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Similes In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

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Truman Capote uses variety of language devices such as diction, similes and symbolism to vividly develop Perry Smith in his novel In Cold Blood. Truman Capote uses diction to develop Perry Smith’s character. When Perry explains what happened that night at the Clutter family home, he tells agent Alvin Dewey about his moment with Nancy Clutter. "[He] pulled up the covers, tucked her in till just her head showed…" the use of ‘tucked her in’ expresses a calm and cozy tone which contrasts with the situation. This implies that even though Perry will murder her in cold blood, he still is considerate enough to make her feel at home. "Perry was not a gifted liar, or a prolific one" the diction of prolific puts the emphasis on that he doesn't lie very …show more content…

The simile, ’spooky as hell’, has a mysterious and frightening tone. No one truly knows what hell is like but its negative connotations provide a vivid image of how frightening Perry can be. In the novel In Cold Blood it's described that Perry had a strong relationship with his father, but as Perry got older it worsened. The simile, "I loved my father but there were times when this love and affection I had for him drained from my heart like wasted water", "like wasted water" can represent that Perry did love his father but once Perry grew older he realized that he didn't love him anymore, and that his affection towards his father was wasted as it led to no positive outcome. This shows that Perry had some issues with his father, which could have affected his personality later on, as one needs to feel the love of a parent. Water is a scarce resource; by using "wasted water" this may imply that Perry's love lasts only for a certain amount of time. Another simile used in the novel was ‘white as a ghost’, which provides a chilling tone. Additionally it reveals Perry's delicate side, because ‘white’ has innocent and pure connotations while ghost has frightening connotations. The use of the simile plays a big role in this as it emphasizes the great amount of fear Perry endured while committing the

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This quote shows that Dick is longing to forget about the murders and move on with his life. Capote uses words like " Why the hell couldn't Perry shut up" and "He was Annoyed.. Annoyed as hell" to show Dick his antagonistic attitude towards Perry's level of concern. Though he secretly feels guilty about what happened, he wishes that Perry would stop bringing it up since that makes it harder for him to forget about the horrific event. With this quote Capote's is trying to reveal that Dick thought of Perry as paranoid and over dramatic.

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In Cold Blood Rhetorical Analysis Typically upon hearing about a murder, especially a brutal and unwarranted one, we find ourselves feeling a great sense of disgust for the murderer or murderers who committed these crimes; however, in Truman Capote’s novel In Cold Blood, the lives and experiences of the murderers, particularly Perry Smith, are displayed in a way the makes you feel pity for him as well as the victims. When comparing Capote’s Novel to a typical news article on a similar topic it is easy to see the that Capote's style varies from typical journalism. An article written by Frances Robles and Nikita Stewart titled “Dylan Roof’s Past Reveals Trouble at Home and School,” discusses the childhood and background of Dylann Roof, a twenty-one

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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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Truman Capote’s novel, In Cold Blood epitomizes the shifting sentiments related to the murder of the Clutter family which range from terror, to sorrow, to pride, and all mixed emotions in between. Yet through Capote’s particular descriptions about each character, the connection between their feelings and their actions become further clarified. In effect, the readers experience feelings of sympathy for the victims, their friends and family, the investigators, and even the brutal murders of the innocent family. In order to craft this association, Capote employs a pathos appeal to amplify the audience’s ability to sympathize with each and every character.

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A comparison such as the metaphor between the black cotton absorbs the sun’s light and retains it further illustrates the theme of mystery, curiosity, and racism. “The rod of his soul at birth was that dark and fluid” imagery in this line paints the picture of being born in a damp, cold,wet, and treacherous place to be brought into this world. Opportunities are not given to those whom are born with dark skin is basically what this line is trying to summarize. On the other hand, parallelism is another form of literary devices the author uses to juxtapose the palpable emotions of the rush of adrenaline of riding a subway. Consequently, the recurring motif of light and dark is depicted with

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Page 4-5 Destiny & Fate, Effects on dreams Destiny and fate correlates with the theme that dreams will fail and die. Characters do not decide their destiny. However, they do decide their dreams. A character's fate and destiny affects their dreams. Whether their dreams come true or not, has many contributing factors.

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Everybody has desires that constantly weigh over their heads, pushing them to be diligent in all their endeavors, but what would you do if you knew that one day you would no longer have the opportunity to fulfill these desires? Everybody lives their lives so focused on the end goal that they are oblivious to the world around them, and the sad part is that in some cases the end goal is unattainable or never reached because the person dies. In In Cold Blood, Truman Capote utilizes symbolism and descriptive diction to tell his readers Perry’s wants and wishes. Throughout this subchapter the reader is able to learn more about how Perry feels in the moments after the Clutter family murder. The reader learns that Perry wishes he was loved by others

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"Realize every dark cloud is a smoke screen meant to blind us from the truth, and the truth is whether we see them or not - the sun and moon are still there, and always there is light," is a metaphor comparing the sky’s clearing of dark clouds to reveal the sun and moon to having a bad day but "scraping the grey sky clean. " Personification is evident in "love" and "hate," describing them as beasts able to grow in the phrase "Love and hate are beasts, and the one that grows is the one you feed. " The statement is saying that if you give into either love or hate, you'll be stuck with that emotion as it lingers over you like a "beast," and that it's up to you to determine which you wish to accept. The imagery in some statements throughout the poem also offers a very fresh perspective on life; for example, in the line "Be the weed growing through the cracks in the cement, beautiful--because it doesn’t know it’s not supposed to grow here," I visualize a weed pushing its way up through the cement and never relenting; the meaning behind this is to be persistent and determined to overcome challenges in

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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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1483 Words | 6 Pages

Growing up a Sociopath; Born a Psychopath In Cold Blood by Truman Capote is a true story of a quadruple homicide in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas that greatly impacted the community in 1959. Capote begins his novel by introducing a prominent, well respected family in the community, the Clutters. The Clutters lived average everyday lives until they were abruptly ended at the mercy of a 12 gauge shotgun. The killers were two men unknown to the Clutters, who had two completely different backgrounds and personalities. By choosing to include details about each of the killers, Capote delineates the differences between psychopaths and sociopaths and suggests that the combination of the two personality disorders creates the environment for horrific

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539 Words | 3 Pages

The reason this example of imagery stood out to me was because of how much Perry had changed from being a kid until and adult. When Perry was a kid he loved Barbara and cared for her, whereas once Perry was an adult he physically harmed Barbara and scared her. Corresponding with Perry's actions of harming his sister, the time between them being children and being adults, Perry suffered mental and physical abuse from his father once forced to

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908 Words | 4 Pages

Truman Capote uses variety of language devices to vividly develop Perry Smith in his novel In Cold Blood. These language devices include, diction, similes and symbolism. Throughout the novel diction is used to develop Perry Smith’s character, and suggest reasons for the murder. When Smith explains what happened that night at the Clutter’s family home, he tells agent Alvin Dewey about his moment with Nancy Clutter.

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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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He implies this sense of darkness as a way of “fun” as he describes acres of land and houses being reduced down to “..only dirt..wet or dry..” (line 24). The meaning is misunderstood as the “...blady carouses” contradict the importance of the land with the final line, “...you can hang or drown at last..” (line 28). The reader comes to the realization after the last line of the stanza is that the writer was trying to warn him of the things that may possibly burden him later.

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1000 Words | 4 Pages

The poet compared the graves like a shipwreck that is the death will take the human go down and drowning to the underground like the dead bodies in the graves. The last line “as though we lived falling out of the skin into the soul.” is like the rotting of the dead bodies. The second stanza there is one Simile in this

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