In Cold Blood Mental Illness

Vincent Dimitrov
Mr. Zimanske
American Literature B
May 19, 2017
In cold blood
A common psychological debate is whether individuals are more controlled by “nature” (the inherited traits over which we have no control such as eye color, disease, etc.) or “nurture” (the upbringing by our parents and family members). How mentally ill is Dick Hickock? Was their another drive that made Dick want to kill, or is this just another case of murder. When looking through the psychological lens, it was mentally illness that killed the Clutters more than Dick and Perry did.
Mental Illness
Perry and Dick’s criminal tendencies are revealed to have underlying medical causes (Perry suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, and Dick has brain damage from a concussion);

Perry was nat aware of what he was doing when he cut Mr. Clutters neck. As if he was either thinking it was someone else or he just blacked out. After reading this statement and understanding the facts, a reader is left in state to believe that Perry needed psychiatric help and not a death sentence. Though, The statement of the psychiatrist for Richard was short and said Richard was aware of what he was doing.Richard Hickock, who is equally responsible for the crime as much as Perry is portrayed as a selfish and sick person. Capote always presented Richard as a strong and practical person; a person with no feelings at all. The first time Richard was presented as selfish person is when he planned to leave Perry - his one and only friend - and move on. "He expected to haul in three,maybe four thousand dollars within a twenty-four-period. That was half the plot; the second half was: Goodbye Perry"(244). Here Richard is presented as a selfish person only wanted money.This fell towards the point that cick wanting to rob the Clutters for money and he is the one to blame for everything. The second time Richard was was presented as a cold hearted person is when he refused to pick up a sick old man. The way Capote has