Post by ikschultz on Dec 8, 2014 2:34:27 GMT
I believe that Capote's view on the death penalty is very interesting. In the book, there is a law that states that a psychologist can't explain his reasoning behind why they do or do not believe a person was aware of the difference between right and wrong during the time of a crime. They are only allowed to state their opinion based on gathered knowledge from the criminals. This law is known as the M'Naghten Rule which Caopte never directly states his opinion on. By including Dr. Jones' "what he would have said" after his court appearance, it subtly shows that he believes that by not allowing the jurors to recieve the whole opinion, then the opinion should not be used as evidence at all. I think Capote believes in capital punishment as long as all the facts are given to the jurors before they come up with a consensus.