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Sympathy In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

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Murders occur on a day-to-day basis all over the globe. Though many are covered in the news, many are left in the dust and never gain any relevance. The murder of the Clutter family, an exemplar of a case left under the dust, occurred in Holcomb, Kansas in the late 1950s. Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood follows the Clutter murder, yet primarily focuses on the stories of the killers, Dick Hickcock and Perry Smith. Capote shows bias towards Perry by using certain writing techniques in order to stir sympathy towards Perry. Capote also uncovers the truth behind Perry and Dick’s friendship. Truman Capote sheds light onto Perry’s childhood in order to not only express his sympathy for Perry but also to get readers to develop sympathy towards Perry as well by using certain techniques. Perry’s mother …show more content…

Initially, Dick never considers Perry as someone special or worth his time. His mind changes when Perry tells him the time he murders a coloured man in Las Vegas with a bicycle chain. According to the text, “He had liked him but not considered him especially worth cultivating until, one day, Perry described a murder, telling how, simply for “the hell of it”, he had killed a colored man in Las Vegas- beaten him to death with a bicycle chain” (Capote 54).Identically, Dick believes that Perry is a natural at killing, a rarity, in Dick’s eyes. The text states, “Dick became convinced that Perry was a rarity, “a natural born killer,”- absolutely sane but conscienceless, and capable of dealing with or without motive… he proceeded to woo Perry…” (Capote 205). Together with the previous quote, Dick wants to take advantage of Perry. In Dick’s perspective, their friendship is just a lie in order to deem control over Perry. To sum up, Capote portrays Dick as the prime mastermind behind the murder and Perry as the sidekick who gives in to gain

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The author characterizes the two characters by using flashbacks although he sympathize Perry more than Dick, which can be seen through the long descriptions of Perry’s past compared to the few sentences given to Dick’s. There are several areas in the

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While Perry is mortified that he and Dick could commit such a gruesome crime, Dick couldn’t care less. All Dick is worried about is how odd Perry is. Because of how quick Perry’s mood could change, Dick thought he was “spooky as hell.” Now, Perry wasn’t your average run of the mill man. He still wets the bed, cries in his sleep, and “could slide into a fury ‘quicker than ten drunk Indians’”.

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Dick did not deserve sympathy from anyone; Capote did not remotely try to draw attention to Dick’s redeeming qualities, if any could be found. Dick premeditated the murder for years, he played the scenario out in his head over and over and knew that he wanted no one left alive. Dick had nothing but 10,000 dollars on his mind that night, and was willing to let Perry to anything to find it. Regardless of the portrayal of either character in this book, they both were responsible for the death of four innocent people in their own

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He published it in 1966; it tells of the gruesome 1959 murders of four members of the Herbert Clutter family from Holcomb, KS. The Clutter Family were considered wealthy and prominent in their community. They were found bound, gagged and shot in the head in their home on a Sunday morning. A convicted inmate named Floyd Wells came forward and tells the Kansas Bureau of Investigation that he knew it was Perry Smith and Richard Hickock that planned the robbery and the murders. He also had been Hickocks cellmate as well, as

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Dick is characterized by Capote as extremely literal minded while Perry on the other hand has a more open, creative mind and outlook. Perry also appears to be more impulsive whereas Dick thinks things through logically before taking action. Dick, although he seems to take charge, also appears less intelligent, where Perry occasionally corrects his grammar and attempts to improve his vocabulary, despite Dick’s impressive IQ of 130. Both Dick and Perry however have parallel aspects of their backgrounds. They were both in auto vehicle accidents, sustained deformations from said accidents, and were both in jail together.

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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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Although Dick is the almost forgotten character beside Perry, he is veiwed more in context towards the end of the book; therefore even murderes who are sentenced to dealth are still people worth mourning. Capote uses discription to prove of the differences of the cells that Dick and Perry were placed in. First he includes how perry’s cell is like, “... Perry lured one off a branch onto the window silll… it was a male squirrle...soon settled down, appparently content to share his friend’s captivity”(Capote 254). Perry is still the main focus, he makes friends witha squirrel.

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In the novel In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote, many relationships are tested and different perspectives of trust, and determination are seen when a tragedy hits the small town of Holcomb, Kansas. In 1959, Herbert, Bonnie, Nancy, and Kenyon Clutter were all murdered, leaving no trace of the potential killer. Their deaths were gruesome, and unpleasant, leaving the whole community of Holcomb terrified. Within the piece of literature, the main controversial issue present is the topic of violence. Although In Cold Blood displays scenes with very gruesome violence, it should be included in high school Advanced Placement curriculum because it explains the reality of the situation, and displays the different perspectives of trust when the murder of

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Capote’s novel falsely characterizes two people, Perry Smith and Bonnie Clutter, turning them into fictional characters instead of real people. Capote characterized Smith as a follower and a

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(page 244) Dick was successful in getting someone else to carry out the dirty job he didn’t want to accomplish. He was just contemplating how much cash he planned to steal from The Clutters. This just illustrates his indifference to other people's sentiments, since he never once considered how Perry might feel following such an act. When it was brought up, he pretended it wasn't all that horrible.

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How crazy would it be to interview criminals who murdered 4 people in cold blood? Well that’s exactly what Truman Capote did in this chilling book. In the novel In Cold Blood, Truman Capote used different rhetorical strategies to create sympathy and influence the idea that there are always two sides to every story. Some of the mainly used rhetorical strategies throughout the novel were imagery, diction, tone, and pathos. Furthermore, Capote also illustrated sympathetical emotion towards both types of characters, the protagonists and antagonists.

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Although Perry is responsible for the murder of four innocent people, Perry’s actions do not reflect on who he is as a person because he is easily influenced, therefore; showing how easily people can be pressured into doing something they would not typically do. Dick, a violent, cold-hearted, manipulator, has molded Perry into the person he is today. As Perry is a follower, Dick has taken advantage of that by turning Perry into the cold-blooded killer he is today. Capote displays Dick’s manipulation of Perry through symbolism to make evident that while Perry did pull the trigger on four innocent people, although the fault does not entirely lay on him, as he was taken advantage of by Dick.

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In the book, “In Cold Blood,” Truman Capote takes us through the lives of the murderers and the murdered in the 1959 Clutter family homicide, which transpires in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas. The first chapter, “The Last to See Them Alive,” vividly illustrates the daily activities of the Clutter family—Herbert, Bonnie, Nancy, and Kenyon—and the scheming plot of Dick Hickock and Perry Smith up to point where the family is found tied up, and brutally murdered. In doing so, he depicts the picture-perfect town of Holcomb with “blue skies and desert clear air”(3) whose safety is threatened when “four shotgun blasts that, all told, ended six human lives”(5). Through the eyes of a picture perfect family and criminals with social aspirations, Capote describes the American Dream and introduces his audience to the idea that this ideal was no more than an illusion. Herbert Clutter: the character Capote describes as the epitome of the American Dream.

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Through his vivid descriptions and figurative language, Capote aims to provide some depth to the personalities of both Dick Hickock and Perry Smith to introduce his mood about the two. In the book, Dick is described as being a controlling, cruel man whose personality serves as the antithesis of Perry 's. This is evident when Capote

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