Skip to main content

Can you give an example of four prominent themes found in Capote's In Cold Blood?

In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote, features multiple strong themes throughout the narrative, some subtle while others are overt. These themes include life in rural America, the American dream, violence, and trust.


Life in Rural America


In Cold Blood is a non-fiction novel that takes place in communities all across America. The main character, Perry, travels with his family from Texas to Oregon and later to Florida, Texas and Nevada as well as to the country of Mexico. Through Perry's travels, Capote explores the similarities between rural American communities despite the distance between them. Perry's childhood is spent traveling from one place to another, and it is this sporadic upbringing that contributes to his identity as a loner. The text explains that he "washed dishes in an Omaha restaurant, pumped gas at an Oklahoma garage, and worked a month on a ranch in Texas."


As the story progresses, the superficial differences between the states Perry has lived in are woven into the tapestry of what Capote considers the myth of America. Despite the differences in each location he travels to, Perry identifies a common loneliness and dissatisfaction among the rural populace he encounters.


The American Dream


The American Dream and life in rural America are themes that are closely intertwined throughout the narrative. Perry and Dick are motivated to commit violent crimes by perversions of the American dream, which was a prominent topic in the 1950s. As a self-made farmer, Herbert is living the traditional American dream. Perry and Dick seek to obtain the rewards of that dream without putting in any of the honest work it takes to achieve success. To do this, they devise a plan to murder Herb and his family and use their money to further their own dreams.


Violence


The central story of In Cold Blood revolves around the planned murder of Herb Clutter and his family. Perry Smith and Dick Hickock believe that the Clutters have thousands of dollars hidden somewhere in their home and kill the family in cold blood to obtain the money. In reality, they find only $40 in Herb's wallet. The ruthless ambition of Perry and Dick is used to showcase the reality of violence, which is so often inflicted for the sake of petty gain.


Trust


Capote grows close to Perry in an attempt to obtain his confession. He works to gain Perry's trust over time and becomes something of a kindred spirit, even as he comes to the conclusion that Perry and Dick are cold-blooded killers. Both men are isolated and consider themselves loners, which contributes to the trust that is built between them over time. In a subtler sense, the idea of trust in an orderly world is also explored through this narrative. Herb is a pillar of the community and he has no reason to believe that anyone would wish to hurt him. This trust is violated when two men he has no direct connection to break into his home and perpetuate violence against him and his family.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

etymology - Origin of the greeting "Sweet dreams".

Does anybody know the etymology of the phrase "sweet dreams"? I tried googling but did not find anything satisfying. Is this a relatively new phrase of the modern world or has this been in use for some time? I think it's the latter one. Answer The OED has the interjection as "a farewell to someone going to bed" from the 20th century: 1908 Sears Roebuck Catal. 198/1 Tenor Solos..Good Bye, Sweet Dreams, Good Bye. But it goes back until at least the 19th and possibly 18th centuries. John Wolcot, writing under the pseudonym of Peter Pindar, used it in his poem "Orson and Ellen; A Legendary Tale" published in 1801: Also from 1801 in The infernal Quixote (Page 287) by Charles Lucas: In the March 1776 of The Universal Magazine was published "The Serenade. A Pastoral Tale. From the German of Gesner" , where the shepherd Daphnis watches over his beloved as she sleeps and sings: The same tale appears in 1776's as Idyl XI, " Daphnis ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Is there a word/phrase for "unperformant"?

As a software engineer, I need to sometimes describe a piece of code as something that lacks performance or was not written with performance in mind. Example: This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. Based on my Google searches, this isn't a real word. What is the correct way to describe this? EDIT My usage of "performance" here is in regard to speed and efficiency. For example, the better the performance of code the faster the application runs. My question and example target the negative definition, which is in reference to preventing inefficient coding practices. Answer This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. In my opinion, reads more easily as: This coding style leads to unmaintainable and poorly performing code. The key to well-written documentation and reports lies in ease of understanding. Adding poorly understood words such as performant decreases that ease. In addressing the use of such a poorly ...
Post a Comment
Read more

What are the similarities between the relationships of the characters in The Outsiders and Romeo and Juliet?

At first glance, it might appear as if the characters in  The Outsiders  by S. E. Hinton and  Romeo and Juliet  by William Shakespeare do not have much in common; however, when one isolates the core of the conflicts, it becomes clear that the relationships in both stories are rooted in rivalry and secrecy.  In both  The Outsiders  and  Romeo and Juliet , an overarching theme is rivalry. While   socioeconomic status separates the greasers from the Socs in The Outsiders , last names separates the Montagues from the Capulets, who appear to be relatively equal in terms of socioeconomic status. Due to these rivalries, there are instances of deadly interactions in both stories. In  The Outsiders , Johnny kills Bob (whether his actions were justified or not is debatable). In  Romeo and Juliet , Romeo kills Tybalt and Paris, and Tybalt kills Mercutio. These deaths have profound effects on the main characters. In Ponyboy's case, the Johnny's death and other events in the novel inspire h...
Post a Comment
Read more