The novel takes place in Holcomb, Kansas, a small farming town with a tight knit community. The Clutters are a prominent and cherished family known throughout the town. Herb is a successful farmer, married for 25 years to Bonnie Fox and is the father of four children. At home, two of his children remain; 16 year old Nancy and 15 year old Kenyon. Discovered by two young girls the next morning, the community is struck by the horrific murders of the Clutters on the night of November 15th, 1959, an event too gruesome for anyone to believe. Meanwhile, nearly 400 miles away in Olathe, Kansas, the two killers; ex-convicts; Dick (28) and Perry (31), proceed with a normal evening as if nothing had occurred the night before.…
Truman Capote, renowned author of numerous classic novels, more notably, books such as Summer Crossing, The Grass Harp, The Complete Stories of Truman Capote, and In Cold Blood. However, one book from this selection stands out from the rest, it just so happens to be one of Truman Capote’s best selling books as well, In Cold Blood. What makes In Cold Blood significant from the rest is that, unlike the others, this book is able to transport the reader to a dimension of pure concentrated realism, wonderment, and imagination. This is not to say that the rest of the books within the selection are unable to achieve a similar goal, but rather to stress the point that the rhetorical devices used within In Cold Blood aid in the creation of the aforementioned…
Truman Capote wrote the book, In Cold Blood, in order to inform the world about the true story of the Clutter family. However, no one expected the book to be extraordinarily written. Capote used a technique for his book that no other writer had thought of doing before. In the time the book was written, everyone was sure of Capote’s soon to be literary fame and success from this book. In Cold Blood is a unique, one of a kind, and first of a kind to be written how it is. Even though Truman Capote’s book, In Cold Blood, was later transformed into a movie, the book simply and completely tells the story of these savagely, murderous killings without a doubt better than…
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote is the first true crime novel to ever be written. A true crime novel is a non-fiction work that explores the events and details of an actual crime that has taken place. In Cold Blood looks into the murder of a family of four in the rural town of Holcomb, Kansas in 1959. The murders were not supposed to happen, but when the original plan to find the nonexistent safe failed, one of the murderers seemed to have a psychological breakdown which led to the family's demise. This person was Perry Smith, the guy who actually killed the entire family. However, Perry’s past is so terrible that his actions may be justifiable although murder is not acceptable. His childhood was very traumatic, including: abuse, lack…
Capote serves as the narrator for In Cold Blood. With his narrations, he gives us a view of the emotions of both Dick and Perry. When it was time for the execution Perry was “sober” (340), while Dick seemed to pass it off as if it was nothing important. Knowing that the book is non-fiction makes the author credible, but also the effort to keep other family members and people closely related to the story out gives him credibility. Another thing is that he pays a lot of attention to detail. The many chapters spent discussing the death penalty and the process after the trail proves that Capote knows what he is talking about. The story tends to skip some, which adds more credibility because it shows the author only wrote about the things he had solid evidence about. For example, Perry and Dick are hitchhiking to Omaha, and then it skips to them being in Las Vegas (174).…
In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote tells the story of when the poor Clutter family was slaughtered in Holcomb, Kansas in 1959. In Cold Blood took six years for Capote to investigate and write, and it put an incredible amount of pressure on Truman, so much so that he never published another book again. Even though in cold Blood doesn’t have a great ending, the book was worth reading because of the intriguing plot, dark tone, and the interesting characters.…
According to her he did a great job factually reporting the amount needed in journalism while still remaining creative while telling the story (Melany 1). She said her mind was blown after finding out the book took six years for him to research and write (Melany 1). He created a well researched story while managing to be entertaining (Melany 1). According to another journalist named Garson his novel gives the readers facts “in a straightforward newspaper fashion, but remains giving an artistic view to details” (Melany 2). Newspaper journalist Connery describes his non fiction style as “a report that reads like fiction”. (Melany 2). In Capote’s work he uses four common narrative techniques that makes his novel a nonfiction story. He uses detailed scene construction, complete dialogue from interviews instead of subjective quotes, his point of view variation, and his execution of details about the characters in the text (Melany 2). It was impossible for Capote to include all of the facts from all of his research. The way Capote chooses the facts he wants to include and the ones he decides to leave out can be thought of as crafting the truth (Melany…
As people grow older they base their success on becoming rich or famous; their main motive in life is to live the American Dream. The environment that people grow up in, may determine for one how they achieve this dream. Most individuals who grow up in a well mannered home develop become very success and other may acheive what they want through a life of crime. In Truman Capote’s novel, In Cold Blood, the role of Richard “Dick” Hickock as an iconic character provides In Cold Blood with a more dramatic and artificial story line, that supports the overall theme of living the “American Dream.”…
What's written in a novel and what happened in real life can have lasting effects on the overall story. They shape the way a reader thinks about an event or person; In Cold Blood is a excellent example of this. In the book, there were many differences found, some by family members or loved ones, others were found when comparing the book to legal documents. In the journal written by, Van Jensen, titled, "Writing History: Capote’s Novel Has Lasting Effect on Journalism" Jensen gives the example that, "Critics found discrepancies between "In Cold Blood" and official documents, such as the transcript of the murder trial." Jensen is saying that when reading the book critics had found differences between what had actually happened in real life and…
Richard Eugene Hickock and Perry Smith were found guilty of murder in the first degree and their punishment is death. "Can there be a single doubt in your minds regarding the guilt in your defendants? No! Regardless of who pulled the trigger on Richard Eugene Hickock's shotgun, both men are equally guilty... penalty-death." (303)…
The non-fiction novel 'In Cold Blood' reconstructs the murder of a Kansas family in 1959,murderers Perry Smith and Richard Hitchcock soon become the center of Capote's novel,which pioneered the new journalism movement.The Gothic novel 'Frankenstein' is the disturbing story of an unnatural creation which was highly controversial when published,in 1818.The creature represents the consequences of meddling with God's creations.Because of the scientific advancements at the time,Frankenstein would have been viewed as a frightening tale.…
Fiction and non-fiction works have differences and similarities as different kinds of literature. They can best be compared and contrasted in many ways. We can discuss them for their meaning, differences, similarities and examples…
Blurring the boundaries between Fiction and Non-Fiction has always been a great way for authors to make their points, yield their arguments, and to keep interest. Some may even be inclined to believe that there is not a definite boundary between the areas of fiction and non-fiction. Fiction is often used throughout non-fiction writings as more of a point of view than a character in itself. This voice is not exactly a character in the text, but it still exercises an attitude toward the material to help control the writing.…
Doing a polemical study of contemporary literary theory, Eagleton introduces us in this world explaining what is actually fiction.…
Non-fiction is one of the two main divisions in writing, the other form being fiction. Non-fiction is a story based on real facts and information . Non-fiction is a narrative, account, or other communicative work whose assertions and descriptions are believed by the author to be factual. These assertions and descriptions may or may not be accurate, and can give either a true or a false account of the subject in question, however, it is generally assumed that authors of such accounts believe them to be truthful at the time of their composition or, at least, pose them to their audience as historically or empirically true. Reporting the beliefs of others in a non-fiction format is not necessarily an endorsement of the ultimate veracity of those beliefs, it is simply saying it is true that people believe them (for such topics as mythology, religion). Non-fiction can also be written about fiction, giving information about these other works. Non-fiction need not necessarily be written text, since pictures and film can also purport to present a factual account of a subject. Essays, journals, memoir, diaries, documentaries, scientific papers, photographs, biographies, textbooks, travel books, blueprints, technical documentation, user manuals, diagrams and some journalism are all common examples of non-fiction works, and including information that the author knows to be untrue within any of these works is usually regarded as dishonest. Other works can legitimately be either fiction or non-fiction, such as journals of self-expression, letters, magazine articles, and other expressions of imagination. Though they are mostly either one or the other, it is possible for there to be a blend of both. Some fiction may include non-fictional elements. Some non-fiction may include elements of unverified supposition, deduction, or imagination for the purpose of smoothing out a narrative, but the inclusion of open falsehoods would discredit it as a work of non-fiction. The publishing and…