores or he was going to get the police involved in the situation.

Read More
906 Words | 4 Pages

Mrs. Putnam creates hysteria into the trail by making rumors and false claims. As Mrs. Putnam walks inside small upper bedroom which Abigail, Susanna,

Read More
1006 Words | 5 Pages

The story opens with Mrs. Wright imprisoned for strangling her husband. A group, the mostly composed of men, travel to the Wright house in the hopes that they find incriminating evidence against Mrs. Wright. Instead, the two women of the group discover evidence of Mr. Wright’s abuse of his wife. Through the women’s unique perspective, the reader glimpses the reality of the situation and realizes that, though it seemed unreasonable at the time, Mrs. Wright had carefully calculated her actions. When asked about the Wrights, one of the women, Mrs. Hale, replies “I don’t think a place would be a cheerful for John Wright’s being in it” (“A Jury of Her Peers” 7).

Read More
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
1053 Words | 5 Pages

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.

Read More
1177 Words | 5 Pages

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.

Read More

More about In Cold Blood Essay

Related Topics

Open Document