Rebecca Markowitz

Colleen Green
American Literature
In Cold Blood Essay
People walk through life with different experiences and memories, that is what makes us
all unique. In Cold Blood is a non-fiction novel, about the murder of the Clutter family, written
by Truman Capote. Although this murder is the central plot of the book, readers also get a
chance to learn about the two murderers, Perry Smith and Dick Hickock. Through examining
their back story, Truman Capote reveals his view about the ongoing question of whether humans
act based on nature or nurture. In his book he obviously stands on the nurture side and most
shows this belief through a psychoanalytic lens of Perry Smith. Obviously Capotes views of the
world and specifically the characters in the book affects the way the story is told and viewed by
readers. This essay is not questioning the authenticity of the book but looking at how Perrys
childhood affects the way he views the world and what causes someone to commit murder.

Perry is a very pivotal character in the book, and arguably the main character of In Cold
Blood. Depending on the readers personal lens, they feel varying ranges of remorse, or none at
all. He is a childlike man with no moral compass. He is a valnuable man that is reliant on others
guidance. The first time readers meet Perry it is clear that he is a dependent character waiting for
someone else to tell him what to do. As he sits in a cafe eating breakfast all he can think about is
his friend, Dick. An excerpt in the book says, He looked out a window at the silent small town
street, a street he had never seen until yesterday. Still no sign of Dick. But he was sure to show
up; after all, the purpose of their meeting was Dicks idea, his score (Capote, 14). Dick and
Perrys relationship is very crucial to the plot of the story. Without each other they wouldnt

have been able to commit the murder: Dick was the brains and Perry was the brawns. In the
beginning of the book we see that Perry is not only dependent on Dick as the brains of the duo,
but also is attracted to him. It is unclear throughout the book if Perry is gay or not, and this
uncertainty might be related to the fact that Truman Capote identified as being gay. Besides the
point of Perrys sexual identity it is clear that Perry looks up to strong male figures. Perry later
remarks, Of course, Dick was very literal-minded, very - he had no understanding of music,
poetry - and yet when you got right down to it, Dicks literalness, his pragmatic approach to
every subject, was the primary reason Perry had been attracted to him, for it made Dick seem,
compared to himself, so authentically tough, invulnerable, totally masculine (Capote, 16) The
way Perry idolizes men of power is ultimately the reason he is psychologically unstable. He has
never had a strong mentor or support system and as a result he seeks others to guide him through
life.

In order to understand the reasons of his actions and the way he views the world around
him as an adult, readers must understand his upbringing. For the first 5 years of his life, Perry
lived with his family travelling on the rodeo while his parents preformed. They were
impoverished and Perry reminisces that they ate "mush and Hershey Kisses and condensed milk"
(Capote, 131). Later on we find out that he wets the bed as a result of a failed kidney due to all
the sugar in his diet as a child. Although he was with his family, he did not remember this time in
a bright light. As a result of the hardships the family faced his mother took to drinking and
began being sexual with other men besides her husband. Perry remembers seeing his father
violently beating his mother. With role models like these, it is understandable why he values
masculinity, as a child he felt hopeless and had no one to lean on. If a person never experiences
love and support how do they even know how to extend it to others? Since Perry did not ever

have a mentor or role model to look up to, it make sense why he is constantly in need of one.
This is the reason for his dependence on Dick. At one point during the murders of the Clutters,
Perry even had a chance to walk away, but he stayed because he wanted to see how the night
would end and he was unsure what Dick would have done to him. His life did not improved after
the mental abuse his father caused. His mother ran away to San Fransisco with Perry and his
siblings, only to continue drinking, and as Perry considers it souring her soul. Even though he
did not have to watch his parents fighting he still longed to be with his father. Recalling once, I
was always thinking about Dad, hoping he could come take me away, and I remember, like a
second ago, the time I saw him again. Standing in the schoolyard. It was like the ball hits the bat
really solid. Di Maggio. Only Dad wouldnt help me. Told me to be good and hugged me and
went away (Capote, 132). It is unclear if this encounter really happened but it proves the need
Perry feels for structure and a role model in his life.

This was also shown through his mothers love towards him. His mother was not an
adequate caregiver so she put Perry in a Catholic orphanage and then later transferred him to the
Salvation Armys Children Shelter. At this time in orphanages and shelters he was beat because
of his race, being half-indian, and his bedwetting problem. There was this one nurse, she used to
call me nigger and say there wasn't any difference between niggers and Indians. Oh Jesus, was
she an Evil Bastard! Incarnate. What she used to do, she'd fill a tub with ice cold water, put me in
it, and hold me under until I was blue (Capote, 132). As a result of nuns beating him, Perry
grows to hate religion as an adult. Not only does he hate religion, but he has no moral compass in
general because of the lack of a solid foundation in his childhood. After one of these beatings
Perry imagines a bird coming to save him. It was after one of these beatings, one he could
never forget, that the parrot appeared, arrived while he slept, a bird taller than Jesus yellow like

a sunflower, a warrior-angel who blinded the nuns with its beak, fed upon their eyes,
slaughtered them as they pleaded for mercy, then so gently lifted them, enfolded him, winged
him away to paradise (Capote, 93). Perry here, is confusing reality with his imagination. This
is understandable, in a time of need, when he is desperately longing for someone to help him, he
imagined a bird saving him. During this imaginative reality, it sounds like he is the bird killing
the nuns out of hatred of what they did to him, then escapes to paradise with this imaginative
bird figure. This could symbolize a desire to have his father save him from his misery, and then
escape and run away with him. Since his father is not actually saving him he replaces that empty
father figure with an imaginary bird. The bird represents a part of himself that he wants to be.

After his physical recovery from the nuns, Perry goes to live with his father. They live in
a trailer, or house car as referred to in the book, and never stay in one spot for too long. Perry
goes to school for only one year and finishes third grade. After his father pulls him out of
school, he starts to grow wary of his ignorance and feels a bitterness towards others because he
realizes the value of education. For example later in life he says, You think I like myself? Oh,
the man I could have been! But that bastard never gave me a chance. He wouldn't let me go to
school. O.K. O.K. I was a bad kid. But the time came I begged to go to school. I happen to have
a brilliant mind. In case you don't know. A brilliant mind and talent plus. But no education,
because he didn't want me to learn anything, only how to tote and carry for him. Dumb. Ignorant.
That's the way he wanted me to be. But you, Bobo, you went to school. You and Jimmy and
Fern. Every damn one of you got an education. Everybody but me. And I hate you, all of you
Dad and everybody (Capote, 185). He never had that structure and encouragement school gives
kids. Instead he had an unstable family, which only added to the lack of learning ethical
integrity.

It is not one part of Perrys life that allowed him to commit murder it is all of them
combined. When Perry is talking to a friend from the army he says I didnt want to harm the
man. I thought he was a very nice gentleman. Soft-spoken. I thought so right up to the moment I
cut his throat. While talking to Donald Cullivan, Smith said, They [the Clutters] never hurt me.
Like other people. Like people have all my life. Maybe it's just that the Clutters were the ones
who had to pay for it (Capote, 244). Analyzing this text makes readers think: what if Dick had
never guided Perry into committing the Clutter murder, would Perry still have committed murder
sometime in his life, was it inevitable for him? Perry was never taught any moral compass so
how would he know right from wrong. Through reading In Cold Blood, it is quite obvious that
morals are learned from experiences and support that surrounds a childs life. Since Perry never
felt that love from his parents, the nuns, a teacher, or any mentor figure, it is coherent why he
killed the Clutter family. This does not justify his actions but it gives readers perspective and
one example of what causes someone to commit murder.