Figurative Language In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

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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 murder of one of the towns more honorable families, was obviously bound to stir up the town. The tiny town had never heard of such violent acts, and at first could not think of any motives as to why the Clutters were the set victims. Capote uses candid language to keep it short and to the point, “At the time, not a soul in sleeping Holcomb heard them- four shotgun blasts that, all told, ended six human lives” to …show more content…
His figurative and rhetorical strategies that always dig deeper are in direct relation with the horrifying, harsh murder and treatment thereafter. He says, “ a bird taller that Jesus, yellow like a sunflower, a warrior-angel who blinded the nuns with its beak, fed upon their eyes, slaughtered them..” getting in to the exact details and very descriptive imagery, to emphasize the horrid dynamics of the murder and relate them to Perry and Dick. When the investigation starts and their friends and family don’t believe they did it, the harsh realism starts to come out of their true character. To sum up Capote’s purpose for using as much figurative language as he does, he does it to bring out the horrid reality about the true character of Dick and Perry. Capote depicts them as innocent, laid back people who just commited a minor felony. As the book develops, Capote does a great job of unraveling the true soul of Dick and Perry by describing and using all that figurative
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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…

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