The Effect of the Setting on the Crime

In In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote, the setting plays a significant role in the effect of the crime both on the people of Holcomb,Kansas, and the reader. In Section 1 of the book, Capote spends a lot of time on describing the setting, or exposition of the story. His portrayal of Holcomb as a quiet and peaceful countryside city adds to the crime, or the conflict. Capote describes the town and its surroundings in vivid details, as well as the people and their tranquil lifestyle in Holcomb. Even though his novel is a non-fiction piece, his detailed and accurate description of the town and the life in it, only deepens and intesifies the effect of the horrifying crime on the actual people of Holcomb who witnessed the terror and on the reader of the book. Capote puts great emphasis on the peaceful life of the people of Holcomb, which is great in contrast to the bloody and mass murder of a whole family for no apparent reason. The setting is the type that is least expected to lead to a cold blooded murder, which adds to the irony of such an evil thing happening in such a heavenly setting. Holcomb IS depicted to contain a small Garden of Eden of its own, one of Mr. Clutters favorite places to go. Capote also puts major emphasis on the setting to later relate it to the terror the people of Holcomb experienced because such a thing happened, and could again happen in their small,peaceful town.