A horrendous murder without motive. Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood recounts the murder of four members of the Clutter family: Nancy, Mr. Clutter, Mrs. Clutter, and Kenyon. The book follows both the Clutter family as well as the two murders, Perry Edward Smith and Richard Eugene Hickock (Dick). Additionally, Capote gives the reader information about the murders’ childhood. Due to this, Capote’s bias towards the death penalty as well as his preference for Perry becomes evident.
Capote tries to make Perry appear not as responsible for his actions by referring to his terrible childhood several times. He includes details of how Perry was abused and what he had to endure as a child. “I had weak kidneys & wet the bed every night…I was severely beaten by the cottage mistress”. Perry wetting his bed makes him seem like a frightened little child and knowing the abuse he endured evokes sympathy for Perry. Furthermore, Capote describes how Perry would see his father abusing his mother, “my father…proceeded to beat my mother. I was frightfully scared”. He also describes how Perry was never shown love nor properly taken care of, “My mother was always drunk, never in a fit condition to properly provide and care for us”. How then could Perry have turned into a “normal” man, who knows the difference between right and wrong if no one ever showed him? Due to the reader being aware of Perry’s past, it is exceedingly difficult to hold him responsible for his actions.
However, this is not the case with Dick. Dick, as opposed to Perry, seems “tough, invulnerable, totally masculine” which makes him seem more capable of committing horrendous acts than Perry. All his life he experienced a loving family. Besides in high school, Dick was a good student and a successful athlete. This information provokes no sympathy for Dick since it gives him no valid reason to have turned into a criminal. Dick also frequently writes invalid checks and steals, making appear to be more of a criminal than Perry, which makes him unlikeable. He also randomly runs over dogs and enjoys it, “Dick was satisfied. “Boy!” he said—and it was what he always said after running down a dog, which was something he did whenever the opportunity arose”.
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This shows how that life means little to Dick. On top of that, he is sexually attracted to young girls and often tries to seduce them. For instance, Dick says that he only went in that house to “bust that little girl”. Dick is not only a murder, but he’s also a thief, scammer, and rapist. This makes the reader despise Dick. There is a great focus on Dick’s negative traits resulting in a bad image of him. Dick appear like someone you should stay away from. Running over dogs, seducing young girls do make him seem evil and dangerous. The reader is unable to feel sympathy for Dick as he is not bothered by the killing.
As the book progresses, it becomes clear that Capote is against the death penalty and that he favored Perry. He succeeds in letting the reader feel sympathy for Perry and in creating a more positive image of him than of Dick. This helps convince the reader that Perry and Dick’s trial was unjust and that they should not have been hanged.
