The non-fiction-fest continues! Thanks to Hazel for this month's choice, and for the images and discussion questions, ready for our summer BBQ meeting on Friday 8th July in Horsham.
1. How does Capote build suspense despite the fact that readers know the ultimate outcome from the beginning of In Cold Blood?
2. What does the crime reveal about the town of Holcomb? How does the gossip surrounding the murders reflect underlying truths about the town? What seems to be Capote’s view of small town American life?
3. In what ways is In Cold Blood like a fiction novel? How does Capote report the facts and allow different voices to speak without using a journalistic style?
4. In Cold Blood starts with details about the Clutter family's last day alive. Did any of the details particularly stick out to you? Did Capote make you feel attached to the family by sharing these details?
5. Were there any other characters you empathised with because of small details Capote wrote about them? Bobby Rupp? Alvin Dewey?
6. Why did Capote leave out descriptions of the two older Clutter sisters? Did the narrative benefit from this exclusion?
7. What role does "dreaming" play in the novel, both figuratively and literally? Think of Perry's dream of the parrot and of finding gold in Mexico, and of Dewey's nightmares. How reliable is what Capote tells us about these dreams?
8. Why do you think Capote split the narrative into sections? Why do you think he did not describe how the murders happened until Dick and Perry were caught and gave their confessions?
9. Did you feel sympathy for Dick or Perry at any point? Did they seem human despite the brutality of their crime and lack of remorse to the end?
10. What do you think is Capote’s view of the importance of the killers’ backgrounds and upbringing in their subsequent criminal behaviour?
11. Capote seems to paint Perry in a more sympathetic light than Dick. He seems sensitive and even kind at points; however, by the end you find out that Perry committed all four murders. Did that surprise you? Did you sympathize with Dick more than Perry at any point?
12. In what ways does Capote reveal the nature of his research through the construction of the book? Is it important that Capote himself is never named? Does his absence endanger the credibility of the narrative?
13. Do you think Dick and Perry were sane? Did the psychiatric analysis of them and descriptions of other cold blooded killers make you think differently about violent crime or the death penalty?
14. The book was highly controversial when it was released because many people thought that Capote was more sympathetic towards the killers than the Clutter family. Would you agree with this view?
15. In an era when true crime stories are common what, if anything, does this story have that sets it apart from other non-fiction crime writing?
