Essay on rhetorical strategies about the American dream theme in cold blood, by truman capote. Please help me revise it
The American Dream is the idea that anybody is able to get to the top with hard work. When discussing the concept of the American dream in the novel, “In Cold Blood,” the Clutter family comes to mind. Mr. Clutter began his career working for others, and was eventually able to build his own farm and become a successful man. He “labored eighteen hours a day” and would persist even when it got tough. He has the perfect job, perfect house, and the perfect family which was, unfortunately, taken away all in one night. What exactly is the American Dream though? Instead of writing a plain crime report, Capote uses symbolism and irony on the people of Holcomb to depict the truth of the American dream. While everyone wants the American Dream, regardless of their origin or social level, hidden roadblocks make it more difficult to achieve.
Capote depicts Mr. Clutter as a symbol for the American dream with the perfect career, perfect family, perfect life. “Always certain of what he wanted from the world, Mr. Clutter had in large measure obtained it…[H]e wore a plain gold band, which was the symbol…of his marriage to the person he had wished to marry…She had given him four children – a trio of daughters and a son.” (Capote 6) Mr. Clutter’s success is mainly due to two factors: his hardworking personality and his perseverance. His success is due to his dedication and perseverance and demonstrates how it can help achieve the American Dream, however, Dick and Perry’s actions symbolize why some people fail achieve this. To begin, Perry was a brilliant and hard working person, however, he was never able able to fulfill his desire of the American Dream, having been disabled by a motorcycle accident and trapped by his child room trauma. He finds it so far out of reach to even get to where the Clutters are, therefore he turns to crime, with the ill desire for escape and treasure, “or in his imagination roam through the house he hoped to have, and through the garden he meant to plant, and under trees yet to be seeded. He was very certain that someday his own oasis of oaks and elms would stand upon those shadeless plains. Someday God willing.” Despite having a secure middle class life, Dick messed up in creating fake checks and eventually robbing the Clutters with Perry. The Clutters, in contrast to Perry and Dick, symbolize the ideal look of the American Dream. Herb Clutter is a self-made man who rose from humble beginnings and became a prosperous farmer and rancher.
Despite the Clutter’s success, not everything is perfect, as people say “not everything is shown behind closed doors.” Capote uses Bonnie Clutter as irony and sybolize that the American dream is not what it seems. On page 23, it is revealed that “she had been an on and off psychiatric patient.” Despite the fact that the Clutters are portrayed as Holcomb’s perfect family, Bonnie Clutter is revealed to be a mentally unstable lady in the novel. She has been suffering horribly from postpartum depression, “But with Nancy and then with Kenyon, the pattern of postnatal depression repeated itself, and following the birth of her son, the mood of misery that descended never altogether lifted” (Capote 27). Capote reveals the family’s flaws to demonstrate that even those who have achieved the American Dream are unable to create their ideal lives and also, just like everyone else, can face many hardships. This feature helps Capote emphasize that the American Dream is not what it seems and that even though one’s life seems like perfection, there will always be unexpected burdens.
The deaths of the Clutters demonstrate how quickly dreams can be crushed and emphasizes how readily the American Dream can be distorted by external forces. Capote uses tone to depict how fragile the American Dream can be and how easily it can be snatched.. The Clutter family have been successful in many ways and worked their way to the top, however, all of their accomplishments were wiped out in a single night when Dick and Perry murdered them. “Then, stroking the brim of his cap, he went for home and the day’s work, unaware that it would be his last,” (Capote 13). This is an example of the author’s serious tone to support his purpose of how the American Dream can be taken so unexpectedly. Because the Clutters were admired and placed on a pedestal, their murder sparked panic throughout Holcomb. “Of all the people in all the world, the Clutters were the least likely to be murdered.” The American Dream’s fragility is shown on page 41, Mr. Helm said “and that,” he was to testify the next day, “was the last time I saw them. Nancy leading old Babe off to the barn. Like I said, nothing out of the ordinary.” This highlights how random the Clutter family’s murder was, and how the the family had absolutely no clue it would be their last day on Earth that particular day. Nothing was out of place, revealing how easily the American Dream can be taken away.
Despite the fact that the Clutter family is the ideal of the American Dream, Capote sends a message to the reader that success does not ensure a happy life and success does not prevent one from losing it. The American dream, according to Capote, is a mere illusion and that it is not what it seems and the use of irony depicts this. As a result of Mr. After Clutter’s hard work, the family became Holcomb’s most respected people but even then, they did not achieve perfection. Rather, they were under a mask of what the town perceives them. While everyone desires to live the American Dream, regardless of their background or social status, it is not easy to achieve due to different opportunities and many hidden factors. Through the tone of the novel, we can notice the seriousness of how the “American Dream” is something very fragile, and can easily be taken away. Capote does a great job of not just informing the reader of a murder, but also symbolizing that the American dream is not what it seems through irony, symbolism, and tone.
