Imagery in in Cold Blood Essay

Words: 876
Pages: 4
Open Document
Truly successful authors have the ability to convey their view of a place without actually saying it, to portray a landscape in a certain light simply by describing it. In the opening paragraphs of In Cold Blood, Truman Capote does just this. Through his use of stylistic elements such as selection of detail, imagery, and figurative language, Capote reveals his own solemn and mysterious view of Holcomb, Kansas, while setting the stage for an imminent change.

Beginning in the first line of the passage, Capote selects the most boring details of life in the small town in order to portray its character. He draws attention to the physical isolation of Holcomb by referring to it as the place that "other Kansans call 'out there.'" In addition, …show more content…
With the simile, "a white cluster of grain elevators rising as gracefully as Greek temples," he almost points toward a happy, prosperous side of the town for the first and perhaps only time in this passage. Not long after this sentence, however, the author describes the streets as "unnamed, unshaded, unpaved," returning to his description of the village as desolate and empty, so destroyed and ugly.

This is not the only contrast of Capote's opening paragraphs; it seems the entire passage paints the town as quiet and simple only so that it may shock us with what is to come. The author uses personification at the end of the passage, stating that "drama … had never stopped there." The position of these words, just after he discusses the positive aspects of the school and its students' families, results in yet another contrast, another mysterious solemnity. Finally, in the last paragraph of this excerpt, when Capote writes "until one morning … few … had ever heard of Holcomb," the reader becomes aware that the solemn nature of this town is about to change. It becomes clear that the reader has been somewhat set up by Capote, made to view the town in the same way the author does, so that we may then realize the shock of the approaching aberration.

Through his use of many elements, Capote builds the perfect scenery for the setting of a murder, the perfect simple town waiting for a complicated twist. By the end of the passage, he has already
Show More

Related Documents: Imagery in in Cold Blood Essay

Use Of Imagery In In Cold Blood

Deux Et Demi In Cold Blood by Truman Capote should receive two and a half stars for literary merit; one being the high and five being the lowest. Throughout the novel Truman Capote uses detailed imagery to entice readers and to provide a better understanding of the mental struggles and physical surroundings characters face. Using imagery was a major strength to help create more specific and realistic feelings since a major event is the murders. Foil characters and clear connections of how characters…

Words 635 - Pages 3

Use Of Imagery In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

Throughout In Cold Blood author Truman Capote entices readers with dark and dismal imagery. For example, Capote opens the story by describing Kansas as, “A lonesome area that other Kansans call ‘out there.’” (14). This first sentence sets the stage of the entire novel, a morbid, tragic novel. Capote uses vivid descriptions to illustrate the town’s despondency. Capote states, “After rain, or when snowfalls thaw, the streets, unnamed, unshaded, unpaved, turn from the thickest dust into the direst mud…

Words 133 - Pages 1

Small Town In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

being similar to other hole in the wall towns. The excerpt from In Cold Blood allows Capote to tell about a boring, old, small town in Kansas where nothing ever happens. He portrays a town of fields where no one stops; kind of a “you will miss it if you blink” type of town. Capote illustrates a picture of the town in the mind of the reader and allows them to picture themself inside this sleepy little town by using captivating imagery and a great collection of detail. Throughout the excerpt, Capote…

Words 387 - Pages 2

In Cold Blood Truman Capote Nonfiction

In Cold Blood made a large impact on nonfiction as a genre. The novel was written by Truman Capote and published in 1966. It was about the two criminals who murdered four members of a family in Holcomb, Kansas in 1959. Capote used many different writing techniques in the novel to set a unique tone for the readers. Some of his writing styles included imagery, diction, syntax, and characterization. Through Capote uncommon form of creating the novel, it categorized it as creative nonfiction. Creative…

Words 520 - Pages 3

The Tell-Tale Heart Imagery

man’s house and kills him so that he doesn’t have to see the eye anymore. When the police investigate, they find that he has killed the old man by suffocating him with his own bed. “The Tell-Tale Heart” uses an eerie, unsettling feeling by using imagery, and descriptive details. The story gives a spooky feeling that only Edgar Allan Poe can give. According to the author, “His eye like the eye of a vulture, the eye of one of those terrible birds that watch and wait while an animal dies, and then…

Words 448 - Pages 2

MacBeth: Blood Essay

Blood Imagery: Macbeth’s Blood Imagery breathes life into a story. Imagery of a play circulates the flow and pushes the tempo until the last note beats. William Shakespeare uses the image of blood being poisoned by greed in “Macbeth”. Blood imagery traces the transformation of once valiant Macbeth and how he leaves a trail of red leading down to his end as a greedy and evil tyrant. Bravery, reason, and respect are in Macbeth’s blood, but it fuels his effusive ambition, eventually leading to the…

Words 717 - Pages 3

Who Is The Antagonist In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

development, the use of imagery, and the bountiful symbolism. The story is narrated by a Native American whom everyone thinks is deaf. “If my being half Indian ever helped me in any way in this dirty life, it helped me being…

Words 982 - Pages 4

Summary Of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

In Cold Blood, author Truman Capote starts out describing the small, Kansas village of Holcomb. The village seems almost ghost-like, abandoned and quiet with chipped and rusty buildings that show age and reflect the good times back in the day. Capote goes on to not only describe the “boring”, lonely side, but he then captures the more civilized side, mentioning the school where all the money goes and vaguely describing the people that live in this town. Capote demonstrates creative imagery among…

Words 593 - Pages 3

Jack London Diction

the author uses character, diction, and imagery to show that if you don’t have experience and common sense in freezing cold weather conditions you will not be able to survive. One of the elements used to describe the man’s inexperience in the cold weather is diction. By the author’s use of certain words, a tone of foreboding is created which describes the feeling that something bad will happen to the main character because he has no experience in the cold weather. When…

Words 1159 - Pages 5

Figurative Language In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

Throughout In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote, Capote uses figurative language and rhetorical strategies to create a deeper meaning into the lives of both the murderers and the victims. The imagery he uses conveys that Dick and Perry are innocent men, with just greedy intentions and bad technique, but there’s more to the story than that. The most evident to the reader, is how Capote uses figurative language, such as imagery, to depict the harsh realism of the violence that occurred. In Holcomb, the…

Words 451 - Pages 2