Week 4.

[Ashley]

"Literary non-fiction" means that the overall context is factual, but the facts are backed up with fiction elements, such as the setting, character building, and dialogue. In Cold Blood is not straight crime reporting because he uses the consciences of the people, and makes it more of a story rather than just saying that there was a killing. He goes more in depth with finding out how each person feels. He made it that way to show the readers both sides of the story, and you would think that there would be no chance of feeling bad for Dick and Perry but Capote makes them feel that way. Him doing that makes the readers feel confusion to me because the book is so unpredictable of how to feel and Capote doesn't really show one certain feeling- he sees both sides.

[justingoshorn]

I agree with Ashley completely especially regarding her position on the confusion felt by the reader. Although I certainly do not believe that this confusion is unintentional. Capote constantly jumps back and forth between the lives of those in Holcomb and the lives of the murderers. In doing this the reader creates an emotional bond with not only the victims of the murder, but also with the murderers themselves. In a way he portrays the murderers as victims of their own actions. Obviously this breeds confusion in the emotions of the reader. The reader becomes undecided when determining which party to feel sympathy towards. I believe Truman does this in order to portray the emotional confusion of the characters themselves, the pity some have on the murderers due to their questionable background versus the pity they have on the victims.

[ethan]

I agree that providing the different POV's of the killers and the victims help create that emotional bond between the reader and the audience. This turns a stodgy, boring crime case into a enticing, yet real thriller. But I would disagree on the intention of trying to make the novel show tenderness toward the killers. Switching from different perspectives TO ME makes the audience feel like the story is leading up to a climax (until the capture and punishment of the criminal). Because the murder is left motiveless, the point of view of Dick and Perry are left in for the audience to guess their reasoning behind the crime and keep the reader intrigued. Capote also has the killer's perspectives in the story not necessarily to feel sympathy for them but rather present their lives how it was and show why they felt a certain way towards a situation (the murder).

[elliefarley]

I agree with Ashley. By developing each character, even the murderers, you feel emotions for those you wouldn't expect. Knowing the family's relationships in their town makes accepting their deaths even harder and knowing Perry's hardships and doomed destiny makes you sympathize for him. As well, because Capote structured the telling of the murder, by revealing bit by bit just as they found out in real life, he leaves you wondering and anticipating. This drive for more knowledge isn't attained through straight crime reporting. Near the end of the section, you find out that Dick tries to blame everything on Perry, and this highlights even more the innocent, almost pathetic, persona that encompasses Perry. The reader feels even more empathy for Perry, which is strange because he killed the Clutters. As Ashley said, this makes the reader confused because they feel as though they shouldn't feel sorry for him, but it's very difficult not to.