Book Analysis of In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote
A4 AP English 11
29 August 2013
In Cold Blood In the literary world, the concept of using a silent narrator is complex. The novel In Cold Blood was the first nonfiction novel published in an era of journalism. Capote gained many fans and critics. Truman Capote, in his nonfiction novel In Cold Blood effectively uses a silent narrator to influence the reader’s opinions of characters based off of actions and words, but as the novel continues Capote begins to reveal his true opinions and thoughts to the reader. As the novel begins, Capote strictly conveys to the reader every detail about the Clutter family and allows the reader a full understanding of why the city of Holcomb is in great fear and shock from the family’s murder. The family is so well described by Capote that he makes the reader feel as if he/she are part of the family and present with them. The reader does not know how Capote has any relation to the murder cases or the Clutter family; he/she only knows that the family is to be murdered by Dick Hickock and Perry Smith. By not informing the reader of his personal opinions and thoughts and focusing only on the life of the Clutters, Capote allows the reader to believe he/she are forming opinions and basing conclusions of the Clutter family and their murder cases alone. In the second section of the novel, Persons Unknown, Capote writes about Perry’s life and his background. The reader learns that Perry has had a hard life. His mother became an alcoholic who died by choking on her own vomit as she slept, his brother Jimmy led his wife to commit suicide then followed the day after, and his sister Fern threw herself out of a fifteen story window. The reader also learns that Perry was constantly in and out of orphanages where he was poorly mistreated for always wetting the bed due to weakened kidneys. The nuns in the orphanages abused him continuously in a variety of cruel ways. By focusing on Perry’s background that led him to where he is now, Capote
29 August 2013
In Cold Blood In the literary world, the concept of using a silent narrator is complex. The novel In Cold Blood was the first nonfiction novel published in an era of journalism. Capote gained many fans and critics. Truman Capote, in his nonfiction novel In Cold Blood effectively uses a silent narrator to influence the reader’s opinions of characters based off of actions and words, but as the novel continues Capote begins to reveal his true opinions and thoughts to the reader. As the novel begins, Capote strictly conveys to the reader every detail about the Clutter family and allows the reader a full understanding of why the city of Holcomb is in great fear and shock from the family’s murder. The family is so well described by Capote that he makes the reader feel as if he/she are part of the family and present with them. The reader does not know how Capote has any relation to the murder cases or the Clutter family; he/she only knows that the family is to be murdered by Dick Hickock and Perry Smith. By not informing the reader of his personal opinions and thoughts and focusing only on the life of the Clutters, Capote allows the reader to believe he/she are forming opinions and basing conclusions of the Clutter family and their murder cases alone. In the second section of the novel, Persons Unknown, Capote writes about Perry’s life and his background. The reader learns that Perry has had a hard life. His mother became an alcoholic who died by choking on her own vomit as she slept, his brother Jimmy led his wife to commit suicide then followed the day after, and his sister Fern threw herself out of a fifteen story window. The reader also learns that Perry was constantly in and out of orphanages where he was poorly mistreated for always wetting the bed due to weakened kidneys. The nuns in the orphanages abused him continuously in a variety of cruel ways. By focusing on Perry’s background that led him to where he is now, Capote