Sunday, October 25, 2009

The first couple pages of In Cold Blood depict a society where not much happens. It starts out with Capote saying, “The village of Holcomb stands on the high wheat plains of western Kansas, a lonesome area that other Kansans call ‘out there’.” (15). Capote uses the sense of the setting as a way to show that a mass murder would never have been suspected in such a small town. He also says, “the majority of Holcomb’s homes are one-story frame affairs, with front porches.” (Capote 15). The difference between the family that was murdered, the Clutters, was they didn’t live in the ordinary house of the small Kansas town. Their house is described as something to be looked at when Capote says, “the handsome white house, standing on an ample lawn of groomed Bermuda grass, impressed Holcomb; it was a place people pointed out.” (21) In a way the setting showed how the Clutters stood out from society making them a target because of their wealth which separated them from others in Holcomb. If the Clutter family would have lived in the average house, in the average town, it really would have been shocking to have the family murdered. Like mentioned in the recent posts about Nancy being the ideal girl, the family was looked upon with respect. Mr. Clutter was a prestigious farmer who dealt with a great deal of land. The land in which he harvested all of his crops represents who he was. The crops he harvested and the animals he cared for on his property showed the wealth he prospered in not only his town but in himself too. 

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