Growing Up A Sociopath In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

Perry had a difficult childhood having to grow up with an abusive father and alcoholic mother. Capote uses this to his advantage because the reader slowly becomes more sympathetic towards Perry because of his personal hardships. Another way that Capote makes Dick and Perry seem like real people with relatable issues is that he describes their dreams and aspirations,“After he

An overarching theme of Capote’s In Cold Blood is that everyone contains complexities without being fully right or wrong, which is unveiled through the descriptions of the murderers Perry and Dick and their transitioning psychological states as they carry out the crime. In his descriptions, Capote humanizes the murderers. Furthermore, Capote does not dehumanize Perry and Dick or fully justify the Clutter murders that made the duo killers.

The Book In Cold Blood by Truman Capote is a captivating nonfiction novel retelling of the Clutter family murder. This book is split into four parts with parallel narratives which share an array of perspectives such as, Perry Smith and Dick Hickhock, the two murderers. The Author Truman Capote uses the characterization of Perry to force the audience to empathize with him to ultimately convey that the perception of evil is subjective. Perry is described as an arrogant man who was overly concerned with his looks, this is due to the fact of his motorcycle accident, his abuse through his childhood, and/or his time in prison.

Within the first few pages, it is clear that most of the novel switches between the Clutter family and the murderers: Perry and Dick. For example, there is one paragraph where a neighbor tells Mr. Clutter, “‘I can’t imagine you afraid,’” and the paragraph directly beneath that, Perry and Dick are on their way to murder him and his family. (Capote 36). This kind of structure, where the reader sees different perspectives, creates sympathy for the characters because it is known what is soon to happen. The narrative structure also allows for sympathy between the reader and those affected by the murders.

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.

Family ties are a considerable part of our daily lives; they determine our future and moral upbringing. If these ties are depraved, our mind may grow to be nefarious and malicious, leading to despicable actions. One example of these actions occurred in a small town in Kansas in which four members of the Clutter family were murdered. Truman Capote used this shocking event that clearly depicts how Capote’s family ties connect with the characters’ to write In Cold Blood. Capote strategically uses characterization, conflict, and tragedy to successfully build the theme of family ties while he reconstructs the murder scene.

In Cold Blood is based on a true story. It tells of the murders of the clutter family. The family of 6 consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Clutter, their two teenage children, Kenyon and Nancy, and their two older daughters that were grown and out of the house. The family lived in Holcolm, Kansas and in November 1959, they were brutally killed in their own home by Dick Hickock and Perry Smith, with no apparent motive. When the family was discovered, only small things were missing from their home,”...

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.

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote was a crime novel that shock many people in the world because of how a small town family is kill out of nowhere by deformed murders and also how a community would be affected by this conflict. Also, Capote is successful of bringing the murders Dick and Perry back to live. Capote makes them too sympathetic because of how he expresses their mental health, their harsh backstories and the trial that take place in part 4. These three reasons make Capote successful of bringing the murders back to life. Capote is successful of describing the mental illnesses of the murders before they were evaluated by Dr, Jones.

Everyone is born with the capability to do evil, however, the events and environment in our lives shape our psyche to such an irrefutably extreme extent that they define our character and our conscience, redefining what we see as right and wrong. Perry is very sensitive by nature due to his family’s troubles and his father’s behavior. The pressure that Perry feels to impress Dick, who he makes into a faux father figure, combined with the weight of his past push him to the breaking point which happens to be the Clutter murders. Perry was bound by his experience, he could never fully escape the horrors of his childhood as they were the limits of his apprehension. Regardless of Perry’s traumatic childhood, justice must be equally upheld to everyone, despite the differences in the ways we were raised.

Subsequently, Capote continues to mention Perry’s awful childhood throughout the book, and

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.

Perry smith is a main character and murderer who struggles against his own personality characteristics. He fails to achieve this goal because of certain characteristics. But what really mad perry tick? Who really knows; could it be because the way he was raised, was it only for attention or was he looking for someone to show him differently; what's right and what’s wrong. In the book “ In Cold Blood” By Truman Capote's he shows a different side of Perry.

As presented by Capote in In Cold Blood, anyone is capable of great evil regardless of their background, exhibited by Dick’s life decisions, Perry’s outbursts of rage, and Lowell Lee Andrews conviction. Dick showed that with a background of having advantages in life and a decent childhood, he was still capable of great evil by being involved in the murdering of the Clutter family. With his reputation of being an average likable guy, Perry revealed that he was still capable of great evil demonstrated by his actions of slaughtering the Clutters. Lowell Lee Andrews displayed with his background of being trusted, he was still capable of great evil by slaying his family for greed. All these characters in the novel demonstrated ideas of deception, trust, and security through their actions.

Introduction I. Look around this school and think about exactly how many students are here daily. How would you feel if I told you that one out of every twenty five people are sociopaths(Pratt 2006).The fact of the matter is that not everyone who is a sociopath is a serial killer but oddly enough it has been proven that all serial killers are sociopaths. II. I have chosen serial killers that I found intriguing and that I thought not many people would know a lot about.