I decided I was going to tackle Truman Capote's true narrative of a quadruple homicide for my American author independent reading book. In 1959, four members of the Clutter family (Herbert, the father; Bonnie, the mother; Nancy, the popular teenage daughter; and Kenyon, the reserved and quiet son) were tied up in separate rooms of their home and shot in the head; besides herb, whose throat was cut. All of this took place in the quaint town of Holcomb, Kansas. There was little evidence, no clear motive, and a good chance that those responsible could never be caught. Once the perpetrators of this violent crime were captured, it was revealed that four people were brutally murdered for roughly $40. What caught my interest in choosing this book was the plot as a whole. Murder is a fairly common theme when I'm choosing entertainment in books, TV shows, or movies. I found that In Cold Blood was sickening and entertaining.
It was entertaining in a way that blurred the lines for me between real and not real, and I had to keep reminding myself that the events recorded by Capote really happened. Four people were murdered, and two more were put to death to pay for those crimes. Six lives extinguished, and I read this for fun. It was unsettling. Even though it all happened so long ago, the murders took place in 1959 and the murderers were put to death in 1965, I feel like the book drove home the fact that there is a huge disconnect between murder for entertainment and murder as fact.
In Cold Blood blends the non-fiction story of the Clutter family murders and the successive manhunt for Perry Smith and Richard Hickock with fictional touches to create what Capote termed the "non-fiction novel." And what...