Tension in In Cold Blood and the Moonstone

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On the other hand, in “The Moonstone”, the characters who ‘know’ what will happen are Franklin Blake and Betteredge, however, they don’t know that “The Moonstone” will be stolen, they just strongly suspect it will happen. In this way, “The Moonstone” is different from “In Cold Blood”, in which Dick and Perry really knew that the Clutters would be killed because they knew that they would be the ones who would be doing it. While in “In Cold Blood”, this clarity builds up the tension because it builds up a sense of dread for the reader, in “The Moonstone”, the lack of clarity builds up tension because the reader is left guessing as to who committed the crime and why. Franklin is the one who steals “The Moonstone”, yet there is tension because even he is unaware that he has stolen it. The reader is left trying to figure out who stole the diamond, and when they think they have solved the mystery, there is a plot twist because it turns out that although it was Franklin who took the Diamond, it was actually Godfrey Ablewhite who stole the jewel with proper intent, whereas Franklin wasn’t even conscious when he took it. The fact that the reader is left guessing to the end of the novel not only creates tension but prolongs it, thus making it more effective.

Whilst the core of “The Moonstone’s” tension and suspense is in its’ red herrings and plot twists laced throughout the story intended to keep the reader unsure as to who committed the crime, from the very beginning in “In Cold Blood”, we know who committed the crime, and yet Capote uses one particular technique to increase tension. It is one that does not create tension and suspense itself, but intensifies and enhances Capote’s other devices designed to do so, making them consequently more successful. It’s a technique that builds an emotional attachment between we, the reader, the Clutters and Dick and Perry. We identify with them and understand that the Clutters represent the ordinary, American citizen in the novel whereas Dick and Perry represent the darker, more unfortunate side of America. It makes us realise that what happens to the Clutters could happen to any one of us. As a result of this, we have sympathy towards them, as we are aware of the Clutter’s fate, and yet they are not. Simultaneously this emotional attachment, as well as the flitting back and forth in the narration between the Clutter’s last day and Dick and Perry’s journey to Holcomb, serve a dual purpose in the novel – as well as making us emotionally invest in the characters, they also serve to alienate us. Because we know what will happen to the Clutters and later to Dick and Perry, we know not to get too emotionally attached to them. This is extremely clever writing on Capote’s behalf. Tension is created here as we wait for one side, the innocent, blissfully unaware Clutters, to meet the other, the murderers, Dick and Perry. Combining these two techniques, the emotional attachment and the alternating narrative structure, creates an effect rather like watching a car crash: each side hurtling towards the other; we, the reader, knowing full well what will happen, and yet, when the inevitable crash when the two sides meet takes place, the reader is left just as devastated because they have come to know and sympathise with the characters.

To conclude, tension is created in these two novels using similar techniques, and yet often they create different effects. These techniques are often successful if they tease the reader by hinting at the event but never going into full detail on it until the end – giving enough information to make the reader curious to continue reading, subsequently creating suspense.