Literary Non-Fiction

[elliefarley]

Truman's new style of writing is characterized by his characterization combined with factual data. Unlike usual crime writers, his book isn't just a straightforward, objective retelling of the crime. He switches between the what is going on in the town and what the murderers are doing which builds the suspense of the crime, even though you already know they will be killed. Also, because Capote creates the personalities of the murderers and other characters in the book, you feel a deeper attachment to them. In most crime reporting, you don't reach that level of intimacy. You get the bare minimum facts. As a result, readers feel more remorse for the Clutter family, but in a strange way feel sympathy for Perry because of his child-like fantasies and doomed future from birth. This literary non-fiction is a true story expanded upon with the subjective point of views of the real people involved and has more spatial organization. You follow the story chronological as it develops, but there are many flashbacks and long descriptions of each character. Capote's strange take on reporting this crime makes the murders almost seem fake to the readers because of the unconventional way of presenting them. The reader feels with each of the character, knows their personality, past, and relationships with those around them. In true crime reporting, you don't get that knowledge. In this way, the true story effects readers more deeply and emotionally than one would get from a straight crime report.