In Cold Blood

The final scene in the novel—Dewey’s chance meeting with Sue Kidwell—is one Capote allegedly fabricated. Discuss the significance of this scene—or another fictional scene of your choosing—to the work as a whole. Is Capote justified in including it, despite branding his book as a work of nonfiction?

Late in the novel, Capote describes Dick and Perry as “uncongenial but helpless Siamese twins” (366). How do you understand the relationship between Dick and Perry? What does each man get out of it, and why do they choose to stick together despite their differences?

Compare and contrast Dewey’s role as a detective to Capote’s as a writer. Do they ultimately reach the same conclusions about the Clutter case?

In what ways do the Clutters embody the American Dream? How does Bonnie Clutter fit in to this ideal? How does she contradict it?

In depicting Holcomb’s responses to the Clutter murders, Capote tends to focus on the reactions of a few key characters, including Sue Kidwell, Myrtle Clare, and Bobby Rupp. What makes these characters’ perspectives on the murders—or on death in general—particularly significant?

Bearing in mind Capote’s own sexual identity, how do you interpret his depiction of gender nonconformity in the novel? In his depiction of characters like Perry Smith, does Capote imply an innate link between such nonconformity and perceived moral deviancy, or does he suggest that Smith’s criminality is the product of social ostracism?

On the subject of capital punishment, Dick says, “Revenge is all it is, but what’s wrong with revenge? It’s very important” (387). How does this attitude toward the death penalty compare with that of the work as a whole? Does In Cold Blood present any alternatives to this understanding of criminal justice?

What role does Christianity play in the lives of the novel’s characters? How does Capote himself use Christian imagery to contribute to the work’s overall meaning?