Perry Smith's Role In Divorce

Although Dick were partners in the murder of the Clutter family, Capote primarily wants to reveal the emotional gap between Dick and Perry; therefore, Capote’s depicts Perry as more sentimental than Dick.

Murder can be defined as “the unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another”. How then, are others able to make us sympathize with not only murderers, but people who have committed horrendous crimes? For example, the media is constantly attempting to humanize rapists and even terrorists with phrases like “lone wolf” or “alienated and adrift.” Such phrases make some of us want to pity the criminal. This can be seen when we compare Perry Smith and Dick Hickock from Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood. Capote portrays only one of these two seemingly distinct characters (Perry) in a way that the reader feels the need to relate to and even sympathize with him. One can be taken aback by such an attachment to a murderer. This is not surprising as the author uses his compassionate diction to manipulate the reader’s emotions with a use of pathos, the appeal to emotions. At one point Capote goes as far as to write that “Smith’s life had been no bed of roses,” (Capote 245) attempting to have the readers relate to Perry. On the other hand, Capote has Dick say this about himself: “Deal me out, baby, I’m a normal” (Capote 116). By using phrases such as these, Capote creates an unfavorable impression of Dick and and a biased tone. The same cannot be said for Perry as Capote produces an almost benevolent tone toward him with the help of pathos, “the most powerful appeal” (Noel, 2011).

In Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood,” Dick and Perry have murdered the Clutter family and are on their way to Mexico. In this passage, Dick makes an astounding statement.

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.

In the book “In Cold Blood” by Truman Capote, Capote blantly describes the murderous acts of two men who killed an entire family they knew nothing about. The Clutters were good people who had no intention on hurting anyone. Dick and Perry, the murderers, had no reason to do this, meaning they had no motive for these actions and they can not be excused for their actions.

Truman Capote, in his non-fiction journalistic narrative, gives readers the opportunity to reconsider the dichotomy of ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal’. Capote also suggests true normality differs from society’s concept of normality. The concept of normality is challenged throughout the entirety of ‘In Cold Blood’, first in the Clutter family, then in Dick and Perry and in sexuality throughout the text. The Clutters, a seemingly ‘normal’ family who have obtained a wealthy and successful life, are polite and hardworking, community-driven and respected. 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”. Sexuality between Dick and Perry is explored as well as Perry and Dick’s individual sexualities.

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

Throughout the whole book, Capote introduces many characters relevant to the murders and the trial. He carefully depicts the personalities of these secondary characters. Capote uses elaborate details to add to the books. The secondary character I found most memorable was Lowell Lee Andrews. Andrews was introduced after Perry and Dick were sentenced to death for killing the Clutter family. Capote begins by describing Andrews as a young, smart, and gentle boy. Andrews had an article written about him entitled “The Nicest Boy in Wolcott” (312). He was enrolled at the University of Kansas, majoring in biology. Andrews was planning on poisoning his family. Andrews stood out when Capote revealed his plans to destroy his family and inherit his father’s estate and money.

In the novel In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, he uses pathos, diction and tone to characterize the killers. He characterizes Dick Hickock as the main character and Perry Smith as a tag-along. Capote mainly shows sympathy towards Perry because of Perry’s messed up past and his mental instability. Capote creates this sympathy through syntax and his elaborate sentence structure with the use of specific punctuation. He also has a very unique writing style with an interesting character development. The author characterizes the two characters by using flashbacks although he sympathize Perry more than Dick, which can be seen through the long descriptions of Perry’s past compared to the few sentences given to Dick’s.

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.

The controversial debate of nature versus nurture may never be fully solved, however it is clear in the case of Perry Smith that his surroundings were the primary cause of his motivation to kill the Clutter family. Between his abusive family and the inmates at the Kansas State Penitentiary, the emotions convening inside of Perry fell too much to bear. Perry was a victim of his environment and projected the rejection he felt onto

English is a fascinating and riveting language. Subtle nuances and adjustments can easily change the understanding of a literary work—a technique many authors employ in order to evoke a desired response from their readers. This method is used especially in In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, a literary work which details a true event about the murders of four members of the Clutter family in the small community of Holcomb, Kansas, in 1959. Although Capote’s 1966 book was a bestseller nonfiction and had successfully garnered acclaim for its author, there is still a great deal of confusion about the distinction between the factual and fictional aspects in the book. Much

The debate nature versus nurture is a prevalent topic in today’s society because the violence going on. People would like to know whether a criminal is born or a criminal is made. A great example of nature versus nurture is the nonfiction novel In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. This book follows around two characters Perry Smith and Richard (Dick) Hickock. Together, they killed a small town family for forty dollars in cash. Capote tells of their lives before the killing, on the run, and when they were on death row. It is clear to the reader that Perry was not born a criminal, but his horrible childhood coupled with mental illness allowed him to not feel the wrong he was doing. Dick, on the other hand, was born a criminal, and this is shown through his pedophiliac episodes and the fact he was able to be ashamed of what he was. Nurture is more important than nature because with good nurturing what nature has given somebody can be erased or made better.

Revenge: to take vengeance for; inflict punishment for. The American society is quick to outcast those who are different and do not fulfill the American Dream expectations. Truman Capote’s book, In Cold Blood, tells the real life story of the Clutter family who were known as the perfect family. The Clutter’s were murdered by two men that were outsiders their whole life because they were different and did not meet the ideal image presented. Capote’s novel was to demonstrate how having this expectation affects oneself when they feel unaccepted by society. The ideal image is trigger cause of revenge in the novel. The ideal image causes people to feel outcasted, which evidently leads to revenge.

This Quote represents Insanity (Sociopathy) because it shows both Perry’s killer natural way of thinking and it also shows Dick’s colossal use of them to get what he desires. Dick suffers brain damage he received from a concussion and Perry has paranoid schizophrenia . This could possibly contribute to their questionable mental state of mind. Some symptoms of insanity include : frequent lying, stealing , fighting , no guilt or remorse for anything whatsoever , breaking the law repeatedly , the ability to act charming and witty, disregarding of the safety of others, manipulating other people 's emotions, and inability to tolerate frustration . Both Dick and Perry poses some of these traits / symptoms which may lead us to believe they could