In Cold Blood Characterization
In the book In Cold Blood written by Truman Capote, was solely based on a multiple murder case that took place place in Holcomb, Kansas in 1959. The pages of In Cold Blood are filled with events surrounding the remorseless murder of a wealthy “American family”. Truman Capote gets every side of the Clutter family murder. In Cold Blood was also the first of it’s kind, creating a new Genre. Capote has immense attention to detail which causes the reader to gain interest in the Clutter murder and murderers. His characterization is the key element in the book. The characters are divided into three groups: the Clutter Family, the killers, and the characters who were attached to the murder and victims. He begins by describing the woebegone town of
Holcomb, Kansas. In the beginning of the book, the Clutters are introduced to us. Capote goes to great lengths to show readers that Holcomb citizens viewed the family as the ideal American family. Mr. Herbert Clutter was the most successful farmer in the minuscule town. He was the “community’s most widely known citizen”. Capote collects information leading to the climax of the slaughter even after he releases that the Clutters were murdered. He creates two alternating perspectives of the murderers: Dick Hickock and Perry Smith. He gives the readers an outlook of the townspeople, the Clutter’s other family members, detectives, and majority of the story is Hickock and Smith’s viewpoint. Truman Capote declares himself as unbiased and opinionated which makes the story based on the interviews of the town’s individuals. Capote uses minimal facts and descriptive settings while using an elaborate stylistic technique, giving him effective results. Capote uses selective details in characterizing each member of the book. Before In Cold Blood was published in 1965, this topic was unprecedented. His intention was to create a new non-fiction genre. He takes a creative spin by taking newspaper worthy article and generating a book first of it’s kind. Truman Capote absents his opinions and judgements, leaving the truth for a reader to interpret. The new journalism was the spark of the true crime genre. Capote worked hard and tried something different with the history of books. Once the book was published, it was an instant success. Truman Capote was victories when trying to achieve his purpose, which was to not only tell the story of the Clutter family, but also to describe the behind-the-scenes with the murderers and murder. The readers get an accurate depiction of the characters and the murder. Also, with In Cold Blood being a recently developed genre in 1965, it was something new to readers which made Truman Capote effective.
Holcomb, Kansas. In the beginning of the book, the Clutters are introduced to us. Capote goes to great lengths to show readers that Holcomb citizens viewed the family as the ideal American family. Mr. Herbert Clutter was the most successful farmer in the minuscule town. He was the “community’s most widely known citizen”. Capote collects information leading to the climax of the slaughter even after he releases that the Clutters were murdered. He creates two alternating perspectives of the murderers: Dick Hickock and Perry Smith. He gives the readers an outlook of the townspeople, the Clutter’s other family members, detectives, and majority of the story is Hickock and Smith’s viewpoint. Truman Capote declares himself as unbiased and opinionated which makes the story based on the interviews of the town’s individuals. Capote uses minimal facts and descriptive settings while using an elaborate stylistic technique, giving him effective results. Capote uses selective details in characterizing each member of the book. Before In Cold Blood was published in 1965, this topic was unprecedented. His intention was to create a new non-fiction genre. He takes a creative spin by taking newspaper worthy article and generating a book first of it’s kind. Truman Capote absents his opinions and judgements, leaving the truth for a reader to interpret. The new journalism was the spark of the true crime genre. Capote worked hard and tried something different with the history of books. Once the book was published, it was an instant success. Truman Capote was victories when trying to achieve his purpose, which was to not only tell the story of the Clutter family, but also to describe the behind-the-scenes with the murderers and murder. The readers get an accurate depiction of the characters and the murder. Also, with In Cold Blood being a recently developed genre in 1965, it was something new to readers which made Truman Capote effective.