Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood"

A detailed Summary of Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood"

Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" was an easy to read; yet well written work. While I realize it is based on actual events, I agree with the term non-fiction literature because of, what I believe are obvious biases that Capote brings to the work. Unlike a historical work, "In Cold Blood" is filled with emotion and very descriptive detail instead of just the facts. In the opening paragraph of the book we read about Kansas, but from behind the eyes of Capote. He writes, "...hard blue skies and desert-clean air, has an atmosphere that is rather more Far West than Middle West". This is clearly Capote's take on the scenery and a novelistic use of description for the setting of the book. Along with the descriptive detail from the author's point of view are the author's feelings about the "characters". I felt as though Capote had clearly written about the Clutters as if they were the all-American perfect family. It appeared as though they were put up on a pedestal possibly for the simple reason of making the murders seem all that more horrific. Capote may have wanted to leave the reader asking, "Why would anyone ev

One obvious reason this is characterized as literature rather than just history would be the dialogue that Capote includes. On page 46 and 47, Capote shows the reader a friendly exchange of dialogue between the insurance salesman and Mr. Clutter. This is an example of embellishment by the author for the sake of readability because it would be nearly impossible for a salesman to precisely recite a conversation that he had with a client. Through his extensive research Capote knew of the meeting between Clutter and Johnson and probably had a general idea of their conversation, but to make it read more like a novel and be more personal to the reader he added detailed dialogue.

er want to hurt these people"? With less than a quarter of the book devoted to getting to know the Clutter family it seemed as though Capote needed to suck the reader in quickly, and not leave any questions as to why the family may have "brought on" what happened to them. Along those same lines, Capote clearly had an added sense of compassion and sympathy for Nancy, which he showed through his excessive amounts of attention in regards to h

Some common words found in the essay are:
West Capote's, Cold Blood, Dick Capote, Perry Dick, Clutter Johnson, cold blood, literature history, descriptive detail, perry dick,

Approximate Word count = 758
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

join now Save Paper

Saved Paper

Save your papers so you can locate them quickly!

Newest Essays

Testimonials

"Thank You So Much!!! You have saved me once again!!!"
Jack M.
"With so many papers to chose from, I was able to get ideas to help me with all of my classes. Thank You!"
Brian P.
"I've used this site for the last 3 years to help me come up with ideas for my papers."
Sara J.
"I use this site every week to help me write my own papers!"
Rachel W.
"I love this site!!!"
Marie N.

Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood"

Related Essays

Professional Essays

Saved Paper

Newest Essays

Testimonials