1# *In Cold Blood* - Truman Capote 2 3## Setting 4 5**What does the setting of the text include?** 6 7- Holcomb, Kansas, America, 1959 8- cultural information - America, small isolated community, agricultural economy, 1959 9- explicit mention of dates to set period (Nov 14, 1959) 10- Holcomb, Kansas - small town, "not a place that strangers come upon by chance" 11- introduction to characters - family interactions/relationships 12- integration of events & people to describe culture/period/location 13- "hip-high, sheep-slaughtering snows" - harsh weather 14- description of clothing - "narrow frontier trousers, Stevensons, and high heeled boots" 15- description of accent - "the local accent is barbed with a prairie twang" 16- landscape - dusty, dry flat, vast 17- low population 18- "few Americans [..] had ever heard of Holcomb" 19- dilapidated buildings, uniform through town 20 21**How do the setting and events work together?** 22 23**Foreshadowing** 24 25p 25, 41, 52, 63, 67 26 27- chapter titles - "the last to see them alive" etc 28- not going to church 29- ambiguous implications 30- “Chinese elms had turned into a tunnel of darkening green” (leading up to Clutters' house) 31- “until one morning in mid-November of 1959, few Americans [..] had ever heard of Holcomb” 32- Herbert “headed for home and the day’s work, unaware that it would be his last” 33- “if Dick had not hammered home the every-minute importance of the next twenty-four hours” - Dick and Perry planning 34- “the only sure thing is every one of them has got to go” - Dick 35- “four shotgun blasts that, all told, ended six human lives” 36- “Only now when I think back, I think somebody must have been hiding there. Maybe down among the trees. Somebody just waiting for me to leave” 37- dual narrative in chronological order approaching murder 38- - create a sense that the narrative will "collide" 39- - different settings, same time 40 41 42## Characters 43 44### Herbert Clutter 45 46- owns River Valley Farm 47- four children - two daughters (Eveanna + anon) + Nancy + Kenyon 48- successful - owns large property 49- "I'm not as poor as I look" 50- devout Methodist 51- approves of Bobby but wary of their relationship 52 53### Bonnie Clutter 54 55- wife of Herbert Clutter 56- mentally unstable (anxiety/BPD) 57 58### Kenyon Clutter 59-15 60- builds stuff 61 62### Nancy Clutter 63- boyfriend Bobby Rupp 64- best friend Susan Kidwell 65 66### Bobby Rupp 67- Nancy's boyfriend 68 69## Alvin Dewey 70- Investigator for Kansas Bureau of Investigation 71- wife Marie, two sons 72 73 74 75### Dick Hickock 76 77- murders Clutters with Perry Smith 78- "Dick, the practical Dick" 79- appears confident 80 81### Perry Smith 82 83- murders Clutters with Dick Hickock 84- injured in motorcycle accident 85- breakfast - "three aspirin, cold root beer and a chain of Paul Mall cigarettes" 86- self-centred/egotistical - “Every time you see a mirror you go into a trance” 87- more open/prominent in text than Dick 88- messy/materialistic - “Christ, Perry. You carry that junk everywhere?” 89- "know the ins and outs of hunting gold" 90- has trouble meeting deadlines - "if Dick had not hammered home the every-minute importance of the next twenty-four hours" 91- criminal past 92- "never drank coffeemy name sluger lolol" 93 94### Willie-Jay 95- assistant to prison chaplain 96- respects and mentors Perry