The Why Factor: Inspirations and Impact

Truman Capote spent his whole life writing; from the time he was eleven until his death.  He has written elitist novels before like Breakfast at Tiffany’s and wanted to write something different, something meaningful. As Abby mentioned below, his next dream was to write “an epic nonfiction novel.” What first sent him in the direction of the novel was a 300-word article in the New York Times about the murders of the Clutter family in Kansas. He knew just from reading these words that there was a deeper story behind this and he was going to be the one to reveal it, resulting in one of the most popular novels of all time.

                Capote spent the next six years interviewing the residents of the town, including the two murderers, taking over 8,000 pages of notes, resulting in his novel In Cold Blood. He discovered why the murderers chose this family. Apparently a fellow inmate told them that the Clutter family had valuables stored away at the house, which turned out to be false.

                That covers the why he wrote it and why the crime was committed, but there’s also the bigger question of why this novel still has such an impact on the world when it was written, and why is still does today. At the time of the murders in 1959, America was in a time of economic boom still reminiscent of the end of the Second World War, and it was full of close-knit families like the Clutters.  Never was a murder like this more unexpected, especially to such an upstanding family. This ensued paranoia and discomfort to people all over the world, making many aware of the horror that could happen to anyone for no reason at all. Capote gripped onto this idea in the writing of his novel, publishing it and creating what is now known as crime genre, inspiring many other authors to do the same.

There has also been speculation that Capote had an intimate relationship with one of the murderers, Perry Smith. He has been depicted as the more guilt-ridden and sensitive of the two, which may also have motivated Capote in writing the novel; he may have tried to redeem Smith in a way, if they were in fact involved. Nothing has been proven of course, but the rumors do exist.

                There is no doubt, however, that no matter the reason for why Capote wrote the novel, it sparked a reaction from people. Whether it be fear and awareness in people, or inspiration for writers everywhere, Capote managed to successfully write and epic novel, one that will be talked about for many years to come.