In Cold Blood

Capote’s In Cold Blood was a very interesting read. Sometimes when I read stories, articles, etc. when it is too wordy or descriptive I get bored easily but for some reason this was different. I think Capote’s purpose in using great detail was to engage the reader enough to understand how real this tragic event was. By describing the killers, Perry and Dick, and their activities previous to the murder, Capote managed to developed them into real people instead of just murderers. And while it would probably prove difficult to capture a family so well, considering when he wrote this they had all died, but Capote delivers it well and without using first person. I thought that was pretty impressive, especially considering how close he got to the story.

I think a major aspect of this book that becomes challenging is that by default it asks for the reader’s sympathy in regards to Dick & Perry. I think that was Capote’s point. I think he wanted the reader to understand the men behind the murder in the midst of grasping such a tragic event. This becomes challenging because I think it is hard for most people to have sympathy or acknowledge sympathy for someone who does such horrible things. Sure, you feel bad for someone who has lost family members to suicide. But after putting into context, like if who you are feeling bad for turns out to be a murderer, it takes away some, if not all, of the sympathy.

However, a tragic or shocking event such as what happened to the Clutters usually causes a mixed and unusual reaction. Especially to be living in such a small town as Holcomb, I’m sure the initial reactions were something along the lines of, “you don’t expect something like this to happen in a small town like this.” That is almost always the response to a highly tragic event, I think because it is too overwhelming to think about it. But even at that, part of you wants to know what could possibly make a person commit such a heinous crime. What makes them tick? It reminds me of the VT shootings. That was a horribly tragic event, but afterwards how much information and stories were aired all over the TV, newspapers, etc. about the boy who committed the crime. It was like you wanted to watch it and find out about him, and what could possibly make him do such a thing but at the same time you were sitting there wondering why you even cared about such a detestable person. I think this is the same reason why In Cold Blood is a testing novel. It attempts to make you understand the murder as a whole, not just from the Clutter’s point of view, and not just from the killers.