In Cold Blood - Suspense (Carlos)

How does Capote build suspense throughout the story despite the fact that readers know the ultimate outcome from the beginning of In Cold Blood? I say Capote kept building suspense through the book when he tells the story from his point of view and from Dick and Perry’s point of view. Even though we know the outcome of the story, Capote builds suspense by showing the path the killers take to achieving the murder. He probably put in some events that probably never occurred in real life but still made it exciting for readers. The quotes that he puts in the book is probably another way that increases the suspense throughout the story. Capote wrote about Dick and Perry’s past to get to know more about them and their childhoods. Capote gives you pieces of the puzzle and you feel like you need to keep reading more; you feel want to know to know how it all happened and can read both the killers traveling and Holcomb’s view which is the investigation and by the end of the story it should all fit together like a puzzle. I haven’t even read the whole book but it’s an interesting story to me because of being to read from two different points of views.

2012 Predictions (Carlos)

The Mayan calendar may have people believing that the world is going to end on the last month of 2012 but I don’t think it’s going to happen. One of my doubts is that people back in the 90’s were saying that the end of the world was going to be in 1994 but no reason was given. People also said that the world was going to end on 1999 because it had the devils number on that year. The year 2000 was also said to be the end of the world due to computers having a due date on that year After I heard those rumors, I stopped believing that 2012 is going to be the end of the world because most of those speeches about the world ending on the years of the 90’s was made by the same man and I feel like he’s just trying to get attention from people and it worked. Apparently this is different since it didn’t come from that same person but from the Mayans calendar. There are people saying that the planets are lining up together and can also cause problems to the earths gravity. I still don’t think the world is going to end on December 2012, I believe it could the beginning of a new Era since this new century is getting more advanced technology and citizens are saying, “Children are the future” or are “The new generation”. I’m not saying that I know it will not happen I’m just giving my opinion.

In Cold Blood - Francois's Quote

The quote by Francois Villon in the beginning of “In Cold Blood” is translated to “Brothers that live when we are dead, don't set yourself against us too. If you could pity us instead, then God may sooner pity you.” Capote probably put this quote before the story to show that he read Francois’s book. I think the quote asks for the reader’s sympathy. Capote probably wants the reader to feel encouraged to consider feelings of sympathy for the two men that were hanged, in other words to apply the message. It could be that Capote put this quote to show how he felt about the book. I believe he did this so that the reader will have something to think about before and while reading the book. If this is what Capote wanted the readers to do, I think it worked because his book was successful and I bet most readers were thinking about the quote at the beginning while reading the book (Once they found the translation) and probably learned something from it. I think it really did make the readers think about the book and the quote at the beginning because of the positive reviews of the book, considering it the best crime story in the late1960’s and the 1970’s and it is still considered a good book today.

Innocent (Carlos)

Once people see that someone is telling the truth they might do the same. Perhaps they felt really guilty and probably couldn’t handle it anymore. There are times when they confess the truth they still have risks of still getting hanged or killed in a different way. Some are lucky that they will be set free while others don’t have as much luck. I think honor and respect are important because it helps the judge see that the person is not selfish. Others don’t think honor and respect are important, they probably think they will be set free but they are just putting themselves in more risk of being put on prison or being killed someone finds out that they were lying. I would have felt bad for those that are telling lies. I think it’s unfair that they get hanged for something they didn’t do. Some don’t want to plead guilty because it would ruin their reputation. I think there is no point in pleading guilty if they’re still going to put you in jail for life or hanged.

Religion and Government (Carlos)

            I think that religion and the government should never intervene with each other. There are reasons why I think this. The problem with church and government mixing usually means the issues begin to be defined not as fair or just, but as good and evil. Democratic government protects citizens from the abuses of other governments and entities foreign and domestic. Both are excellent separately and are essential to human society today. Problems arise when they mix however. Countries have varying degrees of separation between government and religious institutions. The government can sometimes mess with different religions. Sometimes citizens do judge others due to their religion. For example, after the 9/11 incidents they found out that the enemies were Muslim and after almost ten years, Muslims wanted to build their own church on the same spot where the world trade center once stood. Americans quickly reacted to this by going against them saying that it would be a disgrace to the world trade center. The government back then killed Christians by hanging them or torturing them. Church believes that homosexuality is a sin and believes that homosexuals are going to hell. The state government allows homosexuals to marry legally while some people don’t like this.