The nature of American crime

by Tara 

"The village of Holcomb stands on the high wheat plains of western Kansas, a lonesome area that other Kansans call 'out there," was the opening line to Truman Capote's 1965 American crime novel, "In Cold Blood." The entire first chapter paints a picture of a sleepy Midwestern farming town. In a surrealist tone, Capote illustrates "the calm before the storm," the storm being the malicious slaying of the four members of the Clutter family. As Mr. Clutter stands at the edge of the farm at the conclusion of the third chapter, Capote haunts the reader with the concept of unforeseen mortality. "Mr. Clutter stood at the edge of his farm completely unaware that it would be the last day of his life."  

The first portion of the book documents the daily small town life of the Clutter family. Mr. Clutter, the charismatic and involved father, Mrs. Clutter, the depressed and reclusive mother, Nancy Clutter, the popular town darling and daughter, and Kenyon Clutter, the brilliant, yet timid son. Capote induces goose bumps as he dives into the last day, night, and minute of each family member's life. At the end of the fifth chapter, the reader feels a sense of finality and emptiness as the paranoid town of Holcomb scrambles to find the killer. Simultaneously, Capote begins to slowly introduce the murderers, Richard Hickock and Perry Smith.

The chunk of the book follows the killers on the run and demonstrates the evolution of their relationship. It also showcases the extreme depression in Holcomb, and the eventual closing of the gap between the two story lines. Smith's elitism and child-like dependency on Hickock gradually leads the demise of their unique and sociopathic friendship. The murderers are eventually caught and sentenced to death told with brilliant; haunting prose. The nature of Neo-American crime is revealed through the eyes of visionary, Truman Capote. Empathy, rage, intrigue, and gloom are felt by the reader the entire novel. I would recommend this book to mature audiences, and go further to say that everyone should read it at some point in their life. It remains to be the greatest non-fiction crime story of all time.