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In Cold Blood Rhetorical Analysis Essay

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In the book, In Cold Blood, the author, Truman Capote, utilizes rhetorical strategies such as ethos, pathos, and literary elements to create a suspenseful story, which ultimately contributes to his central argument that criminals are not always inherently evil. Capote persuades his audience by empathizing for both of the Clutter family murderers, Perry Smith and Dick Hickock, in part three of the book, “Answer”. In this case, Capote describes both Clutter murderers in a sympathetic and impartial way, and portray them as sensitive, thoughtful, creative, and highly intelligent people. This in turn, gives the reader a feeling of empathy for Perry and Dick. First, in order to establish his credibility and trustworthiness (ethos) throughout the entire narrative of the Clutter murder case and the Clutter murderers, Truman Capote uses interviews and letters from a …show more content…
After murdering the Clutter family, Perry and Dick are on the run for some time. This leaves both the Clutter murderers worn out both physically and mentally. Capote uses a metaphor to show that both murderers are “…running a race without a finish line” (Capote, 202). Even though Perry and Dick did murder the Clutter family in cold blood, we can’t help but feel sorry for them, because the murders have made both of the murderers’ life unbearable.
Overall, part three of the book, “Answers,” serves as a fascinating story which humanizes two murderers. We find that by using ethos, pathos, and literary devices, Capote is able to transform the Clutter murderers as being sinister and cold-blooded to relatable humans, which connects to the audience and gains their trust. As a result, the story evokes the feeling of sympathy for Perry and Dick, and we are able to gain a full understanding of the story through Capote’s unbiased and balanced

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