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In Cold Blood Mental Illness

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Truman Capote’s novel, In Cold Blood, depicts his extensive research and interviews conducted regarding the murder of a successful farmer and his family from Holcomb, Kansas. Capote’s rigorous research twisted into an obsession as he dedicated nearly six years to studying every miniscule aspects of the Capote-killer's mentality in hopes to provide a contrary point of view of the murders’ intimate lives . Through this, Capote sways the reader to sympathize with Perry because of his troubled past. Capote wants the reader to see and understand that Perry’s upbringing influenced his mental state during the time of the murder, and he stresses to the reader to comprehend the flaws in the judicial system and for society to see how people who suffer …show more content…

He writes about how Perry and Dick’s and other defendant's cases are often overlooked and not taken into account when evaluating the verdict and punishments. Capote stresses this to the reader by mentioning a direct statement from Dr. Jones, “Perry Smith shows definite signs of severe mental… Two features in his personality make-up stand out as particularly pathological. The first is his ‘paranoid’ orientation toward the world.. his ability to separate the real situation from his own mental projections is very poor” (296-297). His objective in mentioning this was to again show that Perry suffered from a mental disease that altered his judgement but as well as to show that all the evidence provided to the court regarding that was …show more content…

Capote shows this by noting Mr. Hickock addressing one of the journalist on the case saying “The judge up there! I never seen a man more prejudice. Just no sense in having a trial. Not with him in charge. Why, that man was pallbearer at the funeral!”(255). Capote mentions Mr. Hickock’s anger for the unfair trial they are receiving because of all the missed information that was failed to be contributed during the trial and that the Judge would not rule insanity for both men. In doing this he wants the people to realize that the judicial system is very faulty. Most of the court's decisions and verdicts are from people appointed at random whose views can be overridingly biased. These decisions made by the court can result in punishing people like perry smith, who are mentally unstable and ill, to be punished by death or imprisonment rather than to be helped or given proper

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Although the article Dylan Roof’s Past Reveals Trouble at Home and School gives light into Dylan Roof’s life, it does not go into the depth of emotions that Capote uses to show Perry’s troubled past. Capote uses tone to enhance Perry’s emotions in order to make him seem more relatable to the audience despite being a brutal murderer. In the passage on page 131, Capote reveals dark parts of Perry’s childhood through the perspective of Perry himself: “It was not long afterward my mother put me to stay in a Catholic orphanage. The one where the black widows were always at me. Hitting me” (Capote 131).

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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.

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514 Words | 3 Pages

In Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, there is no hero. The protagonist is not a hero, nor the law enforcement. Heroism becomes irrelevant when searching for justice following a tragedy such as the one seen on November 15th, 1959 in Holcomb, Kansas. Complexity, next to justice, is primary to put into account during the aftershocks . Perry Smith is the protagonist in the novel, not only due to author’s bias but also due to his sheer dynamic, a man disconnected from word to action.

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In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote, was a non-fictional novel published in 1965. Written in four parts, Capote meticulously details the brutal 1959 murders of the recognized farmer Herbert Clutter, Bonie Clutter, Nancy Clutter and Kenyon Clutter in the small, once peaceful, city of Holcomb, Kansas. Throughout the book, while Capote sympathetically depicts the murders of the Clutter family, we also realize that the author has a strong sympathy for one of the murders called Perry Edward Smith. Although the novel was intended to be written in a journalistic form, Capote seems to fictionalize much of the information used to write the novel in order to add suspense and certain reactions from the readers. Truman Capote’s new literary form of “the non-fictional novel” leaves the readers feeling conflicting emotions

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These lawyers cared more about pinning the crime on someone and closing the case, than actually figuring out who committed the crime. Stevenson represents cases in a way that shows how critical and important it is for the court to truly think about their decisions. Stevenson states that: "The Court's ruling had become increasingly hostile to death row prisoners and less committed to the notion that 'death is different,' requiring more careful review" (Stevenson 78). The court system and the conduct of: police men, lawyers, judges, and juries, had become so strayed from the path of justice that the court system would rather kill then try to save a persons life. Instead of allowing a retrial of someone who had inadequate legal representation or had mental disabilities the court simply wanted to let them die.

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Murder can be defined as “the unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another”. How then, are others able to make us sympathize with not only murderers, but people who have committed horrendous crimes? For example, the media is constantly attempting to humanize rapists and even terrorists with phrases like “lone wolf” or “alienated and adrift.” Such phrases make some of us want to pity the criminal. This can be seen when we compare Perry Smith and Dick Hickock from Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood.

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The novel In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote and the passage from Speech in Favor of Capital Punishment, by John Stuart Mill are both works of literature that focus on the use of the death penalty. In Cold Blood tells a story of two men, Richard Hickock and Perry Smith, who savagely murder a family of four during the 1950’s. Through capture of the killers, the trial that they must face and the execution of the men, Capote gives the readers insight on his wavering beliefs about capital punishment. In contrast, Mill uses his speech written in 1868 to ensure society that the death penalty is the most appropriate action to take when sentencing a killer. Although the authors have different views on the morality of capital punishment, Capote and Mill use rhetorical devices to express their arguments.

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Truman Capote, the author of In Cold Blood, creates sympathy for almost every character the reader comes across. Through the use of manipulating the reader's emotions and connecting them to each character, Capote successfully pulls it off. There are four main groups that Capote chooses to create sympathy for the murder victims, the murderers, the law officials involved, and the ordinary citizens of Holcomb, Kansas. Truman Capote created the most sympathy for two characters, Perry Smith and Detective Dewey. From the beginning of the novel, Capote showcases Perry Smith a likable character.

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833 Words | 4 Pages

The justice system has always been the heart of America. But like this country, it has many faults. Prejudice has played a major role in the shaping of this system. In the 1930’s the way a courtroom was set up was completely different from how it looks to day. In the book To Kill A MockingBird, Harper Lee shows just how different it is.

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Option Three: Bias Truman Capote’s final book In Cold Blood, was an instant hit with readers when it came out in 1966. Capote himself hailed it as a new genre of literature, a nonfiction true crime thriller. However, upon reading the book, it seems as though Capote shifted the truth to make it fit his own personal narrative, and put in his own personal bias toward the criminals, and seeks to have the reader sympathize with the criminals and seeks to challenge their attitudes towards the criminals.

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This article talked a great deal about how the rules and procedures when it comes to the insanity defense are inconsistent and unclear. United States v. Hinckley showed the public how inconsistent and unclear the criminal procedures are. The article provided a statement from a juror involved in the Hinckley case. The gist of the statement was that even the experts used in the trial could not determine the defendant’s sanity, which made it even harder for the jurors to determine as well.

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In In Cold Blood, the issue over the death penalty is prominent. Did Perry and Dick deserve to die? Should the severity of one’s crime determine one’s fate? Although Truman Capote writes the novel in a straightforward, “from a distance” way, he conveys, through his characters, theme, and plot development, that the death penalty is an issue that should be looked at from all sides and that the legal system itself is the real issue at hand, and that the death penalty is used as a means to suppress the distress and indignation of the citizens surrounding the case, instead of suppressing the victim himself.

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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.

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