Kayla Willis and Nick Dudley

Curmano P7
Adv. Language Arts
6 Feb 2016
Perrys Got a Gun
The character, Perry Smith, one of the murderers, has a very odd relationship with his
father which leads to numerous emotions that cause him to act irrationally and strangely, the
song chosen to signify this action was Janies Got a Gun by Aerosmith. The lyrics, He jerked
a little bitty baby/The man has got to be insane Perry had an extremely traumatic childhood, his
mom an alcoholic and his father not in the picture he was often very lost and struggled in a lot of
things. Yet, at some point in his childhood Perrys father decided he wanted to raise his son, the
experience was, in truth, more negative than if he had been left. Perrys father was extremely
verbally and physically abusive saying and doing things like, Came back pointing it at me [a
gun]. He said, Look at me, Perry. Im the last thing youre ever gonna see (Capote 158).
Obviously this had a massive effect on Perry pushing him over the edge of insanity. Run away,
run away from the pain is the line in Janie's got a gun representing how Perry runs, he runs
away from his father, he runs away from the pain, and he runs so far that he isn't able to return.
Perrys craziness is portrayed in the song when it says, Janie's got a gun/ Her whole world's
come undone....What did her daddy do?/ What did he put you through? At the peak of Perrys
crazy he murders the Clutter family. One can only wonder if Perry's childhood had not been so
messed up by his father would he have murdered them? The line of the song is saying that people
should beware because Perry has finally snapped and is dangerous, he will never be the same, his
father had just pushed him over the edge. The song Janies got a gun by Aerosmith is a perfect
song to represent the odd, abusive, and crazy relationship between Perry Smith and his father.