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What of our murderers?

“In Cold Blood” is a 1966 book by American author Truman Capote. A movie was made on it in Hollywood called ‘Capote’. (What I write of this is based on what I have seen from the movie)

Truman Capote became the most famous author in America when he wrote this book. While he had completed many works before this novel, this was his last work. This book took a massive toll on Capote who died later because of alcoholism. He wrote an epigraph in his last uncompleted work: “More tears are shed on answered prayers then on unanswered ones”. (He said this, about his experience writing “In cold blood”)

“In cold blood” was about two people who had murdered a family in Kansas.

When Capote went to Kansas after the news to write an article about it he was taken in by one of the murderers: Perry Smith, and so he decided to write a book on the event. He says in the movie: “when I think how good this book is going to be I can hardly breathe”.

He said: “There are two elements in society, the conservative and the criminals that are the underbelly, the evil men. On that night those two converged”.

Capote could deeply relate to Perry who also had a very tough childhood, was poor, and had gone to that house that night not to murder but to steal money. He said of Perry: “Its like we were both born in the same house, I went out the front door and he went out the back door”.

What I realized after I saw this, what made the whole of America focus on this book and honor the author for it, was that the author had managed to show to the people that there was a story behind Perry. He related that story and the pain and grief that it eventually caused to society.

I say: What of our people? What of our society? What of the people in Pakistan? Crimes have gone up and for a number of complicating factors our people live in a lot of stress, some live in hell. The kind of lives many live here, the level of poverty is the misfortune of thousands of people.

There is a story behind each crime that takes place in Karachi, many are not insane. What is it? Who is writing it?

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