Clutter's Character Analysis

Truman Capote characterizes the Village of Holcomb is a vast, desolate place where nothing of significance occurs very often to foreshadow and bring to light the drast contrast between that and the fact that the reader knows the horrific murder takes place there. He promptly builds up the tone of the Holcomb as a picturesque place where everything is perfect and nothing ever goes wrong. Capote sets it up as a ‘perfect’ place only to later poke cracks in its perfection, exposing its flaws. Ultimately the exposure of these flaws will lead up to the murder, the one drastic twist that eventually crumble the entire foundation of the perfect little village.

The quote “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass it’s about learning how to dance in the rain” means that we should learn how to our lives even at struggling times of our lives. There are times when we are feeling down or going through tough times. Weather it’s bad grades or a tragic event.

Sociopaths, often described as having antisocial personality disorder, are not born with their traits but their experiences they go through make them the way they are. Perry Smith has many examples of how his upbringing has made him the way he is. Perry’s life was filled with violence and neglect. Perry had a seemingly happy life until his dad started to beat his mother and she turned to drunkenness and promiscuity. Finally perry’s parents split, which can also to lead to problems in children's lives, he travels with his mother and siblings to san Francisco where he constantly gets in trouble to which he blames it on having, “no rule or discipline, or anyone to show me right from wrong" (54). He ended up in a series of orphanages where he was severely beat and traumatized for wetting the bed. One nun at the orphanage would “ fill a tub with ice cold water, put me in it, and hold me under until I was blue.” Capote intends to provoke the audience's sympathy for Perry by including his terrible childhood experiences to explain his violent manner as well as provide reasoning to commit the crime he did. Perry has many examples of how his brutal life experiences cause his violent behavior. Perry has many sociopathic characteristics including, lack of moral responsibility or social conscience, erratic behavior, rage and anger, ability form a particular relationship to one person, crimes are usually spontaneous. Perry’s erratic spontaneous outbursts is what caused him to go through with the murders and slit Mr. Clutter’s throat which put him on the killing frenzy that ended the rest of the Clutters lives. Capote highlights Perry’s sociopathic tendencies by comparing them to that of Dicks Psychopathic tendencies which exemplifies how when put together they are at each others fault for the

Life is very difficult, and certain people respond to trouble differently. An example of this takes place in the book Trouble by Gary D. Schmidt. In Trouble both Henry and Chay are in difficult situations. Henry’s brother has died and Henry and his family are in a difficult time. Chay is Cambodian and he starts to date an American girl. His father disowns him and forces Chay to leave home. Henry and Chay have their own responses to Trouble. Each person has some acceptable responses and some poor responses. Overall, Chay has better responses to Trouble than Henry.

Dissatisfaction with ones present life can lead them to do almost anything. Langston Hughes short story, “Why, You Reckon” captures a naïve main character whom learns the hard way of trusting another personage, solely for the fact that they share a common dilemma. Hughes makes it apparent from the very beginning, that both the narrator and minor character share a common situation. This plays as a detrimental part as to how the short story plays out. Ultimately, Hughes “Why, You Reckon” represents that in the end everyone has their own motive, even if they say otherwise.

When Perry was a child, he grew up around an abusive father that drove Perry and his mother and siblings away. Eventually, His mother started drinking so that meant that Perry had to bounce from orphanages and foster homes where he got beaten by the nuns there. Due to his emotional and physical abuse, he often imagines a bird coming in to rescue him from any harm that comes his way. After going into the Army and being discharged, He has a serious motorcycle accident that damages his legs. Eventually, he gets picked up hitchhiking by a guy who thinks that it would be a good idea to rob a store which, in turn, pushes Perry into having a criminal lifestyle. This of course led to the killings of the Clutter family. So when referring to Perry,Capote uses light imagery and a sympathetic tone like “prophesied” but as the story goes on, it turns into a more aggressive tone towards Perry like when he begins to state more of Perry’s issues like his “already dangerous anti-social instincts.”

From the beginning of the novel, Capote showcases Perry Smith a likable character. Although he ended up being one of the murderers of the Clutter family, the readers often felt sorry for him. In the beginning of the novel the reader finds out that Perry was actually very nervous about committing the crime, he and Dick were on the road to do. Capote made it seem like Perry

Destiny and fate correlates with the theme that dreams will fail and die. Characters do not decide their destiny. However, they do decide their dreams. A character's fate and destiny affects their dreams. Whether their dreams come true or not, has many contributing factors. One being, their purpose in the world. One’s fate does not change, and it follows them throughout their entire life, affecting what they dream of and how they can accomplish all that they may dream of.

The support of friends and family can help contribute to a character's ability to overcome difficulties. In The One Safe Place by Tania Unsworth, Devin was able to overcome his problems with the help of his friends and family.

Bram Stoker says, “Though sympathy alone can't alter facts, it can help to make them more bearable.” Sympathy is feelings of pity and sorrow for someone else's misfortune. In Truman Capote's novel, he shows sympathy towards Nancy Clutter and Perry Smith.

Dick from In Cold Blood maintained that he was less guilty and did not deserve the death penalty. In stating this, Dick was not correct that he was less guilty. There are justifiable proofs that diminish his chances of being less guilty. These proofs are found within the book and can be represented through his demeanors and actions prior to and after the night. Richard Eugene Hickock (Dick) in In Cold Blood is just as guilty as Perry in that he had clearly displayed his intent for killing the Clutter family.

Ship-Trap Island is like the nightmare you will never wake up from. In the book “The Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, a hunter named Rainsford was sailing in the sea to go hunt in the Amazon when suddenly he falls off of his yacht due to strong waves late at night. He ends up at this mysterious island the next morning where a general named Zaroff finds him. At first, Zaroff seems friendly but later on he puts Rainsford through a challenge where Zaroff is hunting Rainsford down for three days and if Rainsford wins, he survives. If the general wins, Rainsford will be killed. General Zaroff used to hunt animals as a sport, but now he hunts people. Rainsford will never hunt again after having to go through the dangerous game and being frightened

Where the Wild Things are by Maurice Sendak is an interesting children’s picture book. The main character is a little boy named Max, who has a wild imagination. He uses all five senses as well as thought and his actions to express his personality as well as how he reacts and interacts with his surroundings. Max’s id, ego and super-ego are greatly shown in this book through the way that the author has portrayed him. Not only is this book a children’s story, but it can also be perceived as a life lesson. Many people go through times in their lives when they make drastic decisions right away, such as leaving home. One may enjoy it for the rest of their lives or only for a little while, just like Max who felt lonely after having fun with the monsters. In this case, people end up going home to be with their family where they are not lonely, and can have more time before making a final decision of what should happen next in their life. Id, ego and super- ego is greatly portrayed in this

In the book “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan, it’s about a little girl who is pressured by her mother to become something she doesn’t want to be. Jing- mei , the daughter, is forced to become a prodigy(child actress), by her mother, and she doesn’t want to be one. In the story, Jing- meis’ mother uses allusions such as Shirley Temple to push her into becoming a prodigy. Although at first Jing- mei is excited to become a prodigy, she later realizes its something she just doesn’t enjoy doing. Consequently, the uses of allusion in the story help Jing- mei discover to not be a prodigy and that what her mother wants for her is not always important. However, some of the things her mother showed and did got her excited to become this.

Nineteen Minutes is Jodi Picoult’s staggering and heartbreaking story about the devastating aftermath of a small town tragedy. The story begins in the town of Sterling, New Hampshire, following the lives of the citizens on an ordinary day. That all changes when there is a shooting at Sterling High. Throughout the story, there are flashbacks to before and after the killings and the reader learns about the history of each of the characters, and how that has influenced their journey throughout the novel. We are shown the once close relationship between Josie and Peter, and also about Peter’s rocky home life where Peter is often outshined by his older brother whose death creates a rift that puts him even farther from his parents. . The jumps back in