English book report. 1. Title:In Cold Blood. 2.
Author plus biographical background information:Truman Capote, one of Americas most famous writers was born in New Orleans in 1924 and died in California in 1984. He wrote both fiction and non- fiction stories. (for example this book, In cold blood) short stories, novels, travel writing, profiles, reportage, memoirs, plays and films. 3. Number of pages:3364.
Theme (s):- Murder- Feelings5. The Clutter family. Herb Clutter: Hes the father of the murdered family. Hes forty-eight yr. old. Herb is a normal man, who makes a living with the farm he owns.
His social contacts in the neighborhood and the people of Holcomb community are very good, people love to talk with him and Mr. Clutter is a member of the agricultural society. Mrs. Clutter: Shes the mother of the family, and loves miniature things.
She has two kids, a girl named Nancy and a boy named Kenyon. The daughter is very much loved in town by boys who like to hang out with her, but she already has a boyfriend named Bobby Rupp. Nancy has another love, and thats her old fat horse named Babe. The brother of Nancy is Kenyon, hes a boy who likes to fish and hunt.
Chase coyotes on his Coyote wagon, just a normal boy. Perry and Dick. Perry Smith is a very quiet person who had a lousy childhood, which affected his behavior in worse form. He seems to be a quite decent person to talk with, but hes very easily influenced. In the end you feel a little sorry for him because Truman Capote describes him as a person who had a very difficult childhood.
Perry was the person who killed the Clutters by shooting their brains out with a . 12-gauge shotgun. Hes feels no sorry for the crime he has committed. But he also says he liked Mr. Clutter, and thought he was a very nice man. Then there is his companion named Richard (Dick) Hickock.
Hes the one who comes with the idea of robbing the Clutter family and to kill any people in the house on the moment of the robbery. When theyre looking for the safe of Mr. Clutter, they find out that there isnt any safe in the office of Mr. Clutter. They decide to tie the family up and kill them.
Dick doesnt dare to pull the trigger so Perry has to do the dirty work. Dick first was planning to rape Nancy Clutter, but Perry kept him from doing that. People who are sexually obsessed make him mad. In the story youll know them better and understand how they could come to these plans, in the end you sort of feel a little sorry for them both, you get some sympathy for them. Inspector Alvin DeweyThis is the head police chief whos in charge of the murder investigation. In the beginning hes very motivated to catch the murderers of the Clutter family.
But when hes caught both of the killers and questions Smith, he begins to feel some sympathy for Smith. 6. Where and when does the story take place?The story takes place in Holcomb, Kansas. Where the Clutter family owns a farm. The story line covers about six years, from 1959 till April 14 Th.
1965, the time both criminals are hanged for their deeds. Other scenes of the book take place in the car of the two murderers who travel across the States. They also go to Mexico to flee for the police. Later parts of the story contain a scene of the prison cells where they are kept before their hanging. 7. Summary of the plotThe story begins with the family Clutter, who lives in Holcomb, Kansas and own a farm.
Mr. Clutter is very much loved in the Holcomb society aswell as the rest of the Clutter family. Then Dick plans to rob the Clutter family and plans to leave no witnesses alive when they rob the place. Together with his companion Perry, he robs Mr. Clutter at night.
They go in and scare the gun-shy dog, so the Clutters dont wake up. They break into the residence, and start searching for Mr. Clutters safe. This safe should be in the office of Mr. Clutter, Dick heard a story that Mr. Clutter always carriess large amounts of money.
They look for the safe but there isnt one. They go upstairs to look for Mr. Clutter; they drag him out of his bed and take him downstairs. He tells them there isnt a safe in the house and that he has no money in the house.
Dick and Perry are very pissed of and take Mr. Clutter upstairs to Mrs. Clutter who sleeps separated from Mr. Clutter. They go into the room and wake her up, shes scared by the two man but Mr. Clutter calms her down and askes her if she has any money on her.
She only has a small amount of money on her and they take her money. Then they tie Mr. and Mrs. Clutter up and lock Mrs. Clutter up in the bathroom. Mr.
Clutter is taken to the basement where they tie him to a pipe on the ceiling and let him hang there for a while. Then they decide to go upstairs again, to get Kenyon and Nancy, first they enter the room of Nancy. They tie her up and take the few bucks she has on her. They also tie up Kenyon and take him to the basement.
They lay him down so they can shoot him easily trough the head. Then they shoot Mr. Clutter and go upstairs where they kill Mrs. Clutter in the bathroom and Nancy on her room. Dick was planning to rape Nancy first, but Perry stopped dick from doing that. Because people who are sexually obsessed are sick and piss him of.
In the end of the story when Perry is arrested he tells the police that if Dick had raped the girl he should have killed Dick. After they killed the Clutters they jump in their car and go out on the plains to bury the shotgun shells and the pieces of rope and take which they used by the killing of the family. After that they make jokes and laugh about what theyve done. But they are very pissed of the fact that there was so little money in the house ( they only got 40 $ ). They decide to go to Mexico to flee and hide for the police, who are starting an investigation on the Clutter murder case.
The whole city of Holcomb is shocked by the killing of the loved family and everybody is scared. Perry and Dick stay in Mexico for a while but then they want to return to the states again, they decide to hitchhike back to the USA. Then Floyd Wells, a former cellmate of Dick. Dick told Wells that he was planning to kill the Clutters and leave no witnesses.
Floyd Wells reads about the murder and tips the police of the possible murderers. Dick and Perry stole a car when they were back in the US, they also pass out false cheques and spent the money on a holiday in Miami. Then they travel to Las Vegas where the police catch them. They are questioned about the murder and they finally make a full confession. They spent the rest of their time in jail until they have to go to court to hear their punishment.
The jury as the judge decides to give them the dead penalty by hanging. Eventually both of the men are hanged on April 14 1965.
