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In Cold Blood Clutter Family

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Truman Capote wrote the nonfiction novel In Cold Blood with the accounts from the murderers and investigators of the Clutter family. As Capote grew up, he found himself neglected by his mother and father. Because his mother and father often neglected him, he spent much of his young life with his mother’s relatives. While Capote was young, his mother often made fun of him for being “different” than other children. Although Capote faced many hardships throughout his early life, he was able to overcome them and attain a successful writing career. Because Capote’s strength came from himself, he has a mindset that the benevolence of a family does not determine the life members of a family endure. While writing In Cold Blood, Truman shares this …show more content…

When Dick first learns of the Clutter family, he attains knowledge of their wealth. Truman writes, “Why should that ‘big shot bastard’ have all the luck? With a knife in his hand, he, Dick, had power. Big- shot bastards like that had better be careful or he might “open them up and let a little of their luck spill on the floor” (Capote 201). Though Mr. Clutter rightfully earns all of his money, Dick labels Clutter’s wealth as luck. Because Dick believes the wealth of the family stems from luck, he develops an aura of jealousy towards the innocent family. Although the Clutters never did any wrong towards Dick, his jealousy fuels anger and hatred. As anger and hatred imbue Dick, he shows his criminality by taking part in the murders of the innocent family. Though Perry participates in the murders, he has a better sense of right from wrong than Dick. Perry states, “I had to get down on my knees. And just then it was like I was outside myself. Watching myself in some nutty movie. It made me sick. I was just disgusted” (240). As Perry commits the immoral acts, he recognizes his actions are wrong. Although Perry continues the horrendous deed, he feels abomination towards himself and the crime he commits. Because Perry feels repugnance for his actions, his morality reveals itself and shows his true character. Before Dick and Perry commit the murder, they have no pervious relation with the Clutter family. Truman pens, “The crime was a psychological accident, virtually an impersonal act; the victims might as well have been killed by lightning” (245). Because the Clutter family was chosen at random, the pernicious violence of Dick and Perry debuts. While Dick and Perry’s random violence emerges, the perpetrators’ abhorrent criminality surfaces alongside the innocence of the Clutter family. Because Dick and Perry have no real reason to murder this specific family, their

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The reason for the murders o How the community was affected • Thesis Statement: o We can express Capote’s intended audience, his person outlook of the suspects, and the many ways the actual event effected the community from the story of the Clutter Family murders. • Body: o Main point: Why did Capote put other information into the book to make the tragedy seem harsher than it was? o

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The book In Cold Blood by Truman Capote explains and reconstructs the murder of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas on November 15th, 1959. The Clutter family, Herbert “Herb”, Bonnie, and two of their children Nancy and Kenyon were all killed, each with a twelve-gauge shotgun. No one knew who killed them or why the crime took place, as the family was well-liked and in high standing in their town. Truman Capote wrote this novel based on information he had gathered about the case. He begins the story with a background on the Clutter family and locks in on the actions of Richard “Dick” Hickock and Perry Smith, the perpetrators of the crime.

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While Perry is mortified that he and Dick could commit such a gruesome crime, Dick couldn’t care less. All Dick is worried about is how odd Perry is. Because of how quick Perry’s mood could change, Dick thought he was “spooky as hell.” Now, Perry wasn’t your average run of the mill man. He still wets the bed, cries in his sleep, and “could slide into a fury ‘quicker than ten drunk Indians’”.

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What drove these men to kill this family? What did the Clutter family do to deserve such a thing as murder? These men don’t know the answer to that, they could think for hours upon hours and they would never know why they killed the Clutters. Maybe it was just in the moment, maybe it was a spurt of rage, or maybe

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Character Analysis- In Cold Blood In the novel In Cold Blood, Perry Smith, a dynamic antagonist with a cruel past, acts upon his built up resentment when he commits the vicious murders of the Clutter family. Although he did not receive any education exceeding the third grade, he wished to further his knowledge and eventually developed a deep love for literary art as well as music. As a child, Perry and his siblings were dragged off to California by his mother, a year before his parents divorced.

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However, the Clutters have certain aspects which could be considered ‘abnormal’, especially in the case of Bonnie, a depressed and reclusive mother. Perry and Dick are juxtaposed with the Clutters, they are a seemingly abnormal duo, who are antisocial, have a hunger for murder and are even physically disfigured. Both Perry and Dick have attributes that are still somewhat ‘normal’ despite their surface abnormality. Perry is sensitive, creative and sings, Dick has had an upbringing that was completely typical of any American child, that is, he was brought up in a loving and caring environment, with enough money to live comfortably and attend secondary education. Dick also constantly defends himself saying: “I’m a normal”.

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In addition, he had a sister and two other brothers who committed suicide as he grew up. As we look back at his childhood, we can see that Perry represents everything it means to come from a broken family and that his bad childhood deprived from relating to people in a positive way. Maybe Perry was the murder of this malicious act, but as a reader, it was troublesome to not feel sympathy for a person who was deprived of living a happy

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Truman Capote’s famous 1966 story, In Cold Blood, documents the murders of the Clutter family in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas. A best fact-crime novel winner, In Cold Blood, was published by Random House and was described as a masterpiece by various critics. Capote’s purpose in writing this book was to portray the various perspectives of all those impacted by the murder by using a dramatic tone, diction, and an appeal to reason to inform readers about this violent crime. Capote uses an appeal to reason to describe the perspectives of those associated with and affected by the murders. In Chapter 2, Capote describes the murderers, specifically Perry and his childhood trauma describing how Perry dealt with an alcoholic mother and

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If needed, they decide that they will kill any witnesses, and Perry begins to have second thoughts. This leads to Dick following through the plans to prove his masculinity. Throughout the novel, I have noticed a competitive relationship they share as they both try to prove themselves to each other. The significance of this quote tells the readers the reason why the Clutters were murdered. During their attempt of finding the safe, they were encountered by many different problems which led to frustration and tension between the pair.

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" Clearly there was only one way to declare safety to these people, and it was to kill off the people who made them feel unsafe. Perry didn't realize that his one action of killing a family full of innocent people would have such a huge after effect on the town, let alone he himself. Perry and Dicks gullible decision to become murders changed the people of Holcomb and changed their lives in a tremendous

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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

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Dick and Perry quickly appealed to each other. Perry was very territorial over Dick and maybe even in love with him. This attraction spiralled out of control when Perry found out that Dick wanted to rape Nancy Clutter, one of the murder victims. Imagining Dick with another human being caused Perry to turn delirious. Perry became so enraged that he shot all four members of the Clutter family dead.

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Contrastingly, the opposite opinion is revealed through the character Alvin Dewey in the book. Capote writes about Dewey’s beliefs on the case: “[The Clutter family] had experienced prolonged terror, they had suffered. And Dewey

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Although Perry is responsible for the murder of four innocent people, Perry’s actions do not reflect on who he is as a person because he is easily influenced, therefore; showing how easily people can be pressured into doing something they would not typically do. Dick, a violent, cold-hearted, manipulator, has molded Perry into the person he is today. As Perry is a follower, Dick has taken advantage of that by turning Perry into the cold-blooded killer he is today. Capote displays Dick’s manipulation of Perry through symbolism to make evident that while Perry did pull the trigger on four innocent people, although the fault does not entirely lay on him, as he was taken advantage of by Dick.

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He is portrayed as a mastermind in the cold-blooded killing of the Clutters family, a man with little respect for the lives of others, which can be seen through Dick’s expression before the murder of the Clutters when he converses Perry, “We’re gonna go in there and splatter those walls with hair” (Capote 234). This sudden tone shift enables Capote to depict Dick as a cruel and immoral character. Dick’s lack of empathy and concern for other people beside himself allow him to commit crimes without remorse, which is in contrast to Perry’s moral contemplation after each bad actions they committed. Moreover, Dick is represented as the true criminal with evident motives in murdering the Clutters, while Perry is seen as a vulnerable victim who depends on Dick for validation and acceptance, something in which Dick happily provides in order to manipulate Perry, as Capote writes, “Dick became convinced that Perry was that rarity, ‘a natural born killer,’—absolutely sane but conscienceless, and capable of dealing with or without motive, the coldest-blooded deathblows. It was Dick's theory that such a gift could, under his supervision, be profitably exploited” (Capote 205).

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