In Cold Blood By Capote Essay, Research Paper

Truman Capote is one of the greatest authors of all time. He was born in 1924

and died in 1984. Sincehis early childhood, he has written many books and he has

won many prizes and awards. Many people say that In Cold Blood was Capote’s best

work. In this book, Capote writes a carefully detailed account of the murder of

the Clutter family. In this detailed account, Capote follows the Clutter

family’s subsequent adventures, which include the murders, the arrest, trial,

and executions of the murderers (Magill 2175). Capote has also been known for

his key sense of detail and imagery. It has been said that the artistic value of

In Cold Blood is as much to be found in it’s illuminating detail (Reed 104).

This book is special in the way that it has been set-up. Capote looks at the

murderers preparation for the murders. Then he goes back to the Clutter family

in their happy household. Capote has a technique of writing that he feels

stemmed from his childhood. In many of his books, In Cold Blood included, Capote

makes usage of a character’s detrimental childhood. He feels that this has

stemmed from his childhood because Capote had a bad childhood also. What makes

In Cold Blood unique is that at no time in this book does Capote render a

judgment about the criminals (Reed 107). In order to write this book, Capote had

to compile years of research, mounds of tapes and endless interviews (Magill

51). Capote wanted to write this book in a way so that the murder was known

almost as gruesome as it was. Truman Capote made significant contributions to

American Literature in the mid twentieth century, especially by portraying the

murder case as being inhumane, unnecessary, and without motivation throughout

the novel In Cold Blood. Truman Capote was an author with a well diversified

background. From his birth, Capote always thirsted for fame (Gale 13). However,

it was not always the kind of fame that he wanted. Capote’s life became public

knowledge (Gale 1). His troubled childhood was even a factor in the media. When

looking back on his childhood, Capote associated his mother with emotional

neglect and his father with leaving the family. Even though he had a rough

childhood, Truman always excelled in school, especially in English classes. From

elementary school he maintained an A average, even through high school. When

Capote was 17 years old, his first story got published in a national magazine

(Gale 2). Capote was excited and proud of this accomplishment. At the age of 18,

Capote took an I.Q. test. His score of 215 was well above genius level (Gale 1).

He then began to write short stories, and he eventually got into writing novels,

which led up to the strenuous training for the writing of In Cold Blood. Before

Capote arrived in Kansas, he had already assessed over 6,000 pages of notes

(Gale 20). After writing In Cold Blood, Capote became dependent on tranquilizers

(Garson 29). While trying to get over his dependency, Capote became very

depressed. His depression was brought upon by the murderers case staying in the

courts for so long (Garson 93). Capote was put in jail prior to the trial’s

verdict because he refused to be a witness. After being released from his short

jail term, Capote’s doctor said the book took a great toll on his physical

condition, and he was extremely worried about his health (Reed 32). Another

devastating event happened shortly there after. The murderer’s, Perry and Dick

were executed. this was such an awful thing for Capote, because Capote once said

that while writing this book, he became best friends with the killers. Capote

had one last great book which was Answered Prayers. Capote then began a short

decline downhill, because of his writer’s block and failing health. Capote then

passed away in 1984 and the cover was closed on a great career. In Cold Blood

was a book written on a true account of the murder’s of the Clutter family of

Holcomb County in Kansas. The book starts out describing the setting and the

family. The descriptions reveal the Clutter family as being a happy go-lucky

family, with everything going for them. Capote then switches his point of view,

and describes the murderer’s and their plan for the attack on the Clutter

household. The Clutter family is going about their normal way of life, while

Perry and Dick, the killers, travel and prepare for the savage attack. Then,

Saturday night, shortly after the Clutter’s turn in, Perry and Dick arrive on

the Clutter’s land. They break through the patio door into Herb Clutter’s office

in hopes of finding a safe that they have heard about. After having no luck,

Perry and Dick awake Mr. Clutter and demand the code for the safe. When he tells

them that there is no safe, they get more outraged. So they precede to go

upstairs and gag Mrs. Clutter, and tie her to the bed. They break into Nancy’s

room and tie her to the bed. Then they grab Kenyon and take him to the basement

with his father. They both are bound and gagged in seperate rooms of the

basement. Perry and *censored* then shoot Herb and cut his throat. Kenyon,

Nancy, and Mrs.Clutter are all shot, with the shells being carefully retained

after each blow to the head. The killers started to travel towards Mexico. On

the way there, they stopped at a small shopping district, and with a bad

checking account they buy a lot of goods to sell in Mexico. By this point the

Clutter’s are found, but the police have absolutely no leads and only 2 clues.

The police named this murder "the perfect murder". A convict named

Floyd Wells is sitting in County jail while listening to his headset. He hears

of the Clutter family murder weeks after it has happened, and then realizes that

he knows the victims, and more importantly, he knows who the murderers were. He

tells the warden who then tells the chief of police investigations. The police

department formulates a path of the murderers which leads them to the exact

location of Perry and Dick. While driving back to Holcomb County, Perry proceeds

to confess the whole incident. They have a trial and the death penalty is

assigned, they sit in jail for 2,000 days. On the night they are suppose to die

their attorneys are still trying to appeal the case, but it does no good. The

executions take place, and the killers got what they deserved. Officer Dewey

states that as he was walking home, he heard "the whisper of wind voices in

the wheat" (Capote 343) and realizes that the Clutter family can now lay at

rest. The dictionary defines the term inhumane as not humane; a cruel or

barbarous act. This definition is a huge understatement of the actions that took

place during the Clutter family murder. Herb Clutter was a universally respected

man (Magill 2176). Right up until the point which he was killed, Herb remained

calm and thought positively. As stated by Perry Smith in a later interview, he

can be quoted as saying "I thought he [Herb Clutter] was a very nice

man…I thought so right up to the moment I slit his throat" (Matuz 86).

Perry and Dick had tied Herb Clutter to a duct in the furnace room . They then

decided that this wouldn’t be a comfortable setting so they laid him down on a

cardboard box. Afterwards they preceded to club him on the head, gag him, slit

his throat, and shoot him. Every other family member was gagged and tied to

something with the exception of Nancy, who was only tied to her bed. Nancy had

been laying in bed with her hands and ankles tied together. Her bedcovers were

drawn to he chin, and she had been shot with the barrel of the gun not 2 inches

away from her head. On top of Perry and Dick shooting a completely innocent and

helpless girl, Dick, having an obsession with little girls, wanted to sexually

molest Nancy. But Perry, thinking it was grotesque, stopped him from doing so.

Finally, Perry and Dick were inhumane because of their lack of compassion. The

whole town loved and respected the Clutter family, and on the day of their

executions, neither Perry nor Dick apologized to anybody when given the chance

to do so. This tragic murder was inhumane because of the actions of Perry and

Dick. When Perry and Dick killed the Clutter family, they didn’t know who they

were killing-for the most part. They knew of the Clutter family as being fairly

wealthy. The came to the Clutter’s farmhouse expecting to rob Mr. Clutter for a

large sum of money. The 4 lives were traded for 50 some odd dollars, a clock

radio, and a pair of binoculars. It was not necessary to take the lives of: a

chairman for of the Kansas Conference of Farm Organizations, a skilled

craftsman, an experienced rider, and a heartwarming mother (Capote 7). Herb

Clutter was possibly the model man. He didn’t tolerate alcohol or drugs, never

lied, and was very strict with religion. What reason would anybody have to kill

such an important and contributing family? The Clutter family was always taught

to do their best, and not cheat anybody out of something that they deserved. The

whole family was honest and cared about others. We are shown in the book that

Perry has feelings when talking about Nancy: "…she [Nancy] was trying to

act friendly and casual. She was a very pretty girl, not spoiled or anything, I

really liked her" (Capote 243). To this day, nobody ever proved why it was

necessary for the Clutter family to die, and they probably never will. This was

a murder that was definitely done without motivation. Perry and Dick picked this

family because they heard that they were wealthy and they had a safe. Many

people are killed because of broken promises or even jealousy, but very few are

killed because somebody heard they have a safe. Perry even said himself "I

only knew the man [Mr. Clutter] for about an hour, and he seemed like a nice

man" (Matuz 103). Also, what would motivate a person to go through with the

murders when they discovered that their was no money, and that was what they

came there for? We know that this crime is definitly without motivation because

we know that Floyd Wells told Perry and Dick of the Clutter’s land because he

use to work there. After telling Dick of the land and wealth he believed the

Clutter’s to have, Dick got obsessed with the fact that the Clutter’s had money.

Floyd Wells said about the encounter that "Next thing I knew, Dick was

talking about killing Mr.Clutter" (Capote 151). Floyd didn’t take him

seriously because he said everybody talked about what they were going to do

after they got out of jail, and nobody ever acted on what they wanted to do. But

this time, Floyd couldn’t of been more wrong. This murder was without motivation

because the killer’s had no concrete evidence or proof of the Clutter family’s

wealth. Truman Capote has made a significant contribution to American

Literature. He has written many plays, short stories, novels and has had 2 books

turned into movies. For In Cold Blood alone, he has won an Emmy award and the

Mystery Writers of America Edgar Allen Poe award (Reed 31). George Frazier said

that Capote is "One of the last of the great American Contemporary

authors" (about the author 2). Out of all of the literary criticism that

has been written about In Cold Blood, most of it has been positive. But the

negative criticism has all had the same undertone and is very well put as said

by Mr. Matuz "Capote HAS manipulated the facts to produce a particular kind

of frisson" (Matuz 103). A few examples of this ‘manipulation’ is the fact

that Capote made Bobby out to be a big basketball star, when in real life he was

only an aspiring player. Also Capote said before he was hung, Dick apologized,

which in fact he didn’t. We know he didn’t because of a live broadcast prior to

the hanging. How ever, on the positive side, it has been said that "In Cold

Blood is the best documentary account of an American crime that has ever been

written" (Reed 118). His unique form of setting the book up with 86

unnumbered chapters has also been looked into: The book is by any standards a

monumental job of editing and a most seductive writing: the first section

cutting back and forth between the unsuspecting Clutter’s and the approaching

killers is agonizingly well constructed (Matuz 100). As agreed by most, if not

all critics, Capote has definitely created a masterpiece and has spared no

emotion while writing the book. In conclusion, the Clutter family murder clearly

did not have to happen. This was one of the most savage murders of that time

period. Perry and Dick have paid the ultimate price for the inhumane,

unnessacary, and motivationless crime they committed. Dick and Perry were sick

individuals to commit the crimes in the seriousness that they had been carried

out. The Clutter’s were a well rounded family with love and respect from all.

They did not need to have their lives taken away at such an early stage in life.

We will never know if Bobby and Nancy would have married, or if one day Mr.

Clutter would become a millionaire. These lives were taken for no concrete

reason, just the greed for the Clutter’s wealth. "In the book In Cold

Blood, the murderers Richard Hickock and Perry Smith are prisoners of their

pathological childhood. As a consequence, there crimes are rendered

understandable, but not forgivable" (Reed 68). Truman Capote excelled in

portraying the murder case as a downfall of society with the death of the

American Dream.

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