Manipulation Creates Sympathy In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

Katryna Braun
Mrs. Gehlhausen
AP Language & Composition
March 20, 2023

How Truman Capote’s Use of Manipulation Creates Sympathy in In Cold Blood In Cold Blood, published in 1966, is a true crime, nonfiction novel written by author Truman Capote (Tandon). Throughout the novel, Truman Capote uses literary devices such as diction, language, details, imagery, and tone to manipulate audience-especially when it comes to feeling sorry for murderer Perry Smith- but he also creates empathy for detective Alvin Dewey, the lead detective in the Clutter family case. The Clutter family- Herbert, Bonnie, Nancy, and Kenyon- lived in Holcomb, Kansas, where they were murdered by Dick Hickcock and Perry Smith. After Susan Kidwell, Nancy Clutter’s good friend

Capote makes Perry seem as if he is a lost puppy, misunderstood by those around him, and an all-around sensitive person throughout the novel by using pathos to lure the audience into feeling sympathetic toward Perry. Truman Capote uses Perry’s difficult, sorrowful childhood, as well as his appeal to pathos, to convince his audience that Perry was not as bad as he seemed, even though he was the one who shot the Clutter family the night of the

Readers feel a sense of sorrow for Alvin Dewey when Capote describes his late nights working the case, not coming home to his wife, or immediately going to bed as soon as he got home. Capote creates sympathy for Dewey by acknowledging a phone call conversation between Dewey and his wife: “...Dewey interrupted the consultation to telephone his wife, Marie, at their home, and warn her that he wouldn’t be home for dinner. She said, “Yes. All Right, Alvin,” but he noticed in her tone an uncharacteristic anxiety (Capote 87).” Truman Capote provides the phone call conversation between Alvin Dewey and his wife, Marie, to draw the reader’s attention to how many late nights he stayed at the office, trying to crack down on any information that would help solve the case. Readers feel very sympathetic toward Alvin Dewey after learning about the countless late nights at work because Dewey was losing precious time with his family, including around the holidays. Truman Capote created a sense of sadness for Alvin Dewey as he loses more and more family time as the investigation goes along, and made readers think about how they would feel if they were in Dewey’s situation, along with his wife