An Analysis Of Bonnie, Nancy, And Kenyon Clutter In In Cold Blood

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Herbert, Bonnie, Nancy, and Kenyon Clutter used to have a nice place in the middle class of America before being murdered in their home. In the book In Cold Blood, Truman depicts the Clutter’s as an ideal and respected family in the rising middle-class of 1950 with descriptions of the family, community, and family hobbie the family; Bonnie(the wife) and four children; Beverly, eveanna, Nancy, and the only son Kenyon. Beverly and Eveanna have grown and moved out of the house in the time that the book takes place, leaving just four people living in the house. From the first part of In Cold Blood, we can conclude that Nancy is an extraverted star in her town who loves socializing and Kenyon was an introverted boy that preferred a more sheltered …show more content…

Clutter] was, however, the communities most widely known citizen” and also lists several organizations that Herbert Clutter was associated with that added to his fame. The facts stated are proven relative to the family class status by Thomas Elly Lasswell’s article titled “Social Class and Size of Community” in the American Journal of Sociology when he states that “occupational prestige, financial solidity, educational level, family background or political power, among other factors, may account for low or high status”. It is more than likely that the extensive organizations that Mr. Clutter is involved in would be considered political power if you use the Webster’s definition for the term “politics” being “a total complex of relations of people living in society” (in this case Holcomb). Also the family can be in the middle class because of relations to Mr. Clutter if you consider his success as part of the children's family background. Also just the fact that the Clutter’s were killed because there was a rumor of a safe with 10 grand in it should be enough to prove their wealthiness and …show more content…

Mr.Clutter built his home for $40,000 and the white and decorative house turned out be quite an attraction in Holcomb. This tells us that the community didn’t match the expensive house and that the community of Holcomb isn’t exactly upper middle class. Also more evidence of this is found on the first two pages in the ebook when it describes the town having run down buildings and a lack of neighbouring communities. The facts brought forward may seem contradictory to the point i’m trying to make, however, some could say that when put next to the rather old town, the Clutters house and property seem much more valuable and qualifies the family to be a rising middle class family even more. On page 26 and 27, the book also says that there was a long driveway leading to the house covered in rows of chinese elm trees and the house was surrounded with bermuda grass. A website on Kansas native plants and wildlife says that bermuda grass is in fact a native kansas grass. However, chinese elm trees are not found native to Holcomb Kansas, which means there had to be people who planted the trees where they needed to be. This only adds more contrast between the community and the Clutters, which puts the Clutters even higher on social

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