A Hurt City and Sudden Changes

             After Reading the next portion of In Cold Blood, it is important to highlight that Capote spends a lot of time describing the consequences of the murders and how they impacted the community. The death of the Clutters not only affected the close friends of the family, but the entire town. The whole neighborhood had changed. The trust that reigned over that community had shattered, since they suspected the assassin was among them. A community that does not work together and trust each other will go nowhere and will experience no progress at all. Therefore, Garden City was doomed to live without any activity for quite a long period of time. To avoid this from happening, Mr. Howard Fox, Bonnie Clutter’s brother wrote, “The deed is done and taking another life cannot change it. Instead, let us forgive as God would have us do” (Capote 107). The people of the city probably believed Fox and started to return to live a normal life, but the fear still remained.

            I found it very interesting to observe how Capote kept us thinking all the way through that Perry and Dick were the murderers. Through their insights and their thoughts, I had no doubt that they were the murders. However, suddenly, another character, Jonathan Daniel Adrian, appears and is now considered the main suspect of the crime. This sudden shift in attention by the audience from Perry and Dick to Adrian also causes a total shift in focus by the book. The narrative reaches a point of very high suspense when the narrator states, “Because, inside the car, what they’d found was a .12-gauge shotgun. And a hunting knife” (Capote 123). This has to be the killer! However, I am now more hesitant to take this fact for certain since last time I took such a stance I was proved wrong. The authorities have solid clues now that are expected to lead them to the criminal(s).