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In Cold Blood Tragedy Essay

624 Words3 Pages

Whose tragedy is it? The tragedy of In Cold Blood is the damage dealt to the image of the American Dream by the Clutter murders. The deaths of the Clutter family severely damaged the image of the American Dream through the type of family that the Clutters were, the destroyed peace of Holcomb, and the random nature of the crime. The Clutter family nearly embodied the American Dream in structure and nature. The Clutter’s unexpected deaths ruined the trusting serenity of Holcomb. The nature and details of the murders cemented the fact that what happened to the Clutters could have just as likely have happened to anyone else. The progression of the Clutter family closely resembled the image of the American Dream. Herb Clutter worked …show more content…

After a relatively small amount of time looking into the Clutter family One of the investigators on the case said “Of all the people in all the world, the Clutters were the least likely to be murdered."(pg.53) The Clutters did not have any sort of real enemies. They were pillars of their community and had never had a serious quarrel with anyone. The fact that the Clutters could be destroyed in a night ,by what might as well have been a random act of nature, undercuts the idea of the American Dream. The Clutter murders showed people that a person could be practically perfect and still suffer horrible injustices. This mindset change is shown through the dream of detective Dewey. Though Dewey is fully committed to the case he shows in his dream that he subconsciously believes that the killers will never be caught. The Clutter case had caused Dewey to believe that the world is cruel and that injustice will ultimately prevail. The tragedy of In Cold Blood helped to signify the era where the American Dream lost some of it’s meaning. After the end of the 1950s the society of America began to change. People began to shift away from the tones that ruled the 50s ,like consensus and conformity, and towards the tones of protest and disillusionment the dominated the 60s. The tragedy of the book helps highlight the negative shift in society that came with the end of the

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