Religion In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

In Cold Blood is a nonfiction novel by Truman Capote and illustrates how people draw morals from religion. The setting of the novel is Holcomb, a predominantly Christian town with a tight-knit community. Capote illustrates the emphasis on religion in the late 1950s and the effects of strictly adhering to religion as well as conflict presented through interpretations of religious texts. These ideas appear throughout the book including through the setting of moral issues, and freedoms. Truman Capote uses religion in In Cold Blood to critique the use of religion as a source of morals through the use of allusions, setting, characterization, metaphors, and diction.

Truman Capote uses a biblical allusion early on in In Cold Blood when Mr. Clutter

While it may refer to the killing of the Clutters, it could also be referring to the execution of Dick and Perry. One of the controversial decisions in the town was what to do with the murderers and whether capital punishment was moral. Mrs. Clutter’s brother argued that taking another life would not change what happened and the people of Holcomb should forgive as God would have them do (107). However, this was not the only opinion using the Bible as justification, a student interviewed by the town paper said “It’s like the Bible says -an eye for an eye” (248). These examples show how people in Holcomb used religion as a way to support their opinion on ethical issues like capital punishment. This created some conflict in Holcomb over capital punishment and whether it was just or not based on their own interpretations of the Bible. Capote had his own belief when naming the book, “In Cold Blood” which was a reference to the punishment of the murderers and how they were killed. This allusion to the death of Dick and Perry highlights Capote’s belief on capital punishment. The use of allusions in In Cold Blood was to show how religion is used as justification for what a person believes is

This was demonstrated by the location of Dick and Perry’s trial in Garden City. When considering moving the trial from Garden City the defense attorneys of Dick and Perry’s case said “We’re probably better off in Garden City. This is a religious community” (266). Capote included this because the setting, Garden City, was believed to have an outcome on a case that was intertwined with moral issues. The location was not the only part of the setting where morals were influenced by religion. The time period of the 1950s and the religious emphasis of this time meant many important decisions were based on religion. This was seen when Mr. Clutter told Nancy she should see less of Bobby because Bobby was Roman Catholic while Nancy was Methodist which would prevent them from ever marrying (8). Capote uses the time period as a way to show how religion can be used to make potentially restrictive decisions. This impacted Nancy and Capote drew attention to this through visual imagery of Nancy chewing on her nails which her friend, Susan, identified as something being wrong (20). Capote includes this imagery in order to illustrate the effects of religion and how it can restrict freedoms when strictly adhered to. The setting of the text being in a religious town, in a religious time period allowed Capote to illustrate how people made judgments based on their faith and the conflict this can