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Psychological Disorders In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

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Is it a psychological disorder or the sheer human desire to rise above others in the eternal struggle for survival that influences the human consciousness to carry out manslaughter? Truman Capote's In Cold Blood explores the homicides of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas (1959) through the perspectives of the murder victims and the murderers, Richard Eugene Hickock (Dick) and Perry Edward Smith (Perry). One of Capote's purposes for writing the non-fiction novel is to examine how Dick and Perry's mental infirmities influence their decisions. Through the novel, Capote suggests that Dick suffers from sociopathic symptoms which are illustrated through his impatient, manipulative, and promiscuous conduct. For example, while threatening Mr. …show more content…

Perry's anxiety disorder is brought to light through his constant angst when affiliating with the events of his past because, "he hated it, as he hated the Texas plains, the Nevada desert, spaces horizontal and sparsely inhabited has always induced in him a depression accompanied by agoraphobic sensations," (49). His anxiety disorder handicaps his mental capacity from making sound and conscious decisions. For example, Perry is unaware that he is slitting Mr. Clutter's throat with a knife until "...I heard the sound. Like somebody drowning. Screaming under water," (244). Alongside his anxiety disorder, Perry's bipolar disorder is best reflected in his unrealistic ideas. His primary motivation for committing the murders of the Clutter family is so that he and Dick could have the appropriate finances to, "...buy a boat in Mexico. Something cheap, but sturdy. And we could go to Japan. Sail across the Pacific," (49). Perry's secondary motivation was to attain the "...parrot, which had first flown into his dreams when he was seven years old...," (92-93); the parrot is symbolic for the American Dream. These illogical ideas to seek a life of luxury and grandeur stems from manic depression, a branch of bipolar disorders. Capote's

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