Capote's Arguments Against The Death Penalty

Besides using anecdotes and stories from his childhood, Capote also used analogies to invoke a sense of sympathy for Perry, thus further using the means of pathos. In specific, a constant ‘comparison’ or analogy coupled with Perry is typically his ‘childish’ like structure. Short legs, small feet. This analogy is used constantly, including the hanging scene, where it is said Dewey had “open his eyes [and] saw the same childish feet, tilted, dangling”(Capote 341). This comparison is seen often when describing Perry and seems to give the man a childlike presence, making him come across as more innocent and understandable. This connection to Perry takes away from the ‘severity’ of his actions and instead reminds readers of his childhood and how it has affected him all through life. Using pathos to soften the personality of a killer and bring to life his struggles helped Capote to better exemplify the ‘makings’ of a murderer. When creating this book, Capote wanted to analyze how a murder came to be and thus how a murderer came to exist - in particular, Perry. The use of pathos in correlation to one of the main characters helped break down the hostile killer into a damaged, young, sensible young man who simply had a tough go at life. The device allowed for connection and personalization.

The next sentence is structured to show how the government is hypocritical as it murders people even though it is against the law. This shows how the system of murder is against the law, it shows how punishment is not legally justified. The system of murder does not give mercy as described later on and does the opposite. The parallelism of the word mercy shows how the system of murder is an ineffective form of punishment as it does not give mercy but instead seeks revenge by killing someone. Through syntax, Dick describes his ideas on capital punishment. Capote states that all the government wants is revenge by stating that ”They’re mad ‘cause they’re not getting what they want revenge. I believe in hanging. Just so long as I’m not the one being hanged”(336). The informal tone is broken with the hyphen that makes the word revenge stand out. The tone is said with more emphasis and it becomes very serious. Thus, the capital punishment did not provide justice but instead only focused on revenge rather than improving a person's mental state.

Perry Smith and Dick Hickock are two remarkably different characters. In the beginning of the novel, they’re known only as the murders of the Clutter family, but Truman Capote tells their life stories in such a way that they become more than that. Even though these two men are basically introduced as murderers, they quickly become relatable and interesting characters. So much is learned about their feelings and lives that one can not help but almost look past their reckless ways. Both of these men have unique character traits that amalgamate in an intriguing way. Throughout In Cold Blood, Capote includes many instances that show how Dick and Perry, when combined, make the perfect murderer.

In the concluding passages of Capote’s novel, after both Perry Smith and Dick Hickock were hung as consequence to their actions of the planning and execution of the Clutter family murder, a reporter exchanged words with the executioner. In these bits of dialogue, Capote includes intense understatement when Capote reports the executioner states “[the hanging was] just like jumping off of a diving board,” Capote uses this understatement to display how lightly people view capital punishment. While also comparing the action of hanging to one as innocent as jumping off of a diving board, Capote foils the two actions creating a stronger feeling of disgust towards the death penalty. Later in the passage, the same man also states “they

Although Dick and Perry may both be killers, Capote uses language to portray Perry as a victim of Dick;therefore, Perry is seen through the eyes of the reader as an innocent man who was simply taken advantage of and molded into a killer by Dick.

For centuries, men and women have murdered each other for greed, lust, revenge, etc. However, in 1959, Truman Capote traveled to Holcomb, Kansas to discover the other side of murder. Truman Capote, author of In Cold Blood, offers a close examination of the horrid murder of the Clutter family. He explored how two men of different backgrounds, ethnicities, and personalities joined together to kill an innocent family for riches. Capote provides different points of view through each of his character’s eyes for his readers’ better understanding of the murderers. The use of juxtaposition compares and contrasts Dick to Perry, the murders. Capote succeeds with using juxtaposition to reveal the murderer's how he perceived them.

Does a man who brutally murdered four humans-for the sole reason that he had the power to-deserve any ounce of sympathy? “In Cold Blood”, Truman Capote uses “pathos” to appeal to the emotions of the readers about the two murderers, Perry Smith and Richard Hickock. Capote certainly sympathizes with one more than the other. He portrays one of the cold-blooded murderers in a positive light, but portrays the other murderer as a despicable and disgusting human being. For instance, Capote utilizes righteous and simple diction to advocate Perry’s emphatic nature with choices like, “compassion” and “uncharitable”. Furthermore, the author’s piteous tone emphasizes the tragic and hopelessness of Perry’s life with choices like, “You think I like myself?”(Capote 185) and “...the Black Widows were always at me. Hitting me”(Capote 132). In addition, Capote’s tone and diction paint Dick as a tasteless, vicious creature who deserved to take the full blame of the murder. Lastly, there are several rhetorical strategies that author employs to encourage the audience to empathize with Perry and to hate and despise Dick. Primarily, diction is one of the most persuasive literary device in the novel.

Although he saw the atrocities committed by Perry and was strongly in favor of his hanging, it “aroused another response, for Perry possessed a quality, the aura of an exiled animal, a creature walking wounded, that the detective could not disregard” (341). Capote includes this unexpected emotion to demonstrate the extreme pity a person completely against Perry could feel, which, in result, is meant to produce a greater sense of empathy for the reader, sympathizing with the detective. Sympathy can be gained toward this person who executed a happy family, proving how worthy this book is due to its life lesson.

The most dominant strategy that Capote utilizes in order to achieve his purpose is pathos, as he plays on our emotions to get us to feel true sympathy for Perry Smith. This is strategy is overall the most effective one because it allows the viewers to perceive Perry differently. Capote mentions Perry’s abusive and neglectful childhood several times throughout the story’s course in order to make the readers feel empathic, and pitiful towards him. In one instance of the novel, Capote makes out Perry as a hero in a way. He sets up a picture of the killers at the beach, and he mentions how uncomfortable Perry is when he sees Dick talking to a young girl. He describes another instance like this when he says, “Hadn’t they almost got in a fight when quite recently he had prevented Dick from raping a terrified girl” (Capote 202). Perry is willing to stand up to his partner when he comes to situations like this. Readers can’t help but view Perry as a hero in his own way as he protects the young girls from Dick’s pedophilic mind. Capote plays on the assumption that everyone hates child predators, which is almost always true. In a way, Capote makes us feel admiration for Perry’s heroic effort in protecting the innocent, as he “prevented Dick” from doing something horrible. As Perry confesses his crime to Dewey and Duntz, he admits, “But I hoped we could do it without violence” (234). This is one of several moments where the readers get a sense of reluctance from Perry to commit the crime. Although Perry did eventually

Capote expresses his idea of nature vs. nurture in Dick Hickock and Perry Smith and whether killers are born or made. With this in mind, he writes, “Dick became convinced that Perry was a rarity, ‘a natural born killer,’— absolutely sane but conscienceless, and capable of dealing with or without motive, the coldest-blooded deathblows” (205). This makes apparent Perry’s instincts to kill and Dick’s desire to manipulate Perry’s instincts to do so. Dick uses Perry as an image of who he wants to be, even though Perry feels shame and embarrassment. Capote inspects their motivations for the killings based on their backgrounds.

We see two heartless, cold blooded killers that slain the innocent family of the Clutters with the intent to leave no witnesses and to rob them of their hard earned money but Capote deceives the reader's emotions throughout the entirety of the book to humanize straight killers and make them likable. We often see a murderer as a psychopath without any emotion but it is hard to label Smith and Hickock one because Capote brings the reader into their lives in a way that we would feel sorry and have pity for them. Capote makes the reader relate to Smith and Hickock by describing their families and showing insight into the killers’ dreams and aspirations so we could perceive them as people and forget that they ended the future of the Clutters. Perry was a lonely child growing up and had a drunkard mother that forced him into foster care where he was abused and bullied

Capote’s diction makes Perry seem like a moral human being. For instance, Capote writes, “All along Dewey had argued that the mattress box had been placed on the floor for the comfort of Mr. Clutter, and taking heed of similar hints, other fragmentary indications of ironic, erratic compassion, the detective had conjectured that at least one of the killers was not altogether uncharitable.” that shows righteous word choice. The words “uncharitable”, “compassion”, and “comfort” are all extremely purposeful words that communicates Perry was not as heartless as he may seem. Pleading to the reader’s feelings, the diction depicts as Perry as a more caring person. Furthermore, when Dick says, “I’m gonna bust that little girl”, Perry responds with, “Uh-huh. But you’ll have to kill me first.”(Capote 243). With simple word choices like “bust” and “Uh-huh”, Capote conveys his purpose without flare. In this example, Dick wants to rape Nancy Clutter before killing her, but Perry refuses to let him do so. This reveals that Perry has morals, “Now that’s something I despise. Anybody that can’t control themselves sexually.”, and that Dick is a disgusting person who would rape an underage girl (Capote 243). Along with writing

In this passage, Capote addresses what the spectators of the court have to say about the murder and the trial. “Perry Smith. My God. He’s had such a rotten life--’ Parr said, ‘Many a man can match sob stories with that little bastard. Me included. Maybe I drink too much, but I sure as hell never killed four people in cold blood.’” (Capote 306). Most spectators believe Perry and Dick must pay the ultimate price for slaughtering the Clutters. Dick and Perry eradicated feelings of security in the town. The Clutters were the image of the perfect family, innocence, and the American Dream. For the town, the Clutter homicide was a huge blow to the community and each citizen’s trust in others. On the other hand, some spectators feel sympathy for murderers,

Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood makes a great case for justice in relation to death. In the book, two criminals, Dick and Perry, worked together to murder the Clutters. They got caught and trial, however at the time Kansas maximum incarceration was life imprisonment with parole and most prisoners are paroled after twenty years. Twenty years of imprisonment for brutally killing four members of the most influential family in the area, causing mass hysteria for everyone in Holcomb and for others who are involved in the case is unquestionably too short. However, is the death penalty fair for both of them, considering Dick had a mental disorder and Perry had a terrible upbringing? This brings us to a bigger, broader question: to what extent does the law and judgement system achieve their main purpose: bringing justice to everyone?

This documentary made a compelling argument against capital punishment. It used a variety of methods to support its views. By showing Death Row and the room where the executions take place, they create pathos for its inhabitants as the audience sees the crude cells and the table with straps. The graveyard where all the executed criminals are laid to rest is also presented with sad, slow music in the background. A close-up of one of the crosses that mark a grave is shown; there are numbers on it, no names, no nice little quote, just the person’s inmate number. This suggests the thought that if they are horrible enough while alive to be executed, they are not worthy of so much as a name in death.