Rhetorical Analysis: In Cold Blood

In Cold Blood On November 15, 1959, the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, was severely shook up because of the gruesome murders that took place which ended with a shotgun blast to the face of four members of the Clutter family. Seven years later Truman Capote publishes his book In Cold Blood based on this case. In his book he goes into details of the murders, and describes the life of the family leading up to their deaths, and the investigation of the murderers that were eventually captured and executed. Capote constructed a brilliant book which captures the audience’s attention with suspense and emotion. Capote uses several different techniques in his writing which made the book so intriguing. He used different points of view shifting from
Capote uses a great amount of logos in the first part of the book, Last to See Them Alive. He sets up the story with factual background information to give an image of Holcomb, Kansas, as being boring and simple to add to the important factor of why the killers would choose to kill the Clutter family, especially in an area like Holcomb. “The local accent is barbed with a prairie twang, a ranch-hand nasalness...The land is flat, and the views are awesomely extensive; horses, herds of cattle, a white cluster of grain elevators rising as gracefully as Greek temples are visible long before a traveler reaches them.” (Capote Page 3) “The inhabitants of the village, numbering two hundred and seventy, were satisfied...quite content to exist inside ordinary life-to work, to hunt, to watch television, to attend school socials, choir practice, meetings of the 4-H Clubs.” (Capote Page 5) Capote also uses ethos throughout. He describes each character thoroughly which gives the reader a clear idea of how the characters were and their moral views. He especially went into in depth details of the killers which justified their actions for murder. Nancy Clutter particularly stuck out in the sense of potential she had of accomplishing positive things in life. “She found the time, and still managed to practically run that big house and be a straight-A student, the president of
Capote makes the story seem very real as if you are reliving the situation. He is so gifted in the ability he has to describe everything in such depth which makes the reader think Capote was there documenting every word he wrote in the book as if he was there in every situation. Capote also changes from first person to third person quite often, but as he does that he does not put in his personal opinions on the characters or situation but let reader form one on their own without being persuaded a certain way. The diction throughout the book is outstanding, especially in the first half when he is describing and introducing each character. “his eyes not only situated at uneven levels but of uneven size, that left eye being truly serpentine, with a venomous, sickly-blue squint that although it was involuntary acquired, seemed nevertheless to warn of bitter sediment of his nature.” (Capote Page 31) He wrote the book in chronological order and divided the book into four sections, The Last to See Them Alive, Persons Unknown, The Corner, and Answers in which he focused mainly on one subject in each section which also provided different tones. The image of the story is very vivid throughout but especially when he describes Perry and Dick entering the Clutter home and killing the family. “Started with Mrs.Clutter, I made Dick help me-because I didn’t want to leave him alone with the girl. I