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Post by benemery on Nov 16, 2014 19:03:04 GMT
Literary nonfiction is basically where we get the phrase "based on a true story". It's a combination of true facts with literary embellishments, like flashbacks, hyperboles, other varying types of narrative structure, and, contrasting points of view. The last of these mentioned above is what makes In Cold Blood different from an average crime report. Capote allows his readers to access the minds of himself and almost every character involved in the plot. Crime reports are written entirely objectively. In Cold Blood, obviously, is not. Thus, the reader is much more emotionally invested in the story, and can,thus make their own decisions about the morality and other aspects of the killing of the Clutters. This is the essential reason why Capote opted to write the novel this way. He wanted his readers to see more than the surface of the crime; he wanted to paint the most detailed picture possible. And he absolutely did.
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Post by Kaitlyn Root on Nov 16, 2014 22:09:14 GMT
Capote's personal background also had a factor in his writing. He once said that he and Perry were born of the same house, but he went out the front door and Perry went out the back. He writes the book in such a way that we feel bad for the murderers, and I believe its because he has such a strong tie emotionally with them.
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Post by annacarter on Nov 18, 2014 3:43:05 GMT
I think the idea of readers deciding the morality of the people involved in the Clutter murders is a very interesting idea. Like Kaitlyn said, Capote twists the viewpoint of the story and forces the reader to feel sympathy for Perry and Dick. Society has a way of dehumanizing criminals, and acting as though they are lesser. Unfortunately, the capacity to commit a violent crime resides in all of us, and the complex question of morality Capote presents in In Cold Blood is definitely disconcerting to think about, as many of us know people who have grown up in homes and environments like Dick and Perry's. So that begs the question of whether everyone is justified in their actions - how much leeway can we really give to people concerning their environment and upbringing before it succumbs to chaos and a lack of responsibility for our actions?
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