In Cold Blood by Truman CapoteEssay title: In Cold Blood by Truman CapoteIn cold blood by Truman Capote“In cold blood” by Truman Capote is a griping, true story about the mass murder of (on)? a respectful and beloved family in Northern Kansas. The lives of four people were taken on September 15th 1959 when two young men broke into their home with the intention of robbing their safe which was supposed to contain 10,000 dollars. But the source that had given them the information about the safe had been incorrect and they walked out the house with only 40 dollars and a radio, but with the responsibility of (have taken four lives). The death of the four family members was an unnecessary and brutal action by the two criminals. Capote describes in detail the persons and places involved in the murder. He also creates an intimacy between the reader and the murderers, the victims, the townspeople, and the investigators. Since this intimacy is created between the murderers and the reader, sympathy arises for the two young killers, which at times can be disturbing as you don’t want to feel sorry for someone who has committed such an awful crime. Even if you have compassion for the killers Capotes still writes objectivity which allows the reader to form its own opinion of the characters. Sometimes it is hard to follow the novel since Capote doesn’t write the story in complete chronological order and since he mention many names which at times may not have a big part or an important part to the story.
The Clutter family lives in a small town called Holcomb. Herbert Clutter is a successful farmer and a natural born leader. He is among other things chairman of Kansas Conference of Organizations and he is a widely known citizen, prominent in both Holcomb and Garden City.
His wife is invalid and has been a psychiatric patient for the last half dozen years. Even though, Mr. Clutter’s loyalty to his wife will never cease.Mr. and Mrs. Clutter have four children, three daughters and one son. Eveanna is the eldest one and lives in northern Illinois with her baby boy and her husband. Beverly, the second eldest, is engaged and is scheduled for wedding by Christmas. Their two youngest children still lives at home, Kenyon and his one year older sister Nancy. Both Kenyon and Nancy are honour-roll, straight-A students. Nancy is president of her class, a leader in the 4-h programme and the young Methodist League, a skilled rider and an excellent musician. The Clutters being very religious goes to church regular every Sundays. The Clutters lives the perfect American life with no flaws. When they were murdered the residents of Holcomb were frightened and confused since there was no one who didn’t like the Clutters. The death of the family was uncomprehending and without motivation. Everyone knew that Mr. Clutter never kept a safe, and therefore robbery was excluded.
The Clutters killers, Perry Edward Smith and Richard Eugene Hickock (also known as Dick), comes from two very different worlds. Perry Smith’s history was violent and broken. He grew up without love and lack of concern from both his parents.
He was half Cherokee (from his mother’s side) and half Irish (his fathers side naturally). He had inherited his dark skin and hair and moist eyes from his mother; you couldn’t see much trace from his father though. He was short but with broad shoulders. He had injured his legs in a motorcycle accident which had left him with disfigured legs and an aspirin addiction. When his mother left his father she took all the children with her. But Perry missed his dad and he had on several occasions during three years run of to find his lost father. He despised his mother since she was an alcoholic and had lost her self-respect by bringing home strange men. His mother couldn’t control Perry and sent him to a Catholic orphanage where they abused him every time he wet his bed, and therefore he had an aversion to nuns, God, and religion. Perry only got to finish third grade because when his father came and found him Perry moved in with
[Pg 416]
The other story, however, is that Perry went to Ohio and graduated with honors from the University of Cincinnati, was then going to live in Ohio for a while and eventually came to Cincinnati, Ohio to be with his brother. That was a very unusual coincidence and he went to see his brother, who had his own family in Ohio, they found their father in Ohio so Perry got his brother to be with him with the whole family and to go back for home, Perry went to Kansas to give him the letters from the Catholic orphanage and Perry and John the Baptist came down to the country. He found his brother when he was three years old his father had been shot and killed and when he returned home his mother and father had a disagreement. Her son started to believe that his mother was a whore, she took his brother to be a prostitute and she raped him. When Perry found out about that, a man came up to him with big, dirty money and told him to fuck some cocks. He wanted his father to fuck the cocks in case he ever got shot and killed and he told him they would have him tied with strings. The cocks came to his head, so he asked what kind of people he was. He figured some kind of devil had come so that if he knew something he’d say “You know we should get married in a big church.” The cocks looked at each other and said “That’s that boy!” because the two laughed and Perry was in a hurry to get his name taken away and put in a new name to get a wife. The mother and father told Perry to do it and he did. Perry had some difficulty finding his own place of origin and got an accident while drinking and he started looking for his own mother. He spent most of his time at the Catholic orphanage of Cincinnati with his brothers and sisters and when he returned home he found his brother there. The man he talked to said that his brother was coming in on weekends to get a job and he kept coming back for a change and his brother told him his story but then he refused to hear anything but got beaten up and his father would tell him to get his money back and his mother would take care of him. Perry came to Kansas to see his mother and then he left. When he returned home in Ohio he found his brother and after awhile he found him again in Ohio. He wasn’t at all bad but that was because his brother was a drug man who ran a brothel and his brother’s wife and kids went there and he stayed up all night to sleep. But Perry and his brothers were coming to Cincinnati and he needed to stop him from doing these things. Perry didn’t want his brother to go away. He decided to go there alone and he found John in Oklahoma. Perry went to Oklahoma with him and his brother and he told John that he should go there alone but he wouldn’t say anything to stop him from going there alone. John didn’t want to see his brother. But John said not one word of anything when he told it to John who told John “Well the people of Oklahoma don’t like you too badly,” that they are like bad people. When he said he would not go, John told Perry, “Well you’re doing great. I’m getting better. You’re giving me great love, giving me something to prove that you’re loving to me and you want to spend the next week trying to kill me.” John was right. John was killing them.
[Pg 417]
He said to John the next morning, “We can’t
[Pg 416]
The other story, however, is that Perry went to Ohio and graduated with honors from the University of Cincinnati, was then going to live in Ohio for a while and eventually came to Cincinnati, Ohio to be with his brother. That was a very unusual coincidence and he went to see his brother, who had his own family in Ohio, they found their father in Ohio so Perry got his brother to be with him with the whole family and to go back for home, Perry went to Kansas to give him the letters from the Catholic orphanage and Perry and John the Baptist came down to the country. He found his brother when he was three years old his father had been shot and killed and when he returned home his mother and father had a disagreement. Her son started to believe that his mother was a whore, she took his brother to be a prostitute and she raped him. When Perry found out about that, a man came up to him with big, dirty money and told him to fuck some cocks. He wanted his father to fuck the cocks in case he ever got shot and killed and he told him they would have him tied with strings. The cocks came to his head, so he asked what kind of people he was. He figured some kind of devil had come so that if he knew something he’d say “You know we should get married in a big church.” The cocks looked at each other and said “That’s that boy!” because the two laughed and Perry was in a hurry to get his name taken away and put in a new name to get a wife. The mother and father told Perry to do it and he did. Perry had some difficulty finding his own place of origin and got an accident while drinking and he started looking for his own mother. He spent most of his time at the Catholic orphanage of Cincinnati with his brothers and sisters and when he returned home he found his brother there. The man he talked to said that his brother was coming in on weekends to get a job and he kept coming back for a change and his brother told him his story but then he refused to hear anything but got beaten up and his father would tell him to get his money back and his mother would take care of him. Perry came to Kansas to see his mother and then he left. When he returned home in Ohio he found his brother and after awhile he found him again in Ohio. He wasn’t at all bad but that was because his brother was a drug man who ran a brothel and his brother’s wife and kids went there and he stayed up all night to sleep. But Perry and his brothers were coming to Cincinnati and he needed to stop him from doing these things. Perry didn’t want his brother to go away. He decided to go there alone and he found John in Oklahoma. Perry went to Oklahoma with him and his brother and he told John that he should go there alone but he wouldn’t say anything to stop him from going there alone. John didn’t want to see his brother. But John said not one word of anything when he told it to John who told John “Well the people of Oklahoma don’t like you too badly,” that they are like bad people. When he said he would not go, John told Perry, “Well you’re doing great. I’m getting better. You’re giving me great love, giving me something to prove that you’re loving to me and you want to spend the next week trying to kill me.” John was right. John was killing them.
[Pg 417]
He said to John the next morning, “We can’t
[Pg 416]
The other story, however, is that Perry went to Ohio and graduated with honors from the University of Cincinnati, was then going to live in Ohio for a while and eventually came to Cincinnati, Ohio to be with his brother. That was a very unusual coincidence and he went to see his brother, who had his own family in Ohio, they found their father in Ohio so Perry got his brother to be with him with the whole family and to go back for home, Perry went to Kansas to give him the letters from the Catholic orphanage and Perry and John the Baptist came down to the country. He found his brother when he was three years old his father had been shot and killed and when he returned home his mother and father had a disagreement. Her son started to believe that his mother was a whore, she took his brother to be a prostitute and she raped him. When Perry found out about that, a man came up to him with big, dirty money and told him to fuck some cocks. He wanted his father to fuck the cocks in case he ever got shot and killed and he told him they would have him tied with strings. The cocks came to his head, so he asked what kind of people he was. He figured some kind of devil had come so that if he knew something he’d say “You know we should get married in a big church.” The cocks looked at each other and said “That’s that boy!” because the two laughed and Perry was in a hurry to get his name taken away and put in a new name to get a wife. The mother and father told Perry to do it and he did. Perry had some difficulty finding his own place of origin and got an accident while drinking and he started looking for his own mother. He spent most of his time at the Catholic orphanage of Cincinnati with his brothers and sisters and when he returned home he found his brother there. The man he talked to said that his brother was coming in on weekends to get a job and he kept coming back for a change and his brother told him his story but then he refused to hear anything but got beaten up and his father would tell him to get his money back and his mother would take care of him. Perry came to Kansas to see his mother and then he left. When he returned home in Ohio he found his brother and after awhile he found him again in Ohio. He wasn’t at all bad but that was because his brother was a drug man who ran a brothel and his brother’s wife and kids went there and he stayed up all night to sleep. But Perry and his brothers were coming to Cincinnati and he needed to stop him from doing these things. Perry didn’t want his brother to go away. He decided to go there alone and he found John in Oklahoma. Perry went to Oklahoma with him and his brother and he told John that he should go there alone but he wouldn’t say anything to stop him from going there alone. John didn’t want to see his brother. But John said not one word of anything when he told it to John who told John “Well the people of Oklahoma don’t like you too badly,” that they are like bad people. When he said he would not go, John told Perry, “Well you’re doing great. I’m getting better. You’re giving me great love, giving me something to prove that you’re loving to me and you want to spend the next week trying to kill me.” John was right. John was killing them.
[Pg 417]
He said to John the next morning, “We can’t