Essential Question #1

[elliefarley]

True Crime has become a major fascination in our world today. Even when Truman Capote was writing his novel, crime was something that people thrived on, but now that the media has proliferated exponentially and the crime world has become more sophisticated, our society has become even more fascinated with it. We, as a society yearn to know every little detail involved in a crime: who committed it, why they did, when they did it, etc. The pure mystery and obscureness of these felonies attracts us. Crimes, such as murders, that evoke a sense of uneasiness and fear because we can't imagine something like that actually happening, thrills us in a weird way. This is why haunted houses are so successful, we thrive off the thrill and fear of the unknown. As well, like Truman Capote depicts, we feel a need to find out every detail or report things that could be related, just so we feel attached to the true crime. We like the thought of contributing and knowing more about it. In the novel, the main detective receives phone call after phone call from people sharing meaningless details and questioning the progress of the case. These members of the town, even those with no connection to the Clutter family, feel like they need to say something in regards to the murder. Each person wants to feel helpful and important. Along with this desire to feel important, the cruelty of these true crimes makes all those that have clean records feel superior and generally better about themselves. Knowing that someone has done worse things than you makes us just that much more satisfied. As terrible as these crimes can be, the enormous emphasis media puts on these violent acts further accentuates the good character of others. We, being human, in the least morbid way possible, gain character by being exposed to the true crime because those who didn't commit them have made better decisions. Therefore our fascination for true crime, as Capote depicts with many unconnected people calling in insignificant evidence to the main character, stems from our yearning for thrill and mystery, for being helpful, and for getting a sense of worthiness because of our seemingly stellar character compared to those who commit the crimes.

[Ashley]

I agree with what Ellie said. I think people get excitement from crimes and other things. People like the mysterious ways of crime; their curiosity. They get satisfaction from learning every detail about the crime and attempting to low-key unravel it. Why did they do it? What would enable them to kill or drive them to do it? How did they decide or did they even think about what they were doing? There is such a variety of answers and it is hard for people to accept that they may not be able to understand what happened or know that actual answers.The variables involved are almost infinite. They are so fascinated with it in order to fulfill their desires of knowing. I can also disagree with Ellie because you could also look at it as it not being much of a choice for people to be fascinated with crime. It's all that they know of and see. Its the only thing that seems to be seen on the news- like everywhere you go theres always something bad happening. People don't really get the opportunity to know what it would be like without crime so they become fascinated with it because it is all they have to do- its all they know of.

[kaylaashcraft]

I agree with Ellie. She made a good point when she discussed that people who do not have a record feel superior to those who do. In society generally people look down on people who have a record of any kind, especially if they went to prison. People who have clean records are often less suspicious in regards to crimes. When a crime is committed  the initial suspects  are typically those with prior offenses. Additionally, the judicial system also react more severely to criminals who have a previous record by sentencing a more intense punishment.