Themes Of In Cold Blood

p Themes in In Cold Blood

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Semester In Cold Blood ' by Truman Capote is a true story about a Kansas family brutally murdered in 1959 . The men responsible for the crime did not know the family and crime shook the streets of small towns across America . In Cold Blood ' was seen as more then just journalism Capote blended the style of fiction writing into the cold reality of true life . The result was a new type of literature which still exists today . Capote explore

several themes within the text of this novel beyond the expected themes of loss and fear . He offers a true account of these grisly murders while exploring the themes of random violence synergism of personalities , and childhood abuse

A major theme withing the novel is the issue of childhood abuse Capote demonstrates that it is Smith 's childhood , which was problematic and full of abuse , that accounts for his actions . Capote explains Perry Smith 's life had been no bed of roses but pitiful , an ugly and lonely progress toward one mirage and then another . As a child Perry Smith saw his father severely and regularly beat his mother Domestic violence was something that Smith felt was normal inside of a family setting . It was these abusive behavior which caused his mother to divorce his father . As a child he did not realize that the situation was dangerous and resented his mother for breaking up the family . The family instability caused Smith to run away from home and Smith spent his late adolescent in and out of detention homes . It is during this time that he is not just beaten but humiliated by a woman he is working for . Through these child experiences Smith develop a deep hatred and bitterness for life and the people in it . As an adult , Smith is a criminal . He steals , cheats , and assaults people on a regular basis While he tries hard to keep his hatred in check the situation created that night in Kansas opened the door for his already violent tendencies Hickock 's childhood was the exact opposite of Smith 's . His parents were not physically abusive . However , his parents , especially his mother , was overprotective and overbearing . He admits that the real reason he went to that house that night was not to kill or steal but to rape the girl (278 . His childhood created a bitterness toward women and more importantly an uneasiness with women which developed in adult deviant desires and sexual actions . The childhoods depicted in this novel show two extremes and the effects that childhood had on these murderers and on people in general . It is Smith 's need for friendship that brings him into contact with Hickock . Hickock returns the favor by suggestion that they rob a Kansas family to become rich and independent

Capote articulately examines the themes of personality synergism within the text . Smith , while a petty criminal with some anger management problems , would have have never...