Good And Evil In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

Many of us believe there is good and there is evil, they aren’t one of the same. Except for Eric Burdon, who says “Inside each of us, there is a seed of both good and evil. It’s a constant struggle as to which one will win. And one cannot exist without the other”. Truman Capote has an understanding this and is seen in Perry, one of his characters in “In Cold Blood” written in 1965. Capote begins to show this by giving us a view of his childhood and show how he spirals into evil later in life, but still has a moral wall which he will not break. While Perry is a criminal he can still be viewed as morally sound. Capote does this by referencing his past experiences, using quotes from the trial, and by showing Perry’s an emotional tone. Perry’s character is strong throughout the whole novel and as you can see him battle between good and evil.

Capote chose to give the readers an insight of Perry’s childhood, to illustrate and emphasize his actions even while he is still a child. His sister claims that he can trick people into

He changed his statement saying, “…he killed Mrs. Clutter and Nancy Clutter-not Hickock. He told me that Hickock… didn’t want his mother thinking he had killed any members of the Clutter family. And he said the Hickocks were good people. So why not have it that way.” (Clutter 286). This would help focus the investigation on Perry since he is claiming to take all the heat for the murders, However, neither Perry or Dick would testify to this in court so there was no official ruling. The key aspect of his statement isn’t that he killed all the clutters or claimed to have, it is his reasoning why. Perry took the fall to keep the Hickocks from believing that their son could do such a horrible thing. Capote helped convey that Perry is looking out for others, even more then