Mrs. Robinson

AP English 3

7/28/07

The death penalty is one of those issues that everyone is always “unsure” about. Frankly, in my opinion, you’re either for or against it. If murdering an entire family doesn’t derserve the death penalty, then there is something seriously wrong with our society. An entire family! And for no plausible reason what-so-ever. In the context of In Cold Blood, I feel that both Dick and Perry deserve to be put to death for their crime. Can you imagine guiltlessly killing four members of a family with no regrets, just as Dick did? Or actually murdering with your bare hands like Perry did?

Guilt is a painful emotion that Dick did not experience, but one that haunted Perry day in and out after his murdering spree. Perry actually began to regret the horrible crime he committed. Stating shortly after the murder,  “Deep down, way, way rock bottom, I never thought I could do it. A thing like that” (pg. 109). If you begin having those thoughts, that is your first sign you have done something you can never take back. Though, Dick on the other hand never let these types of thoughts phase him. Perry’s worrisome claim had, for once, made Dick think, “But Perry, with his sharp and scratchy intuitions, had hit upon Dick’s one abiding doubt. Dick suffered mopments when that question circled inside his head: Was it possible–were the two of them ‘honest to God going to get away with a thing like that’?”(Pg 109-110). What does this say about Dick? That he regrets his actions? No! Because he simply shoves those thoughts out of his mind and continues his cross country life of breaking the law.

Despite the fact that Perry did feel like what he did was wrong, he still did it. And admitted to it. Big deal…because stealing a life is the worst form of stealing. You can never locate that stolen soul, or replace such a sacred object. So do I feel that the death penalty should be inflicted upon Dick and Perry? Why would I not think that? Jail is the easy way out. It’s ruining your life, but you’re still living.

The use of foreshadowing by describing detials that realte to the future causes the reader to be apprehensive of what will happen next; unaware of any twists and turns in the plot.

In this case, Capote links the thoughts and actions of not only the murderers but the victims and town people as well. These thoughts creaste a sense of helplessness for the reader for they wish to warn the victims and stop the killers.

It is a true author who can reveal the climax at the beginning of a novel and at the same time keep readers interested and anxious with every turn of the page. Capote uses his amazing abilities to add suspsense and action to a horrible, but true story that makes you constantly wonder what will happen next.

Mrs. Robinson

AP English 3

7/28/07

When I think of Holcomb, Kansas in 1959 my mind immediately flashes to the town of Mayfeild, the town in which Leave It To Beaver was set in. Both sweet hometown settings, but one has a sick, unexpected twist.

Holcomb is what I would consider a typical small town of its time. It has the local cafe(Hartman’s) and the rich rancher who is loved by everyone tht he comes in contact with. Or so we thought. When looking at the town from the outside in, there is nothing peculiar about it. Nothing that would create a target for such an emotionally disturbed crime. But then again, does any town polluted by crime give off that image? Nothing and nobody in our little towns give off the message that something could ever go terribly wrong, but despite what we want to believe, crime is not a stranger to Carteret County.

Holcomb is what we, living in the “bible belt”, would consider a normal town, but to others it may seem strangely religious. This detail is strongly stressed and described throughout the novel and in my opinion the author is creating some sort of irony. How could such a religious and forgiving town be jolted by such a murder? The setting plays an important role in the amazing context of the story. It stresses what an excruciating murder could happen in their happy town, so who’s to say that it can happen in ours? It puts us in the position of the town people, trying to cope with such a shocking and unbelievable incident. The author’s style really works in a sense of getting the point across through details and an amazingly precise setting.