Innocence to Fear

Truman Capote depicts the town of Holcomb as innocent, loving, and perfectly content with itself at the beginning of In Cold Blood, only to later show the internal destruction of the quaint town. As Capote showed with the Clutters, the town was perfect for everyone who knew it. In part 1 of the novel, it is said that, “The land is flat, and views are awesomely extensive; horses, herds of cattle, a white cluster of grain elevators rising as gracefully as Greek temples are visible long before a traveler reaches them” (3). Capote is comparing a town in rural Kansas to the magnificent Greek temples. This is used to show that like the Greek temples, Holcomb was destroyed while it was still perfect. This rural town was destroyed by the atrocious murders of the Clutter family. Capote also describes the open, neighborly feel that the townspeople felt with each other, often leaving their doors unlocked (5). Before the disturbing murder of the Clutter family, the people of Holcomb had no problem leaving their doors unlocked it was a completely trusting and open community. Again, though the people felt safe and trusting, the murder changed all that, it took away the innocence and belief that the people felt towards one another. “This hitherto peaceful congregation of neighbors and old friends had suddenly to endure the unique experience of distrusting each other” (88). Distrustful after the crime, the residents of Holcomb were full of feelings of fear and mistrust, and moved elsewhere, hoping to regain their sense of security and well being. The town was completely changed from that sense of perfection to a sense of constant fear.