Truman Capote, the author of In Cold Blood, had an intense and meaningful relationship with both murderers of the Clutter family, Perry Smith and Dick Hickock. Readers of In Cold Blood do not have a full, unbiased view of the crime because of Capote’s relationship with Perry and Dick. In order to create a more sympathetic view of both Perry and Dick, but mostly Perry, Capote manipulated the story and information through examples and backstory to show the killers as sympathetic people instead of cold blooded murderers.
Readers are not seeing the full story from an unbiased eye when reading In Cold Blood because of how close Capote was with both Perry Smith and Dick Hickock. By showing the childhoods and backgrounds of both Perry and Dick, Capote created a sympathetic audience for the murderers. Readers have an unbiased eye when quotes are used from Alvin Dewey, Perry Smith, or Dick Hickock, but the way that Capote chose to write the story, including the addition of Perry and Dick’s backgrounds, created a biased view of the Clutter murder case. Capote included the entire letter Perry Smith’s father wrote about Perry for Kansas State Parole, which was boasting about why Perry was a good man and what caused him to commit crime, creating a certain view of Perry onto the reader. Perry’s father describes that Perry’s mother “dr[ank] and step[ped] out…. [and that Perry was] a cripple,” explaining that Perry’s mother was an alcoholic and that Perry was a cripple, creates sympathy for Perry that the reader did not have beforehand (Capote 128). By explaining the hardships he went through as a childhood, the reader begins to think that those hardships have something to do with why he committed these murders. If Capote had not written about his background, the readers would not feel sympathy for Smith or Hickock, but since he did, Capote created a different version of the story. The readers of In Cold Blood are victims of Capote’s skill of cunningly portraying Perry and Dick as sympathetic humans, instead of monstrous murderers. In a large way, Capote manipulated the story to show Perry Smith as a much better person than Dick Hickock thus eliciting sympathy for Perry over Dick. Capote describes Dick Hickock as a rude, child molesting, controlling person and Perry as a man who has struggled through a lot in the past. Truman Capote had an intimate relationship with Perry, and some say even fell in love with him. This made it all the much harder for Capote to make a truly unbiased novel because he cared for Perry too much. Because of this feeling of love that Capote felt for Perry, he purposely made the audience sympathize with Perry much more than with Dick. Capote makes the reader …show more content…
Because of the feelings Capote felt for Smith he would often times manipulate the text to make the reader feel bad for Perry, sometimes even more than for Dick. By including details about Perry’s background and his sense of regret Capote is creating the illusion that Perry was not at fault for the murders and felt bad for what he did. The readers of In Cold Blood are actually victims of Capote’s portrayal of events based on his biased opinion of Perry Smith and Dick
Readers are not seeing the full story from an unbiased eye when reading In Cold Blood because of how close Capote was with both Perry Smith and Dick Hickock. By showing the childhoods and backgrounds of both Perry and Dick, Capote created a sympathetic audience for the murderers. Readers have an unbiased eye when quotes are used from Alvin Dewey, Perry Smith, or Dick Hickock, but the way that Capote chose to write the story, including the addition of Perry and Dick’s backgrounds, created a biased view of the Clutter murder case. Capote included the entire letter Perry Smith’s father wrote about Perry for Kansas State Parole, which was boasting about why Perry was a good man and what caused him to commit crime, creating a certain view of Perry onto the reader. Perry’s father describes that Perry’s mother “dr[ank] and step[ped] out…. [and that Perry was] a cripple,” explaining that Perry’s mother was an alcoholic and that Perry was a cripple, creates sympathy for Perry that the reader did not have beforehand (Capote 128). By explaining the hardships he went through as a childhood, the reader begins to think that those hardships have something to do with why he committed these murders. If Capote had not written about his background, the readers would not feel sympathy for Smith or Hickock, but since he did, Capote created a different version of the story. The readers of In Cold Blood are victims of Capote’s skill of cunningly portraying Perry and Dick as sympathetic humans, instead of monstrous murderers. In a large way, Capote manipulated the story to show Perry Smith as a much better person than Dick Hickock thus eliciting sympathy for Perry over Dick. Capote describes Dick Hickock as a rude, child molesting, controlling person and Perry as a man who has struggled through a lot in the past. Truman Capote had an intimate relationship with Perry, and some say even fell in love with him. This made it all the much harder for Capote to make a truly unbiased novel because he cared for Perry too much. Because of this feeling of love that Capote felt for Perry, he purposely made the audience sympathize with Perry much more than with Dick. Capote makes the reader …show more content…
Because of the feelings Capote felt for Smith he would often times manipulate the text to make the reader feel bad for Perry, sometimes even more than for Dick. By including details about Perry’s background and his sense of regret Capote is creating the illusion that Perry was not at fault for the murders and felt bad for what he did. The readers of In Cold Blood are actually victims of Capote’s portrayal of events based on his biased opinion of Perry Smith and Dick