In Cold Blood Sparknotes

Dick never wanted to discuss the murders. He always wanted to change the subject. Floyd Wells, his former cellmate, mentioned to Dick that he was a former employee of the Clutters, and they had a safe on the property, unaware that they never had any cash on them. When he did not find the safe or any money, Dick resorted to killing the whole Clutter family. Dick became a little too confident and thought he could get away with murder.

1) GOOGLE: On November 15, 1959 a family of four were murdered in their Kansas home by Richard Hicklock and Perry Smith. Herb Clutter was one of the victim in the murder. Herb Clutter was a wealthy farmer who had a lot of money saved in his farmhouse. Hickock and Smith had arrived to the Clutter while they were sleeping.

In Cold Blood features the true story and details of the bloody murders of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas. “Images in the film Brooks has made from Capote’s celebrated reporting of a Kansas murder case, In Cold Blood” (Crowther). One early morning in Holcomb Kansas, the Clutter family is awaken from their sleep and brutally murdered. The killers are two ex-convicts Dick Hickock and Perry Smith who planned to rob Herbert Clutter of $10,000 that was contained in a safe at his home. However, Dick and Perry find no safe, or $10,000, they end up leaving the scene of the crime with only $43.

Author Biography & Ethical Appeal Truman Capote was born on September 30, 1924 and died on August 25, 1984. During his lifetime, he was well known for his non-fiction novels, short stories, acting, and plays. Truman Capote received his education from Greenwich High School. He began working as a copyboy for the New Yorker magazine, which later on led to his success in his short stories such as the “Miriam”.

A journalist holds the occupation of reporting, writing, photographing or broadcasting news to seek the truth, investigate the case, and to report the accurate findings, with an unbiased opinion, to the general public, and the audience. They must report factual evidence, and give the exact truth and details on the events that occur. In 1966, Truman Capote, a journalist himself, published In Cold Blood, a non-fiction novel detailing the brutal murders of Mr. Clutter, his wife, and his two youngest children. However, many claimed that Capote failed to present a fair and unbiased report of the event, due to his very close involvement with the people involved in the murder itself. Capote did not accomplish his role as a journalist due to his detailed

Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, and John Wayne Gacy are all infamous American serial killers, but none of these serial killers legacy comes close to H. H. Holmes’s legacy. H. H. Holmes was America’s first documented serial killer who was activated during the Gilded Age. However, not many people know much about H. H. Holmes and how he changed America’s Culture of the Gilded Age. Holmes embodied the dark side of the late 1980s in America, which most Americans wanted to hide. When told about the I-search assignment, Holmes’ legacy and impact he had on America’s culture were one of the first ideas I had.

Capote portrays only one of these two seemingly distinct characters (Perry) in a way that the reader feels the need to relate to and even sympathize with him. One can be taken aback by such an attachment to a murderer. This is not surprising as the author uses his compassionate diction to manipulate the reader’s emotions with a use of pathos, the appeal to emotions. At one point Capote goes as far as to write that “Smith’s life had been no bed of roses,” (Capote 245) attempting to have the readers relate to Perry. On the other hand, Capote has Dick say this about himself: “Deal me out, baby, I’m a normal” (Capote 116).

In Cold Blood, written by Truman Capote in 1966 tells the story of the murder of a prominent family in 60’s Kansas. Capote traveled to the small town of Holcomb, and befriended many of the townsfolk and the detectives involved in the trial to tell the story of a violent event that shaped this community for the decade until the eventual conviction and execution of the killers. Because of information being told, Capote makes the choice of writing his novel as if it were a news report. This journalistic structure and word choice helps to establish the serious and dark tone of the novel.

In In Cold Blood, the issue over the death penalty is prominent. Did Perry and Dick deserve to die? Should the severity of one’s crime determine one’s fate? Although Truman Capote writes the novel in a straightforward, “from a distance” way, he conveys, through his characters, theme, and plot development, that the death penalty is an issue that should be looked at from all sides and that the legal system itself is the real issue at hand, and that the death penalty is used as a means to suppress the distress and indignation of the citizens surrounding the case, instead of suppressing the victim himself.

He is portrayed as a mastermind in the cold-blooded killing of the Clutters family, a man with little respect for the lives of others, which can be seen through Dick’s expression before the murder of the Clutters when he converses Perry, “We’re gonna go in there and splatter those walls with hair” (Capote 234). This sudden tone shift enables Capote to depict Dick as a cruel and immoral character. Dick’s lack of empathy and concern for other people beside himself allow him to commit crimes without remorse, which is in contrast to Perry’s moral contemplation after each bad actions they committed. Moreover, Dick is represented as the true criminal with evident motives in murdering the Clutters, while Perry is seen as a vulnerable victim who depends on Dick for validation and acceptance, something in which Dick happily provides in order to manipulate Perry, as Capote writes, “Dick became convinced that Perry was that rarity, ‘a natural born killer,’—absolutely sane but conscienceless, and capable of dealing with or without motive, the coldest-blooded deathblows. It was Dick's theory that such a gift could, under his supervision, be profitably exploited” (Capote 205).

Dick did not have any second thoughts about the murder. He had firmly wanted to walk-in and kill the Clutter family despite their innocence. Dick viewed the Clutters’ as an opportunity that was going to make him rich. There was not any

From the beginning, Dick had a detailed plan of how they would carry out the murders, and he made sure that Perry was on board with his ideas. The scary part of all of this is that Dick considered himself normal, by saying, “I’m a normal” (Capote 108). In the book, it is clear that Dick was the one in control, and Perry is merely following his lead. For example, when they first discussed the robbery, Dick said, "If it's going to be done, it's got to be done right. No slip-ups...

Dick knew how to manipulate and get what he wanted. He was who Perry saw as a masculine man, someone to not be crossed, but who Perry looked up to. Perry noted that Dick was not a good role model, but still sought his approval causing him to lie about committing murder which got him roped into going with Dick to murder

Throughout the book, Perry is genuinely the cold-blooded killer, and the reader 's view him that way. While in interrogation, Dick confessed that “ Perry Smith killed the Clutters... It was Perry” (Capote 230). At this point, the audience doesn’t know if they believe that Perry killed all four or if Perry killed two and Dick killed two. While talking in the interrogation room, Dewey mentioned to Perry that “Hickock [thought of Perry as] a natural born killer.

With the onset of cold weather, there are a few important things to remember when it comes to caring for our feathered friends. Our windows are shut and the heat is on. We tend to be more cautious about protecting our birds from the cold, and yet not enough about the absence of fresh, clean air. With our windows shut our birds are forced to breath in many airborne pollutants, including their own feather dust, and the remnants of their droppings and food waste. Then there are regular household pollutants, such as smoke from cooking, woodstoves