Rhetorical Strategies

·      Foreshadowing:  “A bookmark lay between its pages, a stiff piece of watered silk upon which an admonition had been embroidered: ‘Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is’” (30).

·      Simile:  “It was as though his head had been halved like an apple, then put together a fraction off center” (31).

·      Zeugma: “Along with Buffalo Jones, who lost his money and then his mind…” (32).

·      Imagery:  “Blue-furred, orange-eyed, red-fanged, a tiger snarled upon his left biceps; a spitting snake, coiled around a dagger, slithered down his arm; and elsewhere skulls gleamed, a tombstone loomed, a chrysanthemum flourished” (32).

·      Irony:  “Perry’s inspiration, nuns, he had argued, were certain to have a supply [of black stockings]” (41).

·      Rhetorical Question: “The flaw?  Explosive emotional reaction out of all proportion to the occasion” (43).

·      Personification:  “his memory…haunting the hallways of his mind” (44).

·      Alliteration: “projects Perry had proposed” (99).

·      Adage: “’an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth’” (142).

·      Simile: “I loved my father but there were times when this love and affection I had for him drained from my heart like wasted water” (275).

·      Alliteration: “the whisper of the wind voices in the wind-bent wheat” (343).

·      Metaphor: “He and Dick were ‘running a race without a finish line’” (202).

·      Rhetorical Question: “’Is that rain?  All the windows down!”’ (338).

Analysis:

            Truman Capote implements a variety of language and figurative devices to add diversity to his writing in his novel In Cold Blood.  Throughout the book, he uses these rhetorical devices to allow the reader to picture the dark and evil ways of the murderers’ actions.  By incorporating a series of different strategies, a specific style becomes prominent in Capote’s writing.   One can see that in parts of the novel, the rhetorical devices add certain effects to the intensity of the plot.

            In the first section, titled “The Last to See Them Alive,” the author utilizes foreshadowing to hint at what is going to happen later on in the novel.  The example above is a quotation from the Bible that Mrs. Clutter keeps in her room.  Because the Bible is one of the few objects that Mrs. Clutter has in her possession while she is isolated in her room, one can see that it is important.  This statement, made at the end of one of the chapters and towards the middle of the section, foreshadows that death will be coming for someone (although we do not know who at this point in the novel).  Following the foreshadowing are the descriptions of the two murderers.  Capote uses a simile to characterize Dick’s physical appearance.  The simile is a comparing an apple pieced together the wrong way with the structure of Dick’s face.  This is a result of a car accident that happened earlier on in his life.  By giving the reader the opportunity to picture one of the antagonists, they are able to get a full understanding of the murderers’ experiences and what may have lead to their decision to kill such an honorable family.  The author then goes on to explain some of the people Dick and Perry have met in the past, including Buffalo Jones.  By implementing a zeugma, Capote shows that Jones is both poor and mentally unstable.  Including this character in the novel tells the reader that both Perry and Dick have encountered odd personalities that may match their own. 

            Imagery plays a large part throughout this novel as well.  Whether it is to describe the murder scenes or the challenging journey the detectives have to overcome to catch the killers, one can see that it is important to the author’s writing style.  Imagery allows the reader to illustrate in their mind the images or situations present in the novel.  This gives the audience the opportunity to relate and connect with the book.  One circumstance where Capote demonstrates imagery is when he mentions the tattoos present on each of the killers’ bodies.  Not only does this characterize the suspects, it also gives the reader the background history (by telling us where and why they have the tattoos).  We learn that Perry and Dick have both struggled at certain times in their life.  However, this does not stop them from premeditating and carrying out with the four murders of the Clutter family.  On their journey to the house, Dick stops and asks a nun if she has any black stockings.  Therefore, the example above is ironic because the black stockings will be used to hide their faces during the killings, but they would have been bought from a holy and sacred place.  On top of this, Perry then begins to question if they will be able to follow through with their plan.  This is when the author uses several rhetorical questions.  After analyzing the context in which the rhetorical questions were used, one can see that Perry doubts their plan – another factor that plays into his complex characterization.  One can see that many of the rhetorical strategies that are found in the novel aim toward the characterization of the antagonists and the murder itself.

            Other devices such as alliteration, metaphors, similes, adages, and personification are represented in the writing style of the author.  Alliteration, such as the examples above, is used to add diversity to the text and add emphasis to that sentence of the novel.  The repeating sound of the “p” and the “w” are significant because it draws attention to the tone of the passages.  When Capote states, “projects Perry had proposed,” the tone can be described as serious and somewhat suspenseful (99).  On the other hand, when he ends with the line: “the whisper of the wind voices in the wind-bent wheat,” this demonstrates a peaceful and more subtle atmosphere (343).  Both the personification and the simile included above portray Perry’s feelings toward his father.  The example of personification mentions how his memory “haunts” him and the simile compares his love for his father to wasted water.  However, one of the most important rhetorical devices written in the novel is in the form of a metaphor: “He and Dick were ‘running a race without a finish line’” (202).  At this point in the novel, after being on the run for quite some time, Dick and Perry are worn out mentally and physically.  The impact of the murders, although committed in cold blood, has made their lives horrible and unfavorable.   Just like a race can become tiring, the murderers’ are running from the law and dodging obstacles along the way.

            Overall, the different forms of figurative language and rhetorical devices add something unique to Capote’s style of writing.  In Cold Blood is a cleverly crafted book that utilizes these techniques strongly to emphasize the intensity of the plot.