Premium Essay

Summary Of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

Submitted By
Words 684
Pages 3
In Cold Blood is a novel written by Truman Capote that is cited as the first nonfiction book. The novel was completely factual and recounted the events of a Kansas serial killing, while being presented like a piece of fictional literature. This book paved the way to creating a new genre and caused an influx of nonfiction work.
The novel details the murder case of the Clutter family set in a closely knit, religious Kansas community. It recounts all the gruesome details of their murders. In Cold Blood explores the killers, Dick and Perry, pasts and their motivations. The book also presses a question that can still not be answered today; is the death penalty humane?
Despite being a nonfiction novel, Capote’s work still contains a multitude of literary devices. One symbol in the novel was Mexico. Dick and Perry escaped to Mexico and had delusions that it would be a cheap place to stay where they could get a lot of women. They soon learned they were incorrect when they quickly became broke and it didn't crack up to the paradise try dreamed it to be. This symbolizes the line between reality and fantasy. Not everything in life turns out how you think and nothing ever comes easy without hard work. Perry himself is also a symbol. He symbolizes the grayness of morality and the fuzzy line between good and evil. Although Perry is a murderer, it’s hard not to feel …show more content…
Learning about his tragic past makes the reader sympathize with him and understand how he came to be the way he is, making it hard to define him as completely evil. The Clutter’s represented everything Perry wanted as a child that he didn't

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Summary Of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

...The murder of the Clutter family in 1959 is one of the most iconic and gruesome homicides in American history. Their story made popular by Truman Capote’s non-fiction masterpiece “In Cold Blood” has become a staple of high school literature. But the story goes far beyond the horrific deaths of the Clutters’ and takes the audience on a wild ride through the American psyche. Along the way we meet most notably the Clutters’ killers, Perry and Dick. While their actions precede them, Capote proves to the audience that there is value and substance with in the men that committed such a horrible atrocity. I believe this reflects Capote’s claim in regard to American violence closely, that you cannot place judgment upon ones actions without first judging...

Words: 950 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Summary Of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

...The novel I’m reading is titled “In Cold Blood” by an American author named Truman Capote. “In Cold Blood” was published in January 1966. The setting of this non fiction novel was taken place in Holcomb, Kansas 1959. The setting of this novel effects the plot by empathizing the openness of the landscape by its surroundings where animals homes are abandoned, and a white cluster of grain elevators rising as gracefully as Greek temples are visible long before a traveler reaches them. This is the kind of landscape where no one could never hide, so open and empty that not a soul sleeping in Holcomb heard them four shotgun blasts that, all told, ended six human lives. The novel “In Cold Blood” is based on a real life event that happened in the Clutter family in Kansas in the year 1959. The family of 6 were shot to death by Dick Hickock and Perry Smith because of a robbery they planned. The men enter the Clutter home hoping to find a safe filled with tons of money, but little did they know that there was no money at all and it was just a rumor going...

Words: 759 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Summary Of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

...Hello, my name is Tyler Minden, and today I will be discussing why Truman Capote wrote the book In cold blood. Capote was originally intrigued by a 300 letter article he read in a newspaper. Capote got most of his research through interviews, first interviewing Dick, Perry, and Dewey. That wasn’t enough, so he found Dick and Perry’s families, as well as Don Cullivan, the remaining Clutter family, and various other characters, or people who knew people who were unreachable. His childhood friend Harper Lee was also there helping with his interviews. He eventually amassed over 8000 pages of research for his book. Capote wrote the book to provide insight into the lives of Perry Smith, and Dick Hickock. We learn about Dick and Perry’s childhood....

Words: 1552 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Summary Of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

...Without a type of struggle in one person’s life, they are not actually living life. There is a strong agreement in Horace's assertion about the role of adversity playing in one’s life. Stephen Hawkings is a theoretical physicist and a cosmologist, he is also one of the most respected, but he did not earn this title overnight. Hawkings struggled for years trying to come up and get people to believe in the discoveries he found and theories created. In Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood,” Capote narrated the story of the investigation on the murder of the Clutter family and how detectives struggle with trying to find the perpetrators, but a report helped with a break in the case and lead to a conviction. In Toni Morrison’s “Sula,”a young girl who grows into a woman has to face the hatred and distrust from the people of her own community....

Words: 485 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Summary Of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

...been studying the book, In Cold Blood written by Truman Capote. Having read and studied this nonfiction book on the case of the Clutters, I became interested in the investigation by the police. I decided to write a transcript of a press conference after the arrest of the murderers. It would be held by Al Dewey, the leader of the investigative team in the case of the Clutter family. He is speaking to the public about the details of the police investigation and the motives of the killers. The press conference also gives a small solace for the people of Holcomb, where the crime took place. They have lived under anxiety and fear for 1 month. In order to make the task reflect a real press conference, the conference...

Words: 1400 - Pages: 6

Free Essay

Truman Capote Research Paper

...festering obsession with money and fame. A perfect example of this would undoubtedly be Truman Capote. Capote was a literary mastermind who achieved the American Dream at a relatively young age , only to have it ripped away from him because of his own recklessness and self destructive decisions. Truman Capote was born Truman Streckfus Persons in 1924 in New Orleans, Louisiana (Boon 2). Truman had a childhood that was far from ideal in all aspects. His mother was Lille Mae Faulkner, a former Miss Alabama who would later commit suicide and his father Arch Persons was a businessman whom Truman was never close to (Boon 4). Capote’s parents divorced when he was young and his mother who saw herself not fit to be a mother, sent a young Truman to be raised by her relatives in Alabama. Truman developed a close friendship with his next door neighbor, Harper Lee. As children, Lee and Capote both knew that hey wanted to be authors and would later serve as inspiration for the other’s writing. Truman’s mother who had relocated to New York City remarried a wealthy Cuban businessman, Joseph Capote (Patterson 10). After she suffered from multiple miscarriages and come to the realization that she could no longer have children, Truman’s mother called for him to be sent to live with her. When he arrived in New York, Truman was legally adopted by his stepfather and began using the surname Capote (Boon 6). Truman attended the Trinity School but completely disregarded his education and earned extremely...

Words: 950 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Bibliography

...Savage Preliminary Thesis: Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood” conveys true crime and the portrayal of the killers. Throughout the novel, Perry and Dick are transformed from heartless, cold-blooded monsters, whose actions seem to be motiveless evil, into the troubled, pitiful, and human individuals they are at the end of the book. The crime itself is reduced to many emotional responses. Preliminary Bibliography Capote, Truman. In Cold Blood: Random House. Alan. U. Schwartz. New York, 1965. Print. ------------------------------------------------- Primary Source Corregido, Jeronimo. "A Study of Genre in In Cold Blood: A Formal Perspective." A Study of Genre in “In Cold Blood”: A Formal Perspective. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2015:Academia.edu. swales, john. M. Massachusetts, 1990. Cambridge University. ------------------------------------------------- This essay conveys the death and crime which the book portrays. This relates to my primary source, “In Cold Blood” which portrays sudden death and crime upon the family. "In Cold Blood :: Character Analysis, Perry Smith. "In Cold Blood :: Character Analysis, Perry Smith. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Jan. 2015. ------------------------------------------------- This essay “Cold Blood” shows the traumatic story from the killers’ perspective. It also conveys how the killers’ background effected how they proceeded in life. Hemingway, Ernest. "Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway Study Guide: “The Killers” Summary and Analysis." Short Stories...

Words: 378 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Bibliography

...Savage Preliminary Thesis: Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood” conveys true crime and the portrayal of the killers. Throughout the novel, Perry and Dick are transformed from heartless, cold-blooded monsters, whose actions seem to be motiveless evil, into the troubled, pitiful, and human individuals they are at the end of the book. The crime itself is reduced to many emotional responses. Preliminary Bibliography Capote, Truman. In Cold Blood: Random House. Alan. U. Schwartz. New York, 1965. Print. ------------------------------------------------- Primary Source Corregido, Jeronimo. "A Study of Genre in In Cold Blood: A Formal Perspective." A Study of Genre in “In Cold Blood”: A Formal Perspective. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2015:Academia.edu. swales, john. M. Massachusetts, 1990. Cambridge University. ------------------------------------------------- This essay conveys the death and crime which the book portrays. This relates to my primary source, “In Cold Blood” which portrays sudden death and crime upon the family. "In Cold Blood :: Character Analysis, Perry Smith. "In Cold Blood :: Character Analysis, Perry Smith. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Jan. 2015. ------------------------------------------------- This essay “Cold Blood” shows the traumatic story from the killers’ perspective. It also conveys how the killers’ background effected how they proceeded in life. Hemingway, Ernest. "Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway Study Guide: “The Killers” Summary and Analysis." Short Stories...

Words: 378 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

In Cold Blood

...In this clip, the cinematographer Conrad Hall discusses a shot from In Cold Blood where the lighting took an particularly expressive function. This shot is a particularly fine example of the expressive power of lighting. This clip is taken from the documentary Visions of Light. Herbert Clutter inspects his ranch on the morning of November 14, 1959. That same morning, on the other side of Kansas, Perry Smith meets up with Dick Hickock. While the Clutters go about their daily business, running errands and baking cherry pies, Hickock and Smith are tuning their car. After a long drive, they pull up to the Clutter home with a shotgun and knife in hand. That morning, the bodies are discovered by Susan Kidwell and another of Nancy's friends. Initially, the police are baffled. Bobby Rupp is a suspect until he passes a lie detector test. Alvin Dewey, the KBI agent in charge of the investigation, thinks that the killer must be someone close to the family. Rumor sets the small town of Holcomb on fire. Hartman's Cafe is the center of numerous theories. Meanwhile, Perry and Dick have returned to Dick's hometown of Olathe. Dick passes some hot checks, and the two flee to Mexico. Perry has always dreamed of finding sunken treasure in Mexico. While the investigation in Kansas begins to methodically follow up dead end leads, Perry and Dick spend some time entertaining a rich German tourist before they run out of money in Mexico City. While packing to return to the states, Perry goes through...

Words: 1317 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

5 Steps to a 5 Ap English Langauge

...Copyright © 2013 by McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. ISBN: 978-0-07-180360-1 MHID: 0-07-180360-2 The material in this eBook also appears in the print version of this title: ISBN: 978-0-07-180359-5, MHID: 0-07180359-9. E-book conversion by Codemantra Version 1.0 All trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners. Rather than put a trademark symbol after every occurrence of a trademarked name, we use names in an editorial fashion only, and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark. Where such designations appear in this book, they have been printed with initial caps. McGraw-Hill Education eBooks are available at special quantity discounts to use as premiums and sales promotions or for use in corporate training programs. To contact a representative please visit the Contact Us page at www.mhprofessional.com. Trademarks: McGraw-Hill Education, the McGraw-Hill Education logo, 5 Steps to a 5 and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of McGraw-Hill Education and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property...

Words: 76988 - Pages: 308

Free Essay

Postmodernism

...The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search "The Innocent Man" redirects here. For a South Korean television series, see The Innocent Man (TV series). The Innocent Man | | Author(s) | John Grisham | Country | United States | Publisher | Doubleday | Publication date | October 10, 2006 | Pages | 368 | ISBN | 978-0-385-51723-2 | OCLC Number | 70251230 | The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town (2006) is a nonfiction book written by John Grisham, and his first outside the legal fiction genre. The book tells the story of Ronald 'Ron' Keith Williamson of Ada, Oklahoma, a former minor league baseball player who was wrongly convicted in 1988 for the rape and murder of Debra Sue Carter in Ada and was sentenced to death. After serving 11 years on death row, he was exonerated by DNA evidence and other material introduced by the Innocence Project and was released in 1999. Contents * 1 Synopsis * 2 Book edition * 3 References * 4 External links | Synopsis Ron Williamson has returned to his hometown of Ada, Oklahoma after multiple failed attempts to play for various minor league baseball teams, including the Fort Lauderdale Yankees and two farm teams owned by the Oakland A's. An elbow injury inhibited his chances to progress. His big dreams were not enough to overcome the odds (less than 10 percent) of making it to a big league game. His failures lead to, or aggravate...

Words: 18140 - Pages: 73