Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
He has to object to it to keep from confronting it in himself. The Oklahoman is not so cynical, however, for he immediately grasps hold of Parr's contradiction and cries out, "Yeah, and how about hanging the bastard? That's pretty goddam cold-blooded too" (Capote 306). The Oklahoman objects to the murder, which he views as a product of that coldness which he hears in Parr's words. The Oklahoman may represent a kind of outsider, not yet tainted by the American thirst for blood and sentimentality. To save the killer, he is willing to grant mercy, if only it will help put an end to the coldness.
At this point another man, the Reverend Post, interjects his thoughts. He seems to understand something of mercy, but at the same time he despairs of ever seeing it: "Well,' he said, passing around a snapshot reproduction of Perry Smith's portrait of Jesus, 'any man who could paint this picture can't be one hundred percent bad. All the same it's hard to know what to do. Capital punishment is no answer: it doesn't give the sinner time enough to come to God. Sometimes I despair'" (Capote 306). The Reverend's inability to reconcile sin with redemption is evident: he tries to place the reconciliation in terms of time, which does not exist for God, Who may be said to be outside of time. Thus, when he laments that the gallows may not give Smith enough time to repent and be saved, he makes a sadly childish and sentimental argument. Capote suggests that Smith has already repented in his attempt to accept responsibility for all four murders and spare Dick's mother the grief of seeing her son executed.
Thus, the man convicted of cold-blooded murder...
The Oklahoman allows for the return of warmth and understands why people become cold. He is alive with a kind of burning love. That love sometimes seems hard to find, especially today. Therefore, Capote's in Cold Blood is a fresh reminder of what it means to be human, whether murderer or onlooker, repentant or judge. All are brothers with the same blood, redeemed as the Reverend asserts by the Blood of Jesus.
In conclusion, the men convicted of the murder of the Clutters in Capote's true-crime novel represent the coldness in American life that all men are prone to. That coldness is the by-product of a shallow faith (as seen in the words of the Reverend Post) and a vindictive way of life (as seen in the words of Prosecutor Green: a "you better get him before he gets out and gets you!" kind of advice to the jurors). In other words, Capote reflects a day and age whose love is sentimental rather than reasoned, and whose sense is frosted by a coldness akin to that which allows men to murder. Since that day and age is still very much with us today, the book is as equally valuable now as it was then.
Works Cited
Capote, Truman. In Cold Blood. NY: Vintage, 1994.
Works Cited
Capote, Truman. In Cold Blood. NY: Vintage, 1994.
The picture to the left depicts the various elements that are responsible for thermoregulation in human skin. The illustrations shows the various layers of skin along with the veins, arteries and capillaries of the circulatory system that assist in insuring that the thermoregulatory system works properly. The sweat glands are responsible for selectively removing materials from the blood the sweat glands then concentrates or alters these toxins, and secretes them
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder was first recorded in soldiers after the Civil War, but was not recognized as a common occurrence until after the Vietnam War, when symptoms developed in over 30% of combat veterans (Harvard Men's Health Watch). After they are removed from combat, former soldiers often experience nightmares, flashbacks, outbursts of anger, and the inability to sleep (Cohen 1). Beah experienced all of these symptoms when he and some
Battle Analysis: Battle of Fredricksburg The Fredericksburg Battle The fighters who took part in the battle Union Forces A number of 31,659 soldiers constituting the Union Forces fought at the Battle of Fredericksburg. The Union Forces came from the Grand Division and were commanded by MG Edwin V. MG Joseph Hooker commanded Sumner from the Center Grand Division which consisted of 40,396 soldiers. MG William B. Franklin was at the helm of affairs of
Cold Blood" case is very chilling and has been depicted by Truman Capote personally as well as by others in much the same or at least a slightly different way. Beyond that, while the Clutter case was bad enough, there is a major question as to whether the two assailants in the Clutter case also committed the Walker murders. While there is no "smoking gun" that links the two Clutter
" Giannelli (2003) stresses that advantages and reliability of scientific and technical evidence depend on whether a scientific culture exists. For reliability of DNA and other scientific evidence, there have to be sufficient written protocols and "an empirical basis for the most basic procedures." (Giannelli, 2003) Barry Scheck, Peter Neufeld, and Jim Dwyer (cited by Giannelli, 2003) conclude that their investigations revealed that a third of the criminal convictions of 62
Snyder "Lumber Strike" An Analysis of Gary Snyder's "Lumber Strike" Gary Snyder's "The Late Show & Lumber Strike of the Summer of Fifty-Four" is at once both a poem about an historical incident that shutdown production lines in the Northwest Lumber industry in 1954 and a poem that transcends time and space to contemplate existence. A beat poet whose imagery often tends to linger on the natural world, Snyder uses a still