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In Cold Blood Analysis

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Submitted By cheycmcd
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Cheyenne McDermott
Mrs. Albuquerque
AP Language and Composition
11 September 2014

In Cold Blood

“The village of Holcomb stands on the high wheat plains of Western Kansas, a lonesome area that other Kansans call ‘out there.’ Not that there's much to see—simply an aimless congregation of buildings divided in the center by the main-line tracks of the Santa Fe railroad” (Capote 1). This lonesome, boring landscape was home to a town of people used to the normalcy and monotony that came with their everyday small-town life; until one day, when it all changed. It is November 1959 when the Clutter family is brutally murdered by two previously convicted cons, Perry Edward Smith and Richard Eugene Hickock. Not much was known about the mass homicide outside of the small Kansas village until, after 6 years of hard research, Truman Capote published his tell-all book. In this true story, Capote provided information that depicted the sad and pathetic lives lived by Smith and Hickock up until the murder and gave in depth details about the crime that could be known only by those who committed it (via multiple interviews). Initially, Capote opens the novel describing the small town and goes into detail about the Clutter family’s last living day. By doing this and revealing information about the family that was killed, Capote is taking measures to ensure his readers are sympathizing with the grieving townsfolk and those who knew the Clutters. By showing the readers that two men brutally killed a hardworking husband, an emotionally fragile wife, and “…a trio of daughters and a son”, it seems as if Capote is trying to dehumanize Smith and Hickock before it is even revealed what they had done. However, through the course of the novel, the table seems to turn and as the readers progress, they find themselves relating, almost sympathizing with two convicted killers. Capote seems

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