![]() In criminology, the term is used in the framework of team killers and seldom involves false or delusional beliefs, but rather deviant behaviour shared by two. The disorder is often described in the context of schizophrenia, but different varieties of folie à deux have been noted in other conditions. Psychiatrists define folie à deux as communicated insanity a rare psychotic disorder that may be transmitted from the sufferer to a person or persons closely related to him/her. Last but not least, the thesis will provide an analysis of the killers themselves taking into account their background, past, traumatic experiences and mental welfare. Second of all, the thesis will proceed to describe the certain features of the non-fiction genre that allow one to get to the very core of the psyches of the Clutter family killers, Richard 'Dick' Hickock and Perry Edward Smith. This part of my research will draw upon the biography of Truman Capote as well as conversations with the author and his personal essays and records about his research of the Clutter family murder case. First and foremost, I will describe the very process of creation of the true crime genre. This thesis is going to ponder on what leads to murder, focusing on trauma, childhood and family memories as well as psychoanalysis. The focus will be put on how the journalistic style of Capote and his factual research of the Clutter family murder of 1959 in Holcomb, Kansas, that is visible in his interviews with both the witnesses and the Clutter family killers themselves, provide one with a direct insight into murderers' personalities. This thesis is going to attempt at the analysis of the characters of the Clutter family murderers, Richard 'Dick' Hickock and Perry Edward Smith, revolving its focus around the non-fictional, documentary character of the novel that provides the reader with insight into murderer's mind. Not only is the novel a stunning and thorough study of the crime itself as well as the impact it had on the community, but above all it provides one with the direct insight into the mind and persona of the killers, allowing the reader "to understand them as deeply damaged human beings" (Davies, 2012). Having been considered "a pioneering document in the history of American nonfiction" and "a true crime narration" (Voss, 2011), In Cold Blood was a peak of Truman Capote's literary career and the examplary work of creative nonfiction writing. Keywords: film adaptation studies, cultural studies, hero, alter ego, nonfiction novel. Taking adaptation studies and cultural studies as my central theoretical perspective, this paper aims to demonstrate not only how the figure of Perry Smith both stands as Truman Capote's alter ego and is transformed into that of a protagonist in the book, but also how Richard Brook's motion picture reassures and even elevates the murderer's position to that of a hero. Reading closely between the lines of the book, we may notice that Capote's empathy with the murderer has been filtered to the point of victimizing and stressing the importance Smith in a project that was initially designed to portray the neighbors' reaction of the crime. In the meantime however Capote started to build a close relationship with Smith, acknowledging his weight in the book: “unless I could establish close contact with this half-Irish, half-Indian young man, I would have to abandon the project” (Capote 2007, 267). Hence, the novelist's main intention was to illustrate how the townspeople reacted to such a horrid event. After the capture of Hickock and Smith, Capote researched the case thoroughly, spent weeks talking with the prisoners, jurors, police, friends of the slain family and neighbors of Holcomb trying to unearth why such an abominable act was committed and what should have been the society's response. ![]() Sharing the same plot, both novel and film were published and released respectively with only a one-year difference. After the book was published, Capote chose director Richard Brooks to “act as intermediary between book and screen” (Capote 2007, 274) out of a great number of directors and producers. Truman Capote was the creator of a milestone in popular culture: In Cold Blood (1966), a ‘nonfiction’ novel based upon the real murder of the Clutter family committed by Dick Hickock and Perry Smith in the town of Holcomb (Kansas), 1959.
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