TOW #12 - IRB analysis

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote is the nonfiction retelling of a murder that took place in Holcomb, Kansas. The author does three very effective things to both engage the reader and put a unique perspective on the retelling. He first is very straight forward with details. Considering it is a case of murder there are some pretty gruesome details. He does not exclude such details. Reading is it is almost as realistically detailed as if you were watching it on a crime show. This is effective to the authors purpose of giving an accurate portrayal of this event. Considering that he was not there at the actual time of this murder occurring and unfolding he of course needed to rely on some witnesses. Using sources who were at the scene or were close acquaintances to the victims is very effective. It gives Capote both credibility, in the sense that he is not fabricating the story he is giving the excruciating details from what was passed on to him by others. And it also gives an overall completeness to the story. It would be easy to go straight to the police department of the town and read the report and do a retelling based on that but to get to the true heart of the event and have a well rounded story to tell, a variety of sources was a smart decision. The third effective technique that Capote takes advantage of if his use of split perspectives. The story isn't exactly split into chapters but there are clear breaks between parts of the story. Along with this breaks usually comes a switch of perspective between the family before their being murdered or close acquaintances of the family to the two men who were the murderers. Another additionally effective thing that bounces off of that and is fair for me to say considering that I am only half way through, is the fact that it is not explicitly stated that these two men are the murderers but through their actions and dialogue and background profiles the reader can assume. The split perspectives helps the reader to speculate and be aware of the two sides to this story that while were happening along side one another at one instance meet up in a disastrous way.