He also wanted to give the reader a different perspective on the criminals.
The amount of details in the descriptions of each character is unbelievable, it makes you want to go look up pictures of this murder as soon as you finish the book! There is so much realism that it will make you feel as though you're actually watching the action unfold rather than just reading the story.
Author's Purpose
Truman Capote is very credible.
He went to the crime site and helped solved the murder and catch the convicts.
He spent 6 years gathering evidence.
He interviewed Perry and Dick countless times.
Not biased towards one person in the book.
Murderers:
Perry Edward Smith
Richard (Dick) Eugene Hickock
Victims
Herbert Clutter
Bonnie Clutter
Nancy Clutter
Kenyon Clutter
When:
Perry and Dick murdered the Clutter family inside their home on November 14, 1959.
Why:
Dick heard, from a friend, that the Clutters had $10,000 ($80,000 in our currency) so he went with Perry to steal the money.
How:
All the family members were tied with a rope. Herbert was the only member who's throat was cut and shot while the other members were just shot in the head within a short distance.
Target Audience:
Truman Capote’s target audience is the people who are part of the criminal justice system and psychologists.
His intention is to persuade them that all people are naturally kind but when someone has a traumatic past, they are capable of having sensitive psyches.
This book is for people who enjoy reading crime stories and like to read from different perspectives.
Main Idea: Loss of Innocence
The Clutter killings are a turning point for the citizens of Holcomb and Garden City.
The murder ruins the city's trusting manner.
For the first time, everyone starts to doubt other members of the neighbourhood.
They realise that the same thing could happen to them.
“This hitherto peaceful congregation of neighbours and old friends had suddenly to endure the unique experience of distrusting each other; understandably, they believed that the murderer was among themselves.”
Perry Smith was neglected by his family.
His parents divorced when he was about 7 years old.
He was raised by an alcoholic mother.
He was put in an orphanage where he was beaten by nuns until his father took him away.
"Perry had on several occasions run off, set out to find his lost father, for he had lost his mother as well, learned to 'despise' her; liquor had blurred the face, swollen the figure of the once sinewy, limber Cherokee girl, had 'soured her soul', honed her tongue to the wickedest point, so dissolved her self-respect that generally she did not bother to ask the names of the stevedores and trolley-car conductors and such persons who accepted what she offered without charge... Consequently, as Perry recalled, 'I was always thinking about Dad, hoping he could come take me away..." (127)
No comments:
Post a Comment