In Cold Blood Excerpt Analysis Essay

In the excerpt from Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood; Capote describes in depth the village of Holcomb; which is located on the wheat plains of Kansas and is described by Capote as lonely and isolated. Capote characterizes Holcomb as lonely and isolated by using diction, imagery, and selection of details. Each one of these literary devices used helps to add to the overall view Capote had of Holcomb. Capote’s choice of words in the excerpt give the reader a feeling that the town of Holcomb is lonely and isolated. Although the words Capote uses do not have direct negative connotation; they do however hold an undesirable feeling. For instance, “lonesome” and “out there” give the reader an immediate feeling of loneliness. This is because these words hold a slightly negative connotation that give the reader a sense of isolation; the reader begins to imagine what it would feel like to be away from civilization, what it would feel like to be helpless. Later in the excerpt Capote uses the words

In the excerpt Capote describes a sign that is “flaking gold on a dirty window”; this gives the reader a clear image of what Holcomb looks like. The term flaking gold tells the reader that it used to be beautiful but now marred; the dirty window just adds to this image because the reader can conclude that most of Holcomb is dirty and not taken care of. Another image created is that of a “ramshackle mansion” which is another image that shows how rundown and marred the village of Holcomb is. Capote also continues to create images by saying “sulphur-colored paint” which gives the reader a specific image of Holcomb. The word sulphur could be replaced by yellow but Capote chose the word sulphur because it helps creates the image that the yellow color is dirty. Sulphur is commonly known to be foul smelling so Capote might have chosen the word for this purpose