In Cold Blood Summary

1) GOOGLE: On November 15, 1959 a family of four were murdered in their Kansas home by Richard Hicklock and Perry Smith. Herb Clutter was one of the victim in the murder. Herb Clutter was a wealthy farmer who had a lot of money saved in his farmhouse. Hickock and Smith had arrived to the Clutter while they were sleeping.

Although Dick’s was fully aware of his actions, he even came up with the plan to go and try to steal from the Clutters, another important evidence that separates Perry and Dick is also overlooked by the court. Alvin Dewey states Perry, before signing the confession paper, “admit that Hickock had been telling the truth, and that it was he, Perry Smith, who had shot and killed the whole family” (255). It is revealed that Perry is the one who killed the members of the Clutter family and Dick did not. The court gives Dick the same death sentence that they gave Perry, the guy who actually did the killing. Although Dick is too some extent responsible for what happened to the Clutter and he was aware of his actions and what was happening, his punishment

Unbeknown to them a police chase ensues. Both flee to Mexico, with Dick cashing bad checks to finance their trip. When Perry’s dreams of prospecting

“And so it happened that in the daylight hours of that Wednesday morning, Alvin Dewey, breakfasting at the coffee shop of a Topeka hotel, read, on the first page of the Kansas City Star, a headline he had long awaited: ‘Die on Rope for Bloody Crime.’ The story, written by an associated press reporter, began: ‘Richard Eugene Hickock and Perry Edward Smith, parteners in crime, died on that gallows at the state penetentary early today for one of the bloodiest murders in Kansas criminal annals. Hickock, 33 years old, died first,at 12:41 A.M.; Smith died at 1:19...’” (Capote 337). Though this quote is fairly long, I chose it because it shows justice being served to the brutal murderers, Dick Hickock and Perry Smith.

Being the smart criminal he is, Dick used his own name to sign the checks. They are caught and arrested by police in Las Vegas. A confession gives the reader a gory description of the vicious murder of the Clutter family. They were tried and convicted of murder after 40 minutes of jury discussion and were sent to Death Row. The story includes lots of flashbacks from Perry Smith’s sad and depressing childhood including alcoholism, sibling suicide, parental abuse and not being allowed to go to school.

Dick doused the headlights, slowed down, and stopped until his eyes were adjusted to the moon-illuminated night. Presently, the car crept forward. This passage was chosen because it was what Dick and Perry were saying right before they went to the Clutter house and killed the family. I feel that this quote is an important one. To me I feel that it suggest's that the accused were out to commit a robbery, and had no original intent to kill the Clutters.

The adults in Perry’s childhood turning a blind eye to the abuse he faced, and Dick’s pedophilia, which is swept under the rug, atop many more aspects of these men indicate one thing. It can be said that Dick and Perry were simply products of their

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).

While Perry is mortified that he and Dick could commit such a gruesome crime, Dick couldn’t care less. All Dick is worried about is how odd Perry is. Because of how quick Perry’s mood could change, Dick thought he was “spooky as hell.” Now, Perry wasn’t your average run of the mill man. He still wets the bed, cries in his sleep, and “could slide into a fury ‘quicker than ten drunk Indians’”.

In doing so Capote invents a new genre of literature by telling the story through a new perspective. Capote as a writer chooses to put most of the focus of the book on the criminals, Dick Hickock and Perry Smith, particularly Smith. He follows Smith’s life story, and explains that Smith was abused as a child, and the reader is to infer that as a result he seeks approval from others. This approval is what leads him to kill, and invent stories about killing, as he wants Dick to think of him as macho. Capote provides a plethora of evidence to support this reasoning, “He was seven years old, a hated, hating half-breed child living in a California orphanage run by nuns- shrouded disciplinarians who whipped him for wetting his bed,” (93).

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.

He is portrayed as a mastermind in the cold-blooded killing of the Clutters family, a man with little respect for the lives of others, which can be seen through Dick’s expression before the murder of the Clutters when he converses Perry, “We’re gonna go in there and splatter those walls with hair” (Capote 234). This sudden tone shift enables Capote to depict Dick as a cruel and immoral character. Dick’s lack of empathy and concern for other people beside himself allow him to commit crimes without remorse, which is in contrast to Perry’s moral contemplation after each bad actions they committed. Moreover, Dick is represented as the true criminal with evident motives in murdering the Clutters, while Perry is seen as a vulnerable victim who depends on Dick for validation and acceptance, something in which Dick happily provides in order to manipulate Perry, as Capote writes, “Dick became convinced that Perry was that rarity, ‘a natural born killer,’—absolutely sane but conscienceless, and capable of dealing with or without motive, the coldest-blooded deathblows. It was Dick's theory that such a gift could, under his supervision, be profitably exploited” (Capote 205).

Many readers of the novel In Cold Blood tend to believe that Perry’s conflict is with his partner, Dick, because he constantly talks down to and manipulates Perry. These readers however are wrong because Perry’s main conflict stems from the fact that he faced multiple complex traumas as a child which has led him to develop a mental illness. Perry continues to struggle with multiple effects of complex traumas such as dissociation, behavioral responses which are easily triggered, and difficulty or in ability to develop relationships with authority figures. These effects have stunted Perry’s ability to mature as an adult and have caused him to think impulsively and irrational throughout the novel.

Dick knew how to manipulate and get what he wanted. He was who Perry saw as a masculine man, someone to not be crossed, but who Perry looked up to. Perry noted that Dick was not a good role model, but still sought his approval causing him to lie about committing murder which got him roped into going with Dick to murder

He manipulated him in many ways, mainly during the execution of the crime, where he forced Perry to slaughter all four of the Clutters. Truman Capote makes it apparent that "It was Hickock who had forced Smith to take part in the murders, who had led him astray, who had destroyed him" (Capote 246). Perry was a victim of his influence, and was led down a destructive path that eventually led to both of their deaths. Moreover, Truman Capote contrasts their personalities; "Hickock, the mastermind of the crime, was the more vicious of the two...Smith, on the other hand, was a mixed-up kid who had been led down the wrong path by his older, more experienced partner" (Capote 93). Perry was very vulnerable and impressionable, so Dick took advantage of it.