Authorial Silence In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

Truman Capote, author of In Cold Blood, claims that he has used official records, valid interviews with the people associated with the case, and his own research as material for the novel. The Kansas murder case was given plenty of attention by the media so therefore, most people already knew the story as well as the outcome. Despite that, Capote managed to create an exciting novel that launched him to literary stardom and remains as his best-known piece. When you look for this book in the library, you will find it in the nonfiction section, because the book details real events and real people. During an interview, Capote explained that In Cold Blood is a “nonfiction novel,” and he admits that he made stylistic choices to engage readers and

This strategy is called authorial silence and it harms the credibility of the novel. "The door to the men’s room was still bolted. He banged on it: ‘For Christsake, Perry!’ ‘In a minute.’ ‘What’s the matter? You sick?’ Perry gripped the edge of the washbasin and hauled himself to a standing position. His legs trembled; the pain in his knees made him perspire. He wiped his face with a paper towel. He unlocked the door and said, "OK. Let’s go." (Capote 55). We are unaware why Perry has locked himself in the men’s room. It raises questions and when have the answers we start making our own assumptions. It could be because Perry is under a lot of stress and nervous about the crime Dick and him are about to commit. It could also be because he has a terrible pain in his knees from his motorcycle accident a few years earlier. Maybe Capote wants the reader to assume that it is because Perry has second thoughts about the crime they have planed to commit. Perry is portrayed favorably in the novel therefore this quote and Capote’s lack of explanation to it contributes to the favorable portrayal of Perry. Capote seems to want the reader to assume that Perry is not as bad as Dick and that Perry was talked into killing the Clutter family. The authorial silence makes the reader part of the action and also makes the reader work harder to understand what happens. The answers are not provided by the author but must

Capote chose the material that fits into his interpretation and the side he wanted to show and his selection of material harms the factual content. What he writes is not always the actual truth of what happened, but a mix of real events with his own interpretation that has been shaped into a new ‘truth’. An example of where Capote tries to control the reader’s feelings is when the jury reads their verdict. However, right before they do that, two journalists are discussing the brutality of the death penalty (Capote 298-299). Additionally, in the scene following the verdict Mrs Meier hears Perry crying alone in his cell. “Crying like a child. He’d never broke down before, shown any sign of it. Well, I went to him. The door of his cell. He reached out his hand. He wanted me to hold his hand, and I did, I held his hand, and all he said was, ‘I’m embraced by shame’” (Capote 300). Capote clearly wants the reader to be emotionally affected by the verdict and to think of the brutality in it. He uses documented facts from the trial together with emotional scenes and statements in order to affect the reader emotionally. Capote strictly avoids commenting on anything in the book and only tells and shows the reader what happens. This can therefore be seen as a mistake as it affects the content’s reliability. In Cold Blood belongs to the genre of fiction because the depiction of reality lessens the credibility of the book to a