In Cold Blood by Truman Capote - Essay Example

The way Capote places the murder facts in order, and the way he manipulates the starting and ending of the novel, is what makes this novel unique. Suspense is there, as Capote has made the opening of the novel very interesting by hiding the reasons Perry and Dick were driving to Holcomb, Kansas. Capote shows Floyd Wells, in the Kansas State Penitentiary, listening to the radio news about the Clutter murders. The reader finds it exciting that Floyd was shocked to hear the news because he had been acquainted with the Clutters for many years. The bodies had been discovered by one of Nancy’s friends who went to the Clutters’ house to check why they had not yet got prepared for church. She had found an eerie silence inside the house and had shockingly discovered the four bodies in different parts of the house. Capote has told the reader about the Clutters’ death before depicting the actual scene, which increases the reader’s interest. This is how Capote has colored the opening with a sense of impending doom.

Prompt 2
Throughout the novel, Truman talks about the backgrounds of different characters, especially the victims, and the murderers, Perry Smith and Dick Hickock. Capote has described the life summaries of the criminals, to let the readers know about the bad times they had been through. Although the reader feels a little sympathetic toward them, but that does not justify their morose deed of taking other people’s lives (Capote 77–91). Perry is shown to have had a miserable life, with his siblings, without parental care. Dick was a mental patient. When they were caught, and shown the evidence of the case, the reader feels some sympathy for Perry, who wanted to take responsibility for all four murders when Dick had killed two of them, but Perry wanted so because according to him, he was sorry for Dick’s mother.

According to him, “I didn’t realize what I’d done till I heard the sound. Like somebody drowning. Screaming under the water” (Capote 244). Perry changes his confession to take responsibility for Dick’s murders too. This means, by one way or another, that criminals are also human beings, who feel for each other, especially of their kind. They also possess a feeling of sympathy and sacrifice, though they cannot be supported in any way. Moreover, both Dick and Perry were patients of mental illness. This makes the readers think as to whether the same laws of punishment should have applied to them, or they should have been given some relaxation.

Prompt 3
The protagonist is a character that rules the story, and whose character develops throughout the novel without regard to whether his character was based on good or evil. This definition goes against the human conception of a protagonist being a good person always. However, the realistic realm of life has it that evil persons dominate the good ones, no matter if their ending is doomed. Based on this fact, this novel also highlights the characters of Perry Smith and Dick Hickock, who are the murderers of the Clutter family. We read Capote talking about and highlighting their course of actions throughout the novel, right from the beginning till the end. The reader can easily understand that Perry and Dick are the protagonists of Capote’s novel. The reader reads that Dick and Perry had tried to steal a car but had failed.

Finally, they succeeded in stealing a car and went to Kansas City. They stayed in Miami, but when they were heading towards Las Vegas, they were recognized by a policewoman through their license plate number. Both of them were caught and initially were questioned about some parole violation some days back which they admitted to. Readers assume that they were not being caught for a robbery that they had committed. But, the police told Dick and Perry the real reason for their arrest, and they were caught off guard when told that they were accused of brutal homicide of four innocent people in an attempt of blotch robbery. This shows that Perry and Dick dominate the whole novel, which makes them the protagonists. Read More