FRQ Response Two

The murders of the Clutter family as portrayed in In Cold Blood are so shocking due to Capote’s way of making the reader sympathize with them throughout the novel. Herb Cutter is easy to sympathize with because he embodies the typical hero. The typical hero starts from humble beginnings, and through a series of trials and tribulations, achieves wealth, power, and social status, usually siring many children. This model is seen throughout Greek mythology, as well as recent literature; Harry Potter is an example that easily jumps to mind. Herb fits this model easily; he started out as a farmer and through his own intelligence and skills, as well as some luck, he became a ranch owner with four children who had a considerable amount of money and was high up in his community’s social ladder. He also personifies the American ideal of the self-made man, rising from poverty to riches on his own. People are suckers for rags-to-riches stories, stories where underdogs come out on top, especially in film; The Pursuit of Happyness and The Social Network are two prime examples.  Because Herb Clutter encapsulates both of these ideals, readers want him to come out on top, to see him win and have a long, fulfilling life. When he is murdered, his brutal death is a cold reminder of the brevity of life and how no one is safe from death.

            Another character that the reader begins to sympathize with is Perry Smith, one of the two murderers. Capote uses Perry’s family history to make him seem like a victimized child; his idea of a yellow bird saving him from his troubles is a detail Capote includes to elicit sympathy from his readers. By illustrating a history of abuse and neglect, the reader begins to feel bad for Perry, and begins to attribute some of his more vicious personality traits to his childhood. Capote’s inclusion of a psychologist’s evaluation of Smith serves two purposes; one, to illustrate Capote’s view of the death penalty, and two, to generate sympathy for Smith. The reader begins to think that he isn’t such a bad person, but that he didn’t know any better because of his abusive childhood and twisted mentality. If less of Smith’s history was included, we would despise him as a character, as he had murdered at least two people in cold blood. Some of this sympathy for Smith can be attributed to Capote’s own affections for the man, as noted by friends and rumors of a romantic relationship between the two.

Capote’s ability to generate sympathy for his characters is what marks out In Cold Blood as an iconic piece of narrative nonfiction. When the reader sympathizes and empathizes with the characters, they can put themselves in their shoes, allowing them to connect with the book on a deeper and more personal level. This deeper connection is what makes In Cold Blood a readable novel, and not just a disturbing book illustrating the gory deaths of four good people, as if it was a miniature literary form of Saw. It marks out In Cold Blood as one of Capote’s best works and a definitive piece of American literature.

What does In Cold Blood say about the American dream?

The American dream is a major theme in the novel In Cold Blood. Both of the main villains, Perry Smith and Dick Hickock, are pursuing their interpretation of the American dream, and the Clutters’ deaths symbolize how quickly that dream can be shattered. Truman Capote illustrates his interpretation of the American dream throughout the novel. Though the primary theme of the novel is death, Capote uses this theme to underscore some of his more subtle points about the American dream. Most of his points about the American dream are centered on the Clutter family, who seem to live the American dream.

The Clutter family is living an idyllic existence in Holcomb at the novel’s opening. Herb Clutter has risen from modest beginnings to becoming a ranch owner with a comfortable lifestyle. He encapsulates the concept of the self-made man, which is a central theme in the American dream. The Clutters’ simple, modest lifestyle shows that the American dream is simple in what it entails; being able to own your own land and live off of it, being able to provide for your family, being able to be your own person without relying on anyone else.

Capote’s idea that the American dream is simple is still true, but the media has obscured this idea in favor of the concept that bigger is better and glamour is key to a fulfilling lifestyle. Over the forty-five years since In Cold Blood was published, Americans have become more and more entitled to things that are privileges rather than necessities and simultaneously became less and less satisfied with what they had, even though what they had was more than what people in the decades before them ever had. The media has exacerbated these entitlement issues, as well as propagating that what you have isn’t enough. You need this car to be cool, you need these clothes to look attractive, and you need this cologne if you’re ever going to date. The media has led to a generation of American teenagers believing that if they are ever going to be happy, they have to be rich, famous, or powerful. Remember in kindergarten when your teacher asked you what you wanted to be? You probably said the president, or an Olympic athlete, or a superhero. When you ask teenagers the same thing, more of them will have more realistic ideas, such as engineers, doctors, or lawyers. But a significant portion will say things like rock stars, or actresses, or the next American Idol. People don’t believe in Capote’s American dream, that all you need to be happy is to settle for having a house and a job that provides for you and your family.

This growing gap between what people desire and what Capote’s American dream entails has led to fewer people than ever before achieving the American dream. The American dream hinges on the idea that you have to be happy with what you have before you can truly achieve happiness. In Cold Blood displays this with the example of the Ashidas. Mrs. Ashida says, “The farm here, the people we’re working for – Hideo thinks we could do better,” even though he appears to be living Capote’s American dream. He is dissatisfied with where he is in Holcomb, so he aspires to become wealthier, more powerful in his job, and he believes that this will make him happier. This example is still true; in the movie 500 Days of Summer, Tom, the main character, loses Capote’s American dream over the course of the movie because he is too busy chasing after a girl he believes will make him happier. Ironically, by the end of the film, she is nearly his undoing. This film illustrates Capote’s point about the American dream; by chasing after something more than what you have, you can lose the things that matter most to you. Hickock and Smith are both constantly pursuing a sensational lifestyle, believing that when they are through with the Clutters’, they will be rich, and therefore happy. However, while they are in Mexico, Smith finds that he still wants something more from life, even though he and Hickock are living exactly how they planned to. Their reckless spending brings them back to the US, leading to their arrest, and subsequent execution, ending their pursuit of the American dream the way they ended the Clutters’.

In Cold Blood reflects Capote’s pessimistic view of the American dream. The American dream leads to nothing more or less than death in his eyes, no matter how you attempt to achieve it. Whether you try to achieve the American dream through peace or violence, legal or illegal methods, it doesn’t matter, because you’re still dying. The book illustrates our own human mortality, and ultimately shows how irrelevant the pursuit of the American dream is. After all, it doesn’t matter how happy you were, who you were, or whether you were a good person or not when you’re dead.

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