Truman Capote put-to-words a captivating tale of two monsters who committed four murders in cold blood. However, despite their atrocities, Capote still managed to sway his readers into a mood of compassion. Although, his tone may have transformed several times throughout the book, his overall purpose never altered.
Truman began the novel with a chapter of exposition. His main purpose of this segment was to describe the victims, which he did by writing in an ominous tone. This tone acting primarily as a foreshadowing of what the reader knew would come. Capote was heightening the suspense. The readers knew the Clutters would die, but the family lived blissfully oblivious of what was yet ...view middle of the document...
Also, a brief insight on Perry's sister is given; Capote includes the opinions of Perry and Willie Jay about the letter as well. Perry's terrible upbringing, his struggle for survival, lack of education, and his poor public opinion all start the transition towards sympathy.
Just as in the first chapter, the beginning of chapter three has a very ominous, foreshadowing tone. Throughout the chapter, Capote includes many instances where the criminals were frightened of being caught. At a laundry mat, Perry was experience a near panic-attack when Dick was running a few minutes late to a rendezvous. Capote transitioned back to his ominous tone for the same purpose as in the first chapter. In the first chapter, the readers are given a deep understanding of the victims while a foreshadowing tone is used. The readers knew the Clutters would die, yet the tension nonetheless continued to build. In this third chapter, the readers have begun to understand a sympathize with the killers over a span of two chapters. As before, the fact that the killers would be caught is obvious, yet this ominous tone adds suspense. This marks a substantial shift in the readers' opinions involving the killers.
Throughout the novel, Capote's tone changed multiple times to better fit each segment of the book. However, his overall purpose remained constant to the end. This purpose was to induce compassion into the hearts of his readers by being completely objective. Capote easily could have been entirely subjective, throwing in emotions of hate and contempt. Instead, he attempted to understand not only the side of justice, but...
