Truman Capote’s Anonymity Essay - 2078 Words

In an interview with Truman Capote, George Plimpton asks if In Cold Blood is truly an accurate portrayal of the Clutter family’s murder, â€Å"One doesn’t spend almost six years on a book, the point of which is factual accuracy, and then give way to minor distortions† (Plimpton). Capote claims he only uses factual information in his story, completely removes himself from the novel, and has created a new genre of literature by combining reportage journalism with fiction techniques. However, literary critics have long debated whether or not In Cold Blood is the first of its kind: a non-fiction novel. Capote’s novel is something unique that the world has never seen before, but it is not the non-fiction novel that he claims it to be. Regardless of†¦show more content†¦The realism that Capote claims his novel exemplifies is the absolute, God-honest truth. Capote distances himself from the novel by declaring authenticity: One way for a writer to renounce power is to lay a claim to realism. Capote goes further. His narrative, he declares, is not only realistic but also completely and utterly true, a nonfiction novel. Given the nature of the project, any departure from fact is unacceptable. (Guest 119) Capote professes complete realism to prove his absence and depict true events. Capote refuses to stray from fact as that defeats the purpose of establishing a new genre of literature. However, inevitably, Capote himself is involved in the events, so his opinions, interpretations, and feelings, are all expressed, one way or another, through his writing. To avoid revealing his own opinions, he places entire word for word conversations into the text between Hickock and Smith or the detectives and the murderers. While word for word accounts show factual evidence, they do not prove his absence: The novels reliance on external documentation and expert testimony, as previously noted, reinforces the illusion of documentary realism. Long passages are quoted verbatim from confessions, letters, psychiatric evaluations, and transcriptions of court proceedings, thus providing further evidence that the novel is reporting rather than interpreting or creating. (Guest