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In Cold Blood And The Tell Tale Heart Comparison

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What happens inside the mind of murderers has been a perplexing thought within the minds of many humans throughout history. From watching Law and Order or tuning into the famous OJ Simpson Trial, we as people are captivated by why some would commit this atrocious act against their fellow man. Just like in Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood and Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Tell Tale Heart,” where both try to peer into the minds of murderers using symbolism and themes of madness; yet, the narrator's perspective and overall tone differ. Throughout both stories the authors explore themes of madness, be it focused on a main character or the narrator themself. In his book, In Cold Blood, Truman Capote explores sanity through Perry Smith, the man who famously murdered the Clutter family in their home in Holcomb, Kansas; all because him and his accomplice wanted access to the Clutter family’s safe. Perry was a happy child until his father started brutally beating his mother, who then took to drinking and promiscuity. Eventually she dragged her kids to San Francisco, where Perry was getting into trouble constantly. He blamed it on having "no rule or discipline, or anyone to show me right from wrong." (Capote 275) This lead to Perry’s …show more content…
With Truman Capote being the Narrator within In Cold Blood. Capote mostly does a retelling of the events from the Clutter family murder. In which he retells everything he learned investigating the case as it was developing in Kansas. Capote truly stands out as an extremely credible narrator to tell these horrendous, yet interesting events; while on the other hand, the Narrator in Poe’s story is one with zero credibility due to his out of touch mannerisms and crazed ramblings as he retells the events leading up to him murdering someone. Both bring two vastly different takes on how to tell the story of a murders (with one narrator being a

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