Suspense In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood
The excerpt from In Cold Blood, written by Truman Capote, represents a remarkable example of using suspense to interest the reader into learning key details. Understanding that his reader will not find an ordinary town interesting, Capote displays details so that they appear vivid, even if they aren’t. Truman's writing works in direct reference to the setting of the story: accent, local language and slang. Holcomb, the name of this town, is “dry” and nothing has happened in the area up to this point. Capote uses creative structure and imagery, as well as diction to highlight the indifferent life of the People in Holcomb. The structure of this passage adds to the foreshadowing that Capote wishes to convey. The lush detail, followed by simplistic descriptions set up a fair amount of room for the reader to visual the setting and, at the same time, scenarios a that could happen in the town. To explain, Capote gives details about the town that we can easily visualize: the horses, cattle, and grain elevators. He also describes the bank, he even mentions the flaking gold on the windows, however, he doesn’t describe the rest of the building and leaves room for us to
…show more content…
The somewhat older words, such as postmistress, trousers and lonesome, that can help illustrate the simplicity of the time and what sets the town apart from current time. This diction is subtly integrated into the passage and allows the reader to ease into the town. Capote, through such phrases as “out there,” gives us a decent idea of what the town looks like and how the people act. The melancholy and gaunt citizens of Holcomb, as Capote describes them, are seemingly uninvolved in the town; until it is revealed that they all are heavily associated with the school, that is. These somewhat broad terms are brilliant in the fact that they leave us hanging, eerily similar to the structure of the passage
The somewhat older words, such as postmistress, trousers and lonesome, that can help illustrate the simplicity of the time and what sets the town apart from current time. This diction is subtly integrated into the passage and allows the reader to ease into the town. Capote, through such phrases as “out there,” gives us a decent idea of what the town looks like and how the people act. The melancholy and gaunt citizens of Holcomb, as Capote describes them, are seemingly uninvolved in the town; until it is revealed that they all are heavily associated with the school, that is. These somewhat broad terms are brilliant in the fact that they leave us hanging, eerily similar to the structure of the passage