At this point in the story, everyone is familiar with the big yellow bird that appears in Perry's dreams and even sometimes in visions. This bird is considered by Perry to be a liberator, as Perry "sees" it take away his burdens. Because of this trait of the bird, I argue that Perry was not influenced by Dick to murder the Clutters, nor did he commit the act in resentment to the Clutters themselves.

The big bird was first mentionned when Perry described his childhood with the nuns, where the bird "slaughtered them as they pladed for mercy" (93). In that situation, Perry was freed from the constant pain and suffering that the nuns put him through. From there, the bird appeared in almost a pattern-like manner. It seemed to save Perry from his superiors, as many of them treated him badly. From all of this, it can safely be established that the big bird appears to Perry only when he is in need. Therefore, if Dick was manipulating him to an unbearable degree, would Perry not have desires of seeking revenge on Dick now that they were both in prison? No, Perry did not have any such feelings because Dick, being "such a coward," (255) did not advise him to murder the Clutters in the spur of the moment.

Perry also did not kill the Clutters for any particular reason. Many have argued that he wishes nothing but malice towards those who live good lives, the types of lives that Perry never had the chance to live. This, some say, caused him to kill the Clutters, because they were a well-off family who were very happy with their lives. However, this is completely false. For one thing, it is already established that the big bird is a symbol for a destroyer of all that Perry hates. He has seen this bird in dreams regarding "older children, his father, a faithless girl, a sergeant..." (93) Basically, all of Perry's dislikes and burdens are marked by the appearance of the bird. This caused me to wonder: If he truly resented the Clutters for their wealth/happiness/etc, why did he not even mention the bird when thinking of the Clutters? This is because he never hated the Clutters to begin with. Furthermore, Perry said to Don Cullivan "I was willing to take that gamble. And it wasn't because of anything the Clutters did. They never hurt me" (290). There is no clearer piece of evidence to suggest that Perry was ambivalent to the Clutters.

Regardless of Perry's true reason for his crime, whether it be insanity or anything else, he was certainly not manipulated by Dick to commit the act, and he did not kill the Clutters out of resentment or malice.

Sympathy at the End

Because part IV of ‘In Cold Blood, The Corner, is about the last chapter of Perry Smith’s and Eugene Hickock’s life, it becomes hard not to sympathize with the, and their families or loved ones.  Also, because they are going to be put to death as a consequence of an action that took the lives of a family of four, during their trial it is also hard not to sympathize with those who knew and loved the Clutter family, as they have to hear what the murders did.  This is why, in Part IV, Capote writes in an attempt for us to sympathize with the murderers, Dick and Perry, along with Mr. and Mrs. Hickock, who have to live to see their grown son be accused of four accounts of murder.  We sympathize with Dick on page 252, when Mrs. Meier ponders why Dick was ‘white as a ghost’, and thinks how terrible an experience it must be to walk amongst strangers, who know what you have done.  We sympathize with him again on page 259, when his father describes a conversation they had regarding the events that took place on that night in Holcomb, when he says that he didn’t plan on attacking them and that he should have shot Smith dead before he killed the rest of the family.  Concerning Mr. Hickock, we sympathize with him on page 281, when in the courtroom, he believes that they ‘shouldn’t even have a trial’ with such a prejudice judge.  On page 287, we feel for Dick’s mother when after she stops crying, lets a woman reporter know that, “There’s nobody I can talk to,” and when she questions if she is partially guilty because of the way she raised her child, not knowing if she did something wrong or could have prevented it.

As for Perry, we sympathize with him due to the fact that no one from his family was present for his trial and that he felt, “all by myself.  Like somebody covered with sores.  Somebody only a big nut would have anything to do with,” (260).

The Voice of Capote

After finishing Truman Capote’s captivating nonfiction novel, ‘In Cold Blood’, I came to realize how apparent the use of his storyteller voice along with his reporter voice, made the story so compelling.  In Part IV, The Corner, the transitioning between such voices to engage the audience is very present, as it is throughout the beginning of the book.  For example, on page 251, Capote introduces the Meiers, in a way that a storyteller would, in an attempt to paint a picture in the heads’ of his readers so that they can connect with them as characters and so that the characters have credibility.  This is done by describing them as, “tall people with weight and strength to spare, with wide hands, square and calm and kindly faces… Mrs. Meier, a direct and practical woman who nevertheless seems illuminated by a mystical serenity.”  This same storyteller voice is once again used in part IV, on page 263, when Capote uses metaphorical language and solid verbs and adjectives to draw the reader into the text.  For instance, “The prospect of so idyllic an interim added to the inspired stealth with which he whetted his wire, filed it to a limber stiletto fineness,” (263).  On the other hand, to give his readers the facts, of this actual event, he also often uses a voice of a reporter, giving us the facts and only the facts, and un-biased information.  This is seen on page 256 when Capote informs us, “K.B.I. agents, dispatched to Hickock’s home, found the knife inside a fishing-tackle box and the shotgun still casually propped against the kitchen wall.”  This straightforward style of writing, which is to the point, is also seen again on page 266, when Capote gives us information concerning the trial and the events concerning the trial that happened leading up to it.  “The trial was scheduled to start on March 22, 1960.  In the weeks preceding that date the defense attorneys frequently consulted the defendants… This is a religious community.  Eleven thousand population and twenty-two churches.”(266).  The combination of both styles of writing this book were a key component of what mad it so powerful.

 

The Andrews Murders Vs The Clutter Murders

At a glimpse, the murders of the Andrews family seem similar to those of the Clutters: The brutal shootings, the mental instability factor, and much else. However, once the reader discovers in detail exactly what Lowell Lee Andrews did to his family, he/she finds out that there are numerous differences between the two killings, despite how the results were strikingly similar. I would like to highlight two of the most important ones, differences that separate Andrews from Dick and Perry on a logical and personal level.
When speaking in terms of the logistics of the murder, Andrews and the Clutter murderers differed in their thinking patterns. In the case of Lowell Lee Andrews, Capote writes that "His intention was to blame the crime on thieves" (313). Andrews relied on a carefully executed alibi, which included driving to a certain place simply to convince the authorities that he had gone to pick up a typewriter. Dick and Perry, on the other hand, thought that they could escape the authorities by making a swift getaway. The result, in both cases, was that the murderers were caught because they had made a costly mistake. Andrews said "I don't care what you do with them" (314) when referring to the corpses of his family. Dick and Perry chose to relinquish their dreams of finding fortunes in Mexico, which eventually led to their capture.
The deeper difference between both cases was on the personal or moral level. As one examiner stated, Andrews "considered himself the only important, only significant person in the world" (316). He knew exactly what he was doing from the very beginning. Although certain people would argue that this worldview was derived from mental instability, it was clear that he knew right from wrong in a legal sense, which satisfies the M'Naghten Rule. Dick and Perry were quite different. Perry even said "I didn't want to harm the man [Mr. Clutter]. I thought he was a very nice gentleman" (302). Perry, from his medical exams, had a solid case of insanity, as his psychiatric doctor noted a definite presence of mental instability. Of course, he did not have an opportunity to announce these findings to the jury, so Perry and Dick were both denied any benefits that grounds of insanity could have provided. In the end, both cases concluded that the murderers clearly had a sense of right and wrong at the time of their deed.

Tone Change

In Section 3 of in Cold blood, there is a change in the tone, or attitude in which Capote addresses the murderer’s. Capote begins to formalize his “relationship” with Dick and Perry when referring to them in the third section of the book. In this section, instead of calling them “Dick” and “Perry”, he calls them “Hickock” and “Smith”. Clearly Capote is taking a more formal, reporter-like tone in this section, “Just because Smith had traveled to Kansas to visit his friend Hickock, and just because Hickock possessed a gun of the caliber used to commit the crime, and just because the suspects had arranged a false alibi to account for there whereabouts on the night of November 14, they were not necessarily the murderers” (189). Clearly one can see the way in which Capote formally refers to the murderers as “Smith and “Hickock”. But unless you compare to the quotations earlier in the book where Capote informally calls them “Dick” and “Perry”, then one cannot see the dramatic difference it actually is. For reasons unknown, Capote avidly resumes position as the reporter in the novel, this can be seen when one notes the formality in which Capote addresses the previously, Perry Smith and Dick Hickock.

After I read the first few pages of section 3, Answers, I was presented with a question. A question asking who really caused the murder. How did Perry and Dick learn about the Clutters, a random little farm family in a small little Kansas town? To me, it was a little peculiar, but after reading the first few pages, I was also presented with an answer. The answer, is fate. Fate brought the two parties, Floyd Wells and Perry + Dick. Fate put Floyd Wells drifting around the country looking for work. Fate brought him to the Clutter farm, for about a year. After that time he drifted into the army. After, he drifted into an electrical appliance store that landed him a spot in Kansas State Penitentiary. Fate also put Dick in that same cell with him. Floyd Wells even knew it was fate. He knew that if he didn't try to rob that store, this whole thing never would have happened, "Nothing came of it--'cept I drew 3-5. If I hadn't, then I never would have met Dick, and maybe Mr. Clutter wouldn't be in his grave"(161). Floyd Wells even knew it was fate. Fate caused all the events of this book. Fate brought Perry to Dick, Dick to Floyd, and Floyd to the late Mr. Clutter. Fate even brought Dick and Perry to Las Vegas. They had spent all their money in Mexico, and tried to get a good paying job but couldn't find one. Then they traveled to Miami, spent the rest of their money, and the jobs didn't pay well so they headed for Las Vegas. Fate led everything, caused everything, in this book, from the murder of the CLutters to the capture of Dick and Perry.

As we learn more about the kind of man Mr. Clutter was in “The Answer,” our admiration for him grows, making his brutal murder all the more tragic. In this section the reader is introduced to Floyd Wells, a current prisoner in the Kansas State Penitentiary and a former employee of Herb Clutter. He had worked for Mr. Clutter eleven years ago and his recollection of Herb sheds light on the kind and generous employer that Herb was. Floyd describes Mr. Clutter as an employer who treated everyone fairly, paid good wages, and would frequently give bonuses. If an employee was in need of additional money, Herb would not hesitate to help him out. Floyd says of Mr. Clutter, “I liked Mr. Clutter much as any man I ever met” (160). As Perry recounts the details of the murders, Mr. Clutter is seen as a heroic man who is not concerned about himself, but rather for the welfare of his family. After being confronted by Perry and Dick, Herb’s overriding concern is for his wife, Bonnie. He pleads with them not to bother her, telling them that Bonnie was an invalid who had been sick for a long time (238). Even after being bound and having his throat slit, a mortal wound, Herb continues to fight for his family. As Perry describes Herb after cutting his throat, “But the man had the strength of ten men-he was half out of his ropes, his hands were free” (244). Thus even while he is drowning in his own blood, Herb’s undying love for his family gives him super human strength to continue to fight for them. Capote succeeds in making the reader care deeply for Mr. Clutter, a generous and brave man, thereby making the reader genuinely pained at his vicious murder.

For this blog I would like to talk about the murderers in In Cold Blood in comparison to the murderers in Rope. I believe that in a class discussion someone (Riley I believe) alluded to the idea that these characters are similar. For starters, one could look at the obvious. Yes, all four are murderers. And they work in groups of two. But the things I really want to mention are the not so obvious, but very profound similarities. The first being that Dick and Perry as well as Brandon and Phillip think of themselves are "intellectually superior beings" and view the rest of the people of the world as perfection-seeking, naïve, and judgemental. Brandon and Phillip kill Bobby Franks as an attack against a "lesser individual", someone who they say does not matter or benefit the world. Perry has this preconcieved notion that all people think he is a bad person. He assumes judgements, and in turn his attitude provokes others to judge him. Perry is no doubt an intelligent person, but he takes this knowledge too far. He believes that his knowledge makes him better than other people, and resents others for what he sees as their lack of true understanding. Another similarity that I would like to point out is how both stories have one character of the pair who is more outspoken, more bluntly evil, and with a dark sense of humor. Each story also has another character who is troubled with himself, troubled with guilt, and is difficult to figure out. Dick and Brandon are the more outspoken characters. Both give a strong impression using dark humor, examples being how Brandon sets the dinner on the table in which lies Bobby and when Dick tells the joke about cemeteries before he intended to kill Mr. Bell (the man that picked him and Perry up as hitchikers). Perry and Phillip are more complex. Both deal with personal insecurities, resentment towards their partner, and seem troubled. Both feel guilt about their crimes, and there is also something about the continual discomfort of both of the characters with themselves, life, and the situations they are in.

SUSPENSE! WOAH! DUDE! INTENSE!

A few hours ago as I was reading part three, I came across a scene close to the 200 page mark. Wondering what else Capote could possibly talk about before getting to the actual capture of the two men, the story took a turn. Much to my excitement for hearing some action in the story I soon learned that it was but a dream experienced by Dewy. Thought this short lived bit of excitement seemed insignificant, the next thought to go through my mind: it was a foreshadowing. Arguably lacking a significant foreshadowing since the murder of the Clutters, the story adds another. “… filled with despair so mournfully intense that it awakened him” (197). Is this FINALLY when the two murderers were going to be caught? The feeling of suspense runs through the reader’s mind. Foreshadowing leaves the reader on the edge of their seat, just waiting for something to happen. The feeling of being so close to adding some closure to what has been dragged on for so many pages is suddenly on the reader’s mind. He almost didn’t answer it, the ringing phone. He debated whether to answer it, “On his way out he walked past the ringing phone with determined indifference, and then hesitated. It might be Marie, calling to ask if he was still working and should she wait dinner” (197). He almost didn’t answer it. That thought of doubt, adding to the suspense. The reader knew it was important, why else would Capote put it in there. He answered the phone, FINALLY.

Dick and Perry, after the murder, split into two completely different personalities. Dick is very carefree, confident of his ability to avoid the authorities, even during their time in Kansas. Perry, on the other hand, is literally feeling the pain of guilt, as his legs cause tremendous agony. Towards the end of the section, the two are caught, and placed in interrogation rooms. One may expect that Dick will be calm and collected, and that Perry will collapse under this pressure. Surprisingly, this is not the case. I believe that Perry is stronger under pressure than Dick, despite all that I have read about his personality.
During the interrogation of Dick and Perry, Detective Nye attempted to corner them in two ways: Surprise them with truth, and lure them with lies.
Dick, in contrast to what people expected of him, was completely slammed by both. When Nye first mentioned the day before the murder, he planned to shock Dick with his precise familiarity of that date. Capote writes that "Dick's eyes flashed with surprise" (219). Obviously, Dick had been taken by surprise, and in such a scrutinous environment, this expression was a costly mistake. Then, when Nye lied about an eyewitness to the crime, "Dick's face reddened with returning color" (223). Any innocent man would not have such a reaction, because he knows the truth. Only the guilty would start second-guessing himself. So by the end of the interrogation, Dick was pinned to the ground, with no escape from the truth.
Perry, the erratic and nervous murderer, was most likely expected to confess everything on the spot, and break down into tears (as he usually does in intense situations). However, he remains calmer and more collected than Dick through the truths and lies that Dewey used on him. When Dewey's assistant, Duntz, cornered him with "You were killing the Clutter family," (225) Perry simply "swallowed. He began to rub his knees" (225). This reaction is far more intelligent than Dick's. If not anything else, it at least gave him another opportunity to convince Dewey that he was innocent. Perry's mistake stems from his silence at Dewey's "living witness" (226) lie. His silence, as mentioned by Capote, clearly showed that he knew what the situation was.
Therefore, although both murderers would eventually crumble, Perry outlasted Dick in the interrogation, proving that he is the stronger man under pressure.

I believe that this section is not only the climax of the story but also the climax of sympathy. Before the confessions they show Bobby Rupp's sadness, thinking about he would always bring Nancy her Christmas present trudging through the snow. This shows how much he cared for her and would do anything for her and now that she's gone he's taking it very roughly and is filled with sadness. Dewey the investigator can't sleep without having nightmares and finding the killers is mentally tearing his life apart. The very climax of sympathy, I believe, is when Dick and especially Perry makes the confessions. As I said in an earlier blog, Perry now has to deal with awaiting his death and think about what he did. Although he does deserve it, you still feel some sympathy for him. He has made some bad choices but he can be a good person and you get the feeling that if you he received another chance, he would probably not commit the murder again. He understands what he has done and he is forced to live with it even though he may not actually deserve his fate. Hearing his confessions make you realize this fact more and more. He tells how he respected the Clutters and really thought that they were very nice people. He tells Dick that he would kill him if he raped Nancy and he even tries to make Mr. Clutter more comfortable when he is tied up. He ends up killing them anyway but he himself had his sympathies for them which gives you some sympathy for him.

: In Section 3, The Pattern of Withholding information

In section 3 of “In Cold Blood”, Capote uses the familiar pattern of withholding important information from the reader until a certain point. Throughout the book, Capote hasn’t mentioned anything about Floyd Wells and his contributions to the story. It turns out in fact, that Floyd Wells is one of the main reasons for Dick and Perry’s eventual capture. Also, Floyd Wells is the reason the four Clutters were slain. In the story, Floyd Wells’ confession about Dick and Perry happens only a week or two after the murders, time in which Capote did not mention or talk about wells. This writing style where information is withheld is also used by Capote another time earlier in the book when the story comes to the murders but instead of talking about them, Capote skips right over them. When it comes time for Floyd wells confession, Capote doesn’t even mention it; he skips right over it and waits until later when he strategically chooses to tell the reader. The way Capote gives the reader some information and withholds other information is a writing tool that helps create suspense in the story. Here, Capote uses the information he had previously withheld to create suspense, “so the next day he got word to the deputy warder – told him I wanted to be ‘called out.’ Told the deputy that if he called me to his office on some pretext or other, maybe I could tell him who killed the clutters. Sure enough, the deputy sent for me. I was scared, but I remembered Mr. Clutter, and how he’d never done me no harm, how at Christmas he’d give me a little purse with fifty dollars in it. I talked to the deputy. Then I told the warden hisself. And while I was still sitting there, right there in the warden hand’s office he picked up the telephone –” (13). This little section reveals to you that now the KBI has gotten their hands on a lead against Perry and Dick, I don't know about everyone, but when I read this I sure felt the suspense building . All building for the capture of Dick and Perry.

'Blame'

Part III of author Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood”, includes a major turning-point in this nonfiction novel.  This turning point is the capturing of Eugene ‘Dick’ Hickock and Perry Smith, the alleged killers of the Clutter family.  Because of this, it raises new questions for the reader, such as, ‘Who is to blame for the murder of the Clutter family?’  Through the perspectives of Dick and Perry, and also Dick’s old cellmate Floyd Wells, we can decide for our selves, who is to blame.  In the beginning of ‘Answers’ we are enlightened on the beginnings of this pre-meditated crime, through Floyd Wells, who after knowing the Clutter’s through his time working for Mr. Clutter, informed Dick of them and answered questions he had of them.  This is seen on page 161 when Wells recalls, “He wanted to know if Mr. Clutter was a wealthy man.  Yes, I said. Yes, he was… After that Dick never stopped asking about the Clutters.”  We are then explained that Wells answered these questions and that Dick then starting telling him his plans to rob and kill Herb Clutter.  Even after he heard word of their murder, and knew who had done it, chose to withhold that information form investigators at first, because, “He was afraid to, for if the other prisoners heard of his bearing tales to the warden, then his life, as he put it, “wouldn’t be worth a dead coyote.”(162). Based on this information the reader feels that Floyd Wells has a lot to do with why the Clutter family was murdered.  Later in Part III, we hear word of the story that Dick told investigators, that ‘it was Perry’ and that he couldn’t stop and was afraid to try to stop Perry from slaughtering the Clutters due to fear for his own life.  When Perry is told this by Al Dewey, Perry, who is known to act on impulse begins to tell Dewey the ‘truth’, that once it was clear that there was in fact, no safe in the home, that he told Dick that they need to leave, but then after Dick refused and Perry ‘snapped’ he slit the throat of Herb before killing one more.  He then added that Dick killed the remaining two.  Based on these accounts, we see that it was Dick’s idea to rob the Clutter’s, stay in the house after he knew there was no significant monetary values in it, and him who also, asked Perry to go with him, knowing that Perry was not stable mentally.  On the other hand, it is clear that Floyd made a huge mistake in indulging Dick with answers to his questions about the Clutters.  Only individually can we decide who is truly to blame for the night in which a family of four was slain in Holcomb, Kansas. 

In the third section, the narration shifts back to a week after the murders. This information could have been given a week after the murders, about the time Dick and Perry entered Mexico. But it has been withheld. This technique is similar to Capote's decision not to describe the murders except through the confessions of Dick and Perry. I found it interesting that by withholding this information until the police learn of it, Capote puts the reader into the mind of the police. The case becomes suspenseful, even though the reader knows that Dick and Perry are the killers. One wonders whether they will be caught. Another contribution to the gripping quality of the narrative is the way in which the reader is made sympathetic to Dick and Perry. While Perry is waiting in the laundromat, worrying about being caught by the police, one both looks forward to and dreads his eventual capture. Now, as what was a mystery becomes a manhunt, the suspense becomes less cerebral and more physical. Just as Dewey dreams of chasing the killers down the street, so does the reader imagine what the confrontation between Perry and Dick and the KBI will be like.

I would like to compare the movie and the book. There are two things really strike me as differences between the movie and the book. The first is how the movie is focused on Capote as an individual as well as the storyline of the murder. As that may seem like an obvious statement considering Capote wrote the book and is not involved in the whole story, the movie portrays it as if that is the case. The movie bases itself around Capote's experience with the murder. It begins with him learning of the murder and the story unravels as Capote's personal experience goes on. The book is not based upon the story. It is almost as if the story plays a close second to Capote's character himself. In the book it is not that way at all. Capote begins the book by making the reader love the Clutters, and understand them each as individuals. Capote brings details about all of the characters and sets the whole story around the murder and the people involved, not himself and how he may have felt about the situation, how he got involved, etcetera.
The second difference that I would like to talk about is how much more in depth the book is than the movie. By this I mean that the book goes into the "whys" and "hows"; the book allows the reader to see the "icebergs", or what the viewer is not shown while watching the movie. For example, many characters that are described in detail in the book are barely mentioned or recognized in the movie. Take for example Floyd Wells. In the book Floyd Wells plays a major role in the solving of the murderers. His information was what allowed Dick and Perry to be identified and arrested. But while Floyd is more than mentioned in the book, delving into his past and his relationship with Perry, the movie does not mention him. As vital as a character as he is to the story, he is not mentioned in the movie. The movie seems to keep a lot of things hidden, while the book indulges in explanations and descriptions. Both tactics are effective because the movie leaves the viewer thinking and questioning while the book gives the reader a real picture of the story and a strong understanding.

In “The Answer,” the feelings of the reader and those of Dewey overlap to a considerable degree. Just as Dewey has become obsessed with learning exactly what happened to the Clutters, the reader has also become invested with finding out what took place that tragic night. In “The Last to see Them Alive,” Capote purposely omits the murder scene, leaving the reader in suspense as to what occurred on the night of November 14, 1959. To now hear the details of the murders stir conflicting emotions for both Dewey and the reader. Although there is some compassion aroused for Perry due to his tragic life and his own empathy for his victims, there is also an intense revulsion towards him for the murders that he has committed. Upon hearing Perry’s confession and detailing of the murders, Capote says that Dewey looked at Perry “without anger-with, rather a measure of sympathy-for Perry Smith’s life had been no bed of roses but pitiful…” (246). Dewey had earlier suspected that one of the killers had some empathy for his victims, which is now confirmed by Perry’s story. Perry goes out of his way to make his victims comfortable. When he ties Mr. Clutter’s hands and feet, Perry asks him if the rope is too tight. Perry even provides a mattress box for Mr. Clutter to lie upon in the basement. As Perry states, “Well, I didn’t feel I ought to ask him to stretch out on the cold floor” (241). When he locks Mrs. Clutter in the bathroom, Perry places a chair in there so she could sit down. After tying Kenyon to a coach, Perry puts a pillow under Kenyon’s head so he will be comfortable. Once he Nancy ties up on her bed, Perry pulls the covers up for Nancy as if he is tucking her in. Furthermore, Perry prevents Dick form raping Nancy, warning Dick he would have to kill him first. Even though Dewey feels sympathy for Perry, there is a limit to it. As Capote says, “Dewey’s sympathy, however, was not deep enough to accommodate either forgiveness or mercy. He hoped to see Perry and his partner hanged-hanged back to back” (246). I find myself feeling similar to Dewey. Perry’s tragic life, coupled with his empathy for his victims, does elicit some sympathy for Perry. Yet, like Dewey, I find it hard to forgive Perry for the murders of the Clutter family, and feel that he deserves to pay the price for what he has done.

The sympathy that Capote creates for Perry in “Persons Unknown” continues to build in the “Answer.” Capote presents Perry as a man who will go out of his way to protect innocent, young children. When Dick attempts to rape a terrified young girl, Perry physically stops him. Capote describes Perry’s revulsion for sexual perverts, saying of Perry, “He had no respect for people who can’t control themselves sexually, especially when the lack of control involved what he called pervertiness-bothering kids, queer stuff, rape” (202). Perry’s empathy for people is further seen when he picks up hitchhikers in need. Perry insists on picking up a young boy and his grandfather. When Perry and Dick realize that the old man is ill, Dick wants to put the old man and boy out. Dick fears that if the old man dies, they might be questioned causing trouble for themselves. Perry, however, is adamant that the sick old man and boy remain in the car, telling Dick that if he kicks them out, then he will leave with them. Capote succeeds in presenting a caring side of Perry, which makes it all the more troubling to the reader that a man who can show such empathy is also capable of cold-blooded murder. How can such conflicting sentiments reside in one soul? On one hand, Perry is willing to fight his best friend to protect strangers, yet he is also capable of slaughtering four innocent people, including two children. Being aware of Perry’s tragic and lonely life, the reader begins to wonder what Perry would have been like if he had a warm and loving childhood. Perhaps the goodness in him would have prevailed and the evil would have been submerged.

Story teller vs Reporter

In section 3, the difference between the story teller and the reporter became very clear to me. It started when Nye was interviewing the Hickocks. For me the difference between the two is when the family is being questioned versus describing the family. When Capote describes the family, he adds personality and that shapes the reader’s perception of the character. So in the story, when Nye visits Walter Hickock’s house Capote describes the scene. In the story teller’s voice, “Dusk had fallen when Nye knocked at the door of Walter Hickock’s weather-grayed four-room farmhouse. Perhaps if they had known the true meaning of the caller’s presence, the reception would have been less gracious, more guarded” (168). Here Capote is describing the scene when visiting the Hickock’s house, and also their mysterious hospitality. This is the voice of the story teller. By adding background to the story, it becomes more readable, less of a book of hard facts. The flip side to this is the voice of the reporter. This is more of concentrated hard facts. For instance, the entirety of the next page is written in “question and answer” form. This is the reporter’s voice, getting the hard facts and informing the reader. The unification of the two of these is what makes this story great. By intertwining both the voice of the reporter and storyteller, it gives the story a greater effect.

For this blog, I would like to talk about Floyd Wells. Floyd highly suspects Dick of the murder because while they were cell mates, Dick talked about this plan to kill Mr. Clutter and take his money. But after he heard this plan (before the murder actually happened), Floyd did not do anything about it. This is because he said many people in jail would come up with stories and plans and never go through with them. People in jail are all talk, no action about what they are going to do when they get out. Floyd describes this situation when he states, "He described to me a dozen times how he was gonna do it, how him and Perry was gonna tie them people up and gun them down. I told him, 'Dick, you'll never get by with it.' But I can't honestly say I tried to persaude him different. Because I never for a minute believed he meant to carry it out. I thought it was just talk. Like you hear plently of in Lansing. That's about all you do hear: what a fellow's gonna do when he gets out-the holdups and robberies and so forth. It's nothing but brag, mostly. Nobody takes it serious. That's why, when I heard what I heard on the earphones-well, I didn't hardly believe it. Still and all, it happened. Just like Dick said it would" (162). I think this quote is very important because you begin to realize how planned out this whole scheme was. Also, you begin to see a little guilt from Floyd and most importantly you begin to put the pieces together and see how the murder all really began. This section with Floyd shows the whole murder from "just talk" to a real plan to action.

Dick gets a new face

While I was reading section three, I began to feel an emotion I had yet to feel through my interpretations of In Cold Blood. I started to feel sorrow for Dick. In the beginning of the story, he was a murderer. He was a cold blooded murderer who took not only the life of the Clutter’s, but the town. As the investigation of Mr. and Mrs. Hickock started, Harold Nye gave a new face to Dick. Through the reading of the next few pages, I learned that Dick had many things going for him. For instance Mr. H. says, “’An outstanding athlete – always on the first team at school. Basketball!! Baseball!! Football!! Dick was always a star player. A pretty good student too…’”(166). For me when I read this, I imagined a common high school jock, with many things going for him and bright future. Too see where he ended up, I felt bad for him. This element that Capote introduces adds deeper character to Dick, not just labeling him as a murderer but as someone who took a turn for the worst. With hopes of college, Dick had good intentions, just didn’t follow through. With this new insight, Dick became depicted as someone who had just been unlucky. A talented, smart, and athletic young man was limited not being able to go to college. Thus begging the question, what if he had gone to college?

Throughout In Cold Blood Dick refers to himself as "a normal". In section two he says, "Deal me out baby, I'm a normal"(108) In this quote the reader can guess that Dick thinks he's a normal becuase to him normal is killing people. He thinks that people going around killing other people for no reason all the time. This is in some ways true but that doesn't justify that he's normal. In this instance Dick refering to himself as a normal gives the reader a chilling thought about him. It is this particular quote that makes us remember that he is in fact a manipulator and a cold-blood killer. Skipping through a lot of pages we are brought to section 3 where Dick again refers to himself as normal. Dick thinking to himself says ," That, to be sure, was somehting he was certain he was--'a normal" (201) In this quote Dick is refering to other people not thinking that having sexual feelings for a 12 year old at his age is normal. He then goes on to say that he was certain he was "a normal". This is an example that is added to the list of things Dick thinks is normal. 1. killing people to gain money or for no reason 2. having sexual feelings for a 12 year old at his age. This things that Dick thinks make hime normal make the reader question what his childhood was like but we as the reader know that Dick unlike Perry had a very good childhood and a promising future. He could have in fact been normal under qualities that were not the opposite of normal.

In section 3 of In Cold Blood Capote spends time explaining what Perry and Dick are doing right down to the moment when they get caught. After surviving one interegation where both Perry and Dick were told that they made a mistake and that there was in fact a witness, Perry and Dick show little emotion on the outside but on the inside are questioning this. Dick thinking to himself thought about when the investigators said witness how they didn't mean eyewitness but rather just a person claiming to no exactly what happened-- Floyd Wells. Although Floyd does have the story and the facts correct, because he was the reason this event occured, Dick was not concerned. HE said to himself, "The sonofabitch was probable expecting some fancy reward--a parole or money, or boht. But hell would freeze before he got it. Because a convict's tattle wasn't prooof. Proof is footprints, fingerprints, witnesses, a confession" (227). This quote shows some dramatic irony. We as the reader know that the police force does in fact have footprints of which match Dick and Perry's shoes exactly. A few pages later, Capote continues with how the second interogation played out. In it Nye stumped Dick. Nye says , "The first one was they left a witness. The second--well, I'll show you" Capote goes on to explain that "Rising, he retrieved form a corner a box and a briefcase, both of which he'd brought into the room at the start of the interview. Nye continues by saying," This is a one-to-one reproduction of certian footprints found near Mr. Clutter's body. And here are the boots that made them. Your boots, Dick." (229) I think this moment is rather important because at this moment Dick probably realizes the jig is up and that him and Perry are going to go to jail. The proof of Dick knowing that a) they screwed up and b) they were going to pay for it was when Dick said, "It was Perry. I coudn't stop him. He killed them all." (230) Although this statement may be more or less true it shows that Dick is fearful of what will happen next and he was going to try to not have to find out.

Truman Capote has written about both the pros and the cons of Dick and Perry. From these descriptions, the reader becomes conflicted because it is not clear whether they should feel sympathy for these men. One character, however, the Capote has never stopped sympathizing with, is Alvin Dewey. Despite the fact that he shows barely any emotion until the end of the case, Capote depicts Dewey as an upright man. He accomplishes this by writing about both the difficulties that Dewey must face in the case, and the difficulties he must face from the townspeople.
In the third part of the book, Floyd Wells tells Dewey the truth behind the Clutter murder. On the surface, this seems like a gold mine of information. However, Capote writes that "Dewey and his colleagues had not yet unearthed one bit of solid supporting evidence" (189). This was entirely true. Sitting in front of them was virtually a free solution to the case, and they did not have any way to prove it. In fact, there was no foolproof method of obtaining solid evidence, unless it came from a confession. One can only imagine how a man continues to devote day after day to a case with no evidence.
Although Dewey is a righteous man, he is not perceived as such by his townspeople. In fact, not even Mrs. Hartman thinks well of him anymore. She says, "Dewey and those hot shot cops from Topeka...I don’t know a soul who still thinks they've got hell's chance of catching the one done it" (191). Mrs. Hartman is the manager of a cafe where large varieties of people circulate through every day, so her saying this clearly shows the Dewey has nearly no support. In the end, Dewey has almost nothing. He has no evidence, no support, and his only lead on the suspects is from the story of a convict.
Dewey says, "That's what I want for Christmas. All I want. To wrap this up" (198). He has worried his family to an unbearable extent, and his obsession with the case shows a valiant amount of commitment. Alvin Dewey is truly one of the unsung heroes of the Clutter Case.

Throughout the book so far, Capote has created an image of Perry and Dick in which their personalities seem hidden. This was especially true in Dick's case, since Capote has made little mention of the mastermind thus far. He has tried to portray Dick as a more devious character, though strong and resolute. However, it was not until the third section that we find out how overt his personality is. Reading about how people (Mrs. Dewey, The salesman, etc) described Dick by his picture was astounding. It surprised me how accurate they were, despite the fact that they knew very little about the murder.
Dick was described many ways, and nearly all of them were true in some way. When comparing the eyes of the two, Mrs. Dewey said that Perry's eyes were "not as mean, as forbiddingly 'criminal,' as the eyes of Hickock, Richard Eugene" (164). Dick's eyes seem to provide a clear glimpse into his soul, as he is tougher and more manipulative than Perry. It was him who initially wanted to kill the Clutters after robbing him, and this sly attitude was able to drag Perry into the ordeal as well. Mrs. Dewey also stated that Dick reminded her of a bobcat that she had wanted to save, but held back. The bobcat's condition caused her desire to help, but its eyes repulsed her in the end. This is an accurate symbol for Dick. Described by his father as "An outstanding athlete...a pretty good student too," (166) Dick never had the chance to make something of his life. This caused me to sympathize with him briefly, but I remembered what he had done to Perry, to his parents, and to himself. The sympathy evaporated quickly.
The other description of Dick that truly astonished me was that of the salesman: Mr. Bell. He was, out the many people who provided descriptions, the least informed about the murder. To him, Dick and Perry were merely hitchhikers. Therefore, his description proves the obviousness of Dick's character. He described Dick as "a wiry type with dirty-blond, crew-cut hair...an engaging grin and a polite manner" (172). Dick's manipulative personality stems from his polite manner, one that he uses to fool people, such as in how he was able to bill hundreds of dollars worth of goods to his parents without a sweat. Also, the engaging grin part of Dick goes into his perverted side, which is revealed later. It is common knowledge that perverts who have a fetish for underage girls should possess an engaging grin, and Dick fits that description perfectly.
From these descriptions, it is clear that no matter where Dick and Perry go, their appearances expose their personalities so easily that complete strangers are able to figure them out.

Movie vs Book?

In most movies that are based off a novel, the directors change some of the main fact to make the story more interesting to the viewers. This is the common occurence in recent movies - hardly any of them stick to the cold hard facts. Most book fanatics are usually disappointed by the fact that it didn't keep to the book and every last one of them would say that the book is way better than the movie. This, though, is mostly untrue for In Cold Blood. The movie Capote expresses the same story, with just two different perspectives. The book is from the storyteller/journalist Capote's view which is more jumpy and reporting the facts. On the other hand, the movie is an overview of the step by step process that Capote went through to write In Cold Blood. One of the main differences between Capote (movie) and In Cold Blood is the details that each one includes. Capote speaks more towards the life of Capote and what he went through to get this book out on the shelves, while In Cold Blood goes more into detail about Dick and Perry's lives before committing murder and going to prison - before Kansas. In other words, this movie is a grand and exciting surprise to all In Cold Blood lovers because this movie is based off the cold hard facts and no whishy-washy fake "entertainment."

In the third section of In Cold Blood, There is a chapter in which Perry confesses is very long and detailed. In some ways, it is the climax of the novel. I found it interesting that it is told in the present tense, while the rest of the book is recounted in the past tense. This temporal shift highlights the significance of the chapter. The beginning of the next chapter is in the present tense; it simply describes how cats constantly prowl the main street in Garden City.

The confession is a climax represents the end of the mystery and chase that occupies the police for most of the novel. Throughout, it is clear to the reader that Dick and Perry killed the Clutter family, but the details are unclear. Now they are revealed. The motive is also revealed: They were hoping to find a safe full of money. It is a robbery gone wrong. Later, Perry will change his story somewhat, admitting that it was he who actually killed each of the Clutters. But, for the most part, all the mysteries are solved, and all that remains is the slow and inevitable approach of the execution.

In the third section of In Cold Blood, the reader wants to sympathize with Alvin Dewey's family. Alvin Dewey, or Al, is the head K.B.I. agent investigating the Clutter murders. He and his family are on edge. There phones are ringing non-stop, 24/7. The people are calling for three different reasons: 1. they want to tell Dewey their theory about who killed them and why they did it,
2. They want to "confess" to the murders and turn themselves in so they can get the reward money, or 3. its a fellow K.B.I. agent reporting on leads or evidence that they found out about the murderers. Either way, the Dewey household is in chaos. When he got home in the beginning of the section, his wife saw him and "launched into an account of household upsets. The family cat had attacked the dog across the street, seriously damaging one of its eyes. And Paul, their nine-year-old, had fallen out of the tree. And then their twelve-year-old, Dewey's namesake, had gone into the yard to burn rubbish and started a blaze that threatened the neighborhood"(163). The Dewey family was a mess, everyone on the brink. All Alvin Dewey wanted was to catch the murderers so he could sleep at night, and come home to a wife who told of her kids good, not bad, deeds. One of his fellow agents even said,"That's what I want for Christmas. All I want. To wrap this up. Wrap it up and sleep till New Year's. Wouldn't that be one hell of a present?"(198). This murder has everyone on edge.

I agree with Katelyn, in the fact that Capote basically re-introduces Perry. The way Capote wrote about Perry in the second section, the 3 letters and the memories, Capote wanted the reader to connect with Perry. The way he wrote it, he wanted the reader to see Perry as an innocent, persuadable man who has had one of the worst childhoods. But now, in section 3, Perry is presented as the type of guy who has problems, with himself and pretty much everyone else. His only sister, Barbara, nicknamed Bobo, is scared to death of him. She even moved, from Denver to San Francisco, because she was afraid he would find her and her family and kill them. She was afraid he would kill her. The last time she ever saw him was at her old home in Denver. Apparently Perry had to much to drink, and pushed her against the wall. He yelled at her, saying, "No, Bobo, I'm talking. Shut up, or I will throw you in the river...I hate you, all of you-Dad and everybody"(185). Just the fact that Bobo would travel all the way to the west coast just to get away from her brother is enough to say Perry is a mad man; but the fact that he threatened to kill her is more than enough for the reader's opinion to change about Perry. Perry has had a troubled life; but he has an internal problem that Capote shows in his writing. The way Capote describes Perry in the third section can allow the reader to see the evil side of Perry, the one that murdered an innocent Kansas family of four.

In this 3rd section of the book, as they begin to pursue the killer more heavily, everyone seems to be even more paranoid. The towns people seem to stay the same but the inspectors and, even Dick and Perry (mostly Perry), begin to be scared. When Dewey tells his wife the news, they became very excited in that they are very close to catching the killer, however you know that Dewey is a bit unnerved from this fact. He begins to get closer and closer to finding Dick and Perry and he starts to be constantly on his toes. This comes up especially before Nye calls to tell him the news about Dick writing a bunch of checks in Kansas City which brought them even closer to catching them. He has the nightmare about seeing the killers and chasing them down. It shows that all he could think about was the case and that he had a severely heightened state of awareness and paranoia from it. On the other side of the ordeal, Perry becomes incredibly nervous about being caught. He feels guilty and he knows that he committed a very serious crime and was being very heavily pursued by police. When they get to Kansas City all he can think about is the horrifying vision of police. The whole situation puts him on edge and he becomes even more paranoid than the people that are afraid of him and the people that want to catch him, like Dewey. In this section, Capote uses these factors of, specifically, Dewey and Perry to further heighten the mood of paranoia in the story. The fact that everyone else in the book is still on edge after all this time and that Capote continues to emphasize this fact shows that this was a very serious situation to the people around the killing, and further even makes the reader a little on edge himself.

As I read Section 3, I find myself second-guessing Perry. In section two, I greatly sympathized with him because of the trauma he encountered as a child. However, Capote re-introduces his sister in Section 3. What she has to say about Perry causes me to think differently towards him than I did earlier in the book. This is because what she says about him easily fits Perry. Mainly, she says that he can be deceiving. His own sister admits that she is fearful of Perry. She says, "But I am afraid of him. I always have been. He can seem so warm-hearted and sympathetic. Gentle. He cries so easily. Sometimes music sets him off, and when he was a little boy, he used to cry because he thought a sunset was so beautiful...Oh, he can fool you. He can make you feel sorry for him" (182). And this is exactly what has been done so far. The reader knows Perry to be sensitive, low-key, and pressured into the crime he committed. But by hearing from his sister, someone who has grown up with him, say she is afraid of him and say that he is a good actor, causes us as the readers to second guess our impression of Perry. Maybe he is tricking us, or Capote, into thinking he was the victim and was subject to committing a crime that wasn't really his fault. She also says, "The rights of other people mean nothing to Perry. He has no respect for anyone" (181). Again, this quote plays with the readers mind. We have believed thus far that Perry is a decent individual, but we are introduced to a different opinion that is convincing.

Nurture vs Nature

Through Perry and Dick, Capote illustrates the compelling theories of nature and nurture, when looking at human beings. Nature, meaning in basics, that a person acts the way they do so because it is the way they are programmed to act. Nurture simply means that a person is a way they are because of the way they have been brought up and their surroundings. I would argue that Dick is an example for the nature theory. He was raised well, and seemed to have a fairly good child hood. His parents describe him, "That boy has plenty of good inside him. If ever you seen him on a football field, if ever you seen him play with his children, you wouldn't doubt me" (167). No one would have guessed Dick had a violent nature. His father continues to describe his son, "An outstanding athlete - always first team at school. Basketball, baseball, football! Dick was always the star player. A pretty good student too, with A marks in several subjects" (166). Again, Dick exemplifies the 'perfect kid'. He was talented, and obviously loved by his parents. The same cannot be said about Perry, however. Who, as we already discovered, lived a troubled childhood. He was constantly tormented and faced many challenges. Perry suffered through abuse, spent time in orphanages, and had an unstable life at home. In addition to this, he was not given the privilege of education for most of his life. These aspects, Dick lived without. Therefore, we can hold the past (Upbringing) of Perry responsible for the way he acts; thus proving the Nurture theory.

'Sympathy'

As I have blogged about previously in both Parts I and II, Capote strives to create a strong feeling of sympathy in the reader so that the reader is even more distraught at the murder of the Clutter family, understands the tremendous effect it had not only in Holcomb but across the nation and also to despise the murderers even more.  In Truman Capote’s ‘Answers’, we continue to sympathize with those affected by the murder of the Clutter family rather than sympathizing with the Clutters which Capote tried to make us do in part I of ‘In Cold Blood’.  To begin Part III, Floyd Wells is introduced as an ex-worker for Herb Clutter who after hearing about the murder of him and his family, “Was stunned… he ‘didn’t hardly believe it.’… [Floyd] liked Mr. Clutter much as much as any man [he’d] ever met’… ‘I never forgot them”(160). This is another example of how many people, fond, of Herb and his family, were deeply affected at the hearing of their deaths, as here, Floyd Little, a prisoner, reminisces about his past with them.  Later on page 163, we feel sympathy for Al Dewey as well as his family, who ever since he took on the Clutter case, have been living a hectic, restless, and depressing life.  Capote informs us that, “When Dewey got home, Marie was in the kitchen preparing supper.  The moment he appeared, she launched an account of household upsets.  The family cat had attacked the cocker-spaniel… And Paul, their nine year old, had fallen out of a tree…” As readers it is seemingly impossible not to sympathize with a man, who coming home from a long day of investigation, with nothing to show for it, has to deal with his families problems.  We sympathize with Dewey again on page 165 when we find Marie trying to warn him from another possible disappointment of a lead, and when Capote informs us that, “she worried about his health.  His state of mind was bad; he was emancipated; and he was smoking sixty cigarettes a day.”  These are just a few examples of how Capote attempts to have his audience sympathize with his characters in Part III.

'Double-Vision'

After reading up to Part IV in ‘In Cold Blood’ it seems apparent to me that author Truman Capote continues carrying on his ‘double-vision’ of many of the characters throughout the book, especially the murderers.  In ‘Answers’, as the story is starting to wind down, we as the readers are enlightened quite a bit about Perry and Dick’s character, including their positives and their flaws or deep mental problems.  Concerning Dick, we first get a hint of his role in the murders of the clutters when we see on page 161 through Floyd Wells that Dick, “Wanted to know if Mr. Clutter was a wealthy man… was talking about killing Mr. Clutter.”  Because Capote has the choice of what facts he chooses to include, it is apparent that by including this, he wanted us to see Dick as a monster who planned the murders and who used Perry.  This evil side is seen again when Capote informs the reader that Dick could not control his sexual desires towards children.  This is one side of the double-vision.  Then on page 166 and 167 we see another side of Dick, the ‘old’ Dick described by his parents as, “An outstanding athlete…the star player. A pretty good student too, with A marks in several subjects”, before a series of unfortunate events such as his parent’s inability to pay for college, a concussion that resulted from a car crash and seventeen months in prison led to his downfall.  This is a side of Dick that we can sympathize with due to the fact that it seems his surroundings and experience caused him to turn evil. 

            As for Perry, Capote presents Perry as a good-hearted man at first, as he did in the previous two parts, before showing us his flaws.  For example, we see that Perry does not allow Dick and his sexual nature, to abuse little girls such as the one on the beach and also Nancy in the Clutter house on the night of the murders.  We also see on page 174 that Perry didn’t want to go through with killing the driver who picked them up as instructed by Dick, and when a sudden turn of events happened that didn’t allow him to follow through he called it a ‘goddam miracle.’  This, again is just one vision of Perry that Capote wants us to view him as.  But once again a brutish side of Perry is revealed on page 185 when after drinking, Perry held Bobo against a wall and threatened her while describing how he threw a man off a bridge into a river.  At the end of this episode, Perry exclaims, “And I hate you, all of you-Dad and everybody.”  This is a startling event in which we question Perry’s character and maybe view him as time bomb that could explode at any time.  Based on these examples, it is clear to me that Capote continues to show a double vision of the murderers in Part III, as he has done previously in the novel.  

In “Persons Unknown”, the reader is introduced to Alvin Dewey, the agent from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation in charge of the Clutters’ murder case. Dewey is an extremely hard working man who becomes utterly devoted to finding the killers of the Clutter family. The reader not only greatly respects and admires Dewey for his dedication to solving the murders, but also becomes concern for the welfare of Dewey whose obsession with the case has a negative impact on his health and family life. Dewey’s fixation on the case at the exclusion of everything else is seen when just a few days before Christmas he still has not purchased a single gift for his wife or two young sons. As Capote says of Dewey, “His mind automatically rejected problems not concerned with the Clutter case” (148). In a mere three weeks, Dewey loses twenty pounds and is described as looking awful. He is unable to sleep and finds himself smoking to relieve stress. The case consumes Dewey’s life. In an attempt to find some clue to who the murderers are, Dewey reads every entry in Nancy’s diary. Dewey finds himself going to the Clutters’ home almost daily, walking through it as he contemplates the awful circumstances of their death. The overpowering hold that the case has on Dewey is evident when Dewey says, “…I’ve come to feel I know Herb and the family better than they ever knew themselves. I’m haunted by them. I guess I always will be. Until I know what happened” (148). In Capote’s portrayal of Dewey, it appears that Capote is projecting much of himself on to Dewey. Like Dewey, Capote becomes obsessed with the case. He spends years researching the case, even relocating to Kansas for much of the time. Similar to Dewey, Capote’s preoccupation with the case detracts him from important relationships in his life. With the arrest and conviction of Perry and Dick, Capote spends countless hours with them, in an attempt to better understand them and how they could have arrived at the point to have murdered four innocent people. Capote’s total commitment to the case is mirrored in Dewey’s obsession to solve the murders.

In this section, Capote goes through Perry's entire background story. He tells of his childhood and how he got to be what he was at the killing. I believe Capote does this entirely for more sympathy upon Perry and to show his side of the story. Although he seems to be a ruthless killer to everyone, I think Capote wants that vision to change because he doesn't believe that himself. This is where his opinion comes out the most. In the movie You can tell that although Capote is using Perry for his story, He really begins to care about and love Perry. He knows that everyone has this opinion of him and he also knows that Perry does not want to be seen in this way to the people because he knows he's not the bad person that his actions have made him out to be. Capote uses this section to try and relay this message across to the reader and persuade them that Perry really isn't a savage killer. Even though he brutally murdered a whole family, the evidence in the movie and book show that he was just an ordinary man with feelings and good intentions that just took a few wrong turns in life. It seems that Capote not only wrote this book for entertainment and money and a good story and fame, but to show, because this a non fiction novel, that this famous killer is not as the press makes him out to be and that although people do bad things, it doesn't necessarily make them a completely horrible person.

The letters that Perry recieves from his sister and father while he is in jail really made an impression on me. It is obvious that Capote thought that there was something worth studying in Perry. As readers, we are not only shielded from, but purposely exposed to an emotional, human, and vulnerable side of Perry. The letters sent to Perry represent that his father and sister recognize emotional sides of his personality and show a genuine love for him, especially his father. His father wrote an extensive letter to the Parole Board in Kansas talking about Perry. He states about Perry's mother, "She got mad and then said she would turn the children to hate me, which she did, all but Perry" (126). This quote makes the reader see the reasons and the genuinity to his father's affection towards Perry. Later in his letter, Perry's father states, "How well I know that Perry is goodhearted if you treat him rite. Treat him mean and you got a buzz saw to fight" (130). This quote is so important I believe because it represents how his father seems to understand why Perry acts the way that he does. To other people, Perry's emotions are unstable and unpredictable, but to his father they make sense. Perry has a good heart and will be kind if someone is kind to him. But his father recognizes and warns that to hurt Perry is a dangerous thing to do. Perry will fight back. Secondly, I was very interested with the letter from Perry's sister. This letter was interesting because it was not simply a letter of love or pity. Perry's sister wants to open Perry's eyes to a new side, to make him see differently. Perry hated her for his letter (and possibly other reasons) but her letter shows that Perry has other options, he can change how he acts now and in the future, and that she believes he needs to recognize this fact. Perry's sister states more than once, "It is no shame to have a dirty face-the shame comes when you keep it dirty" (140). Perry's sister is tough on him. She tells what she believes and represents the idea that even though Perry has made mistakes, there is still time to fix what he has done and rebuild his life. Perry is not satisfied with this letter or the insinuation that he is not living his life the "right" way and it serves only the purpose of making him feel more resentment towards his family.

     In chapter 2, and I am starting to think this will happen throughout the whole book, Capote wants the reader to know everything about Perry, past and present. He mostly does this by writing the two murderers' part of the story through Perry. Especially in section two, Persons Unknown, he writes a whole lot about Perry and his childhood. How he tells about Perry's childhood varies, from the letter Perry's dad wrote about him to his own childhood memories. When Capote chooses  to write about Perry's childhood through memories, it gives, in my opinion, a personal touch to sed memory and it makes it easier for me to visualize the memory rather than reading Perry's dad's letter. It almost seems like Capote would rather write the story through Perry than any other character. In the first section, Capote wrote the story using Perry multiple times, while only wrote it with Dick one time. Then, section 2 is almost all about Perry. In section 2, at least I think, the story telling has been mapped out in order of importance, the most important being Perry, than Dick  and Perry's Mexican adventures, than the town of Holcomb. When I say important I mean which category is written about the most, the obvious choice being Perry. In my oinion, Capote wants to write more about Perry than the 4 innocent people he killed.

In the book, Capote uses different tactics to give a great effect of murder. Among other things, he associates something to the murder to give a greater effect of loss, suffering, and sadness. In one particular instance, Capote uses fire to show that what the Clutter’s once had is now gone. In the very beginning of the section, Mr. Clutter’s friends, who usually come over to hunt pheasant, are armed with cleaning supplies instead of rifles. “Nancy and her mother had been murdered in their beds, they acquired additional fuel for their fire-blood soiled bedclothes, mattresses, a bedside rug, a teddy bear doll”(78). This quote shows that everything once associated with the Clutters is now destined to be burned. Common household items, to be burned in the fire. When they had finished with the cleaning, they unloaded they truck and started the fire. As it burned, Andy said, “Everything Herb had, he earned…he made something of his life” (79). The fact that they are reminiscing about the Clutters while the fire is burning, signifies the final parting with the fallen friends. It goes on to say a few lines later, “Erhart wondered as he watched the bonfire catch. How was it all possible that such effort, such plain virtue, could overnight be reduced to this-smoke, thinning as it rose and was received by the big annihilating sky?”(79) This quote shows that all the Clutters were and strove to be, was now being burned into ashes; leaving memories. Also, when the text refers to the sky as “annihilating” it further shows the final parting with the Clutters, as does the fire.

Perry is remorseful and regrets committing the murder.

In the second part of In Cold Blood, it is clear that Capote wants the reader to see the regret and remorse Perry feels about the murders. Even though Perry was one of the murderers, Capote wants the reader too see how Perry was manipulated by dick, how Perry should be sympathized. Capote clearly expresses Perry’s regrets about the murders while making dick seem stalwart and stubborn, not budging on his opinions about the murders. This contrast or regret and no regret aids Perry’s case by making him seem more “innocent”. Capote achieves the effect of sympathy for a man who has committed action that will severely affect his life, or what’s left of it. There are numerous sections in the novel where Perry’s remorse is shown, “Know what I think?...I think there must be something wrong with us. To do what we did…There’s gotta be something wrong with somebody who’d do a thing like that” (Capote, 108). The quote is of Perry talking to Dick about the murders. It is clear that Perry knows that what he did was wrong, he knows it, and he wishes he could have gone back in time and stopped it from happening. It's a horrible thing now, that Perry completely realizes his actions, he wishes they wouldn’t have happened; and know, he will pay with his life because of them. Capote uses multiple sections like this in the book to show how sorry Perry is for what he did, and when dick is as stubborn as a rock, well it makes Perry seem a whole lot better, good enough to feel sorry for.

Capote Makes you sympathize with friends and family in part II

I agree with Cory, in the second section of In Cold Blood, Capote shifts from trying to get the reader to sympathize with the Clutters to trying to get the reader to sympathize with their friends and family, the community. Instead of focusing on the Clutters lives in this section, Capote focuses on explaining the lives the different community member and how the murders effected they’re lives. Some people are surprisingly undisturbed by the murders, others have their lives altered because of the murders. “How come we didn’t hear. For one thing, the wind. A west wind, like it was, would carry the sound t’other way. Another thing, there’s that big milo barn ‘tween this house and our’n. That old barn ‘ud soak up a lotta racket ‘fore it reached us. And did you ever think of this? Him that done it, he must have knowed we wouldn’t hear. Else he wouldn't’ have took the chance – shooten’ off a shotgun four times in the middle of the night! Why, he’d be crazy. Course, you might say he must be crazy anyhow. To go doin what he did. But my opinion, him that done it had it figured out to the final T, he knowed. And there’s one thing I know, too. Me and the Missis, we’ve slept our last night on this place. We’re movin’ to a house alongside the highway”(Capote, 78).Clearly the murders had effected the lives of the people in the quote permanently. So much in fact that the family feels it necessary to relocate. This is only a small image of the entire effect of the tragedy that is the murder of the clutter family. When one sees the destruction on all of the other lives as a byproduct of the murders, one can’t help but feel sad, and empathize the effected families and friends. Capote does a very good job of making the reader sympathize with the other families just as much as with the clutters. You can’t help but feel that these murders not only affected the Clutters and a close few, but the murders had an undulating effect on all of Kansas. Affecting a multitude of people, in this second part, Capote aims to gets the reader feeling compassionate and sympathetic for those both directly and indirectly affected by the murders.

Is Capote or his feelings represented in the story?

To answer the question, you can look at it in two completely separate ways. The voice of the story plays the key role in deciding if Capote's feelings are expressed in the story. While reading, you have to ask yourself if it is the storyteller's perspective or the reporter's minimally biased facts? The reporter's voice is very fact based, stating the obvious, main ideas of the murder and the rest of the case itself. When Capote is using the reporter voice, it sounds much like a newspaper article, dull and uninteresting. It has absolutely no feeling or bias whatsoever, it just goes in order stating what happened - beginning, middle, end - nothing else. Capote seems to use the reporter's voice more towards the beginning when he is describing the murder and the facts of what happened - exactly to the smallest, seemingly irrelevant details which usually come into play later in the story. For example, Capote reports about the town's knowledge of how Mr. Clutter never carries large sums of cash around with him, which showed later that the murder couldn't have been from inside Holcomb since the original intent was robbery. On the other hand, Capote's feelings come out when he is in his storyteller moments of the novel. A story is more opinionated according to the author in general, and this is true in the case of Capote. He expresses his feelings within the lines of his novel. The adjectives he uses most of the time reflect his empathy in this situation. This is another one of those questions with multiple answers and it all depends on the reader and how they interpret the novel themselves.

Perry's childhood

"Part 2: Persons Unknown" explains Perry's lack of motive yet actions, yet erratic action of killing the Clutters. In Part 2 Perry recalls his childhood. In his childhood he describes himself multiple times needing a savior from pain inflicted upon him throughout his life. Perry's mind created a savior to him in the form of a parrot. The parrot first rescued Perry when the nuns of his orphanage beat him for wetting the bed. Perry describes the parrot as "a warrior angel who blinded the nuns with its beack, fed upon their eyes , slaughtered them as they pleaded for mercy" (Pg.93). As Perry describes this event in his mind, I personally am reminded of The Clutter's murder from the film Capote. The overlaps I see between the two are with "eyes", "slaughter" and "plead for mercy". In the film, Perry says that he did not intend to murder the Clutter, but as Mr. Clutter looked into Perry's eyes as a plea for mercy something inside Perry snapped. I hypothesize that his guardian angle parrot took over on autopilot of Perry's body and did the same thing that it did to the nuns of his orphanage in California when he was seven.

Although Perry murdered the Clutters, Capote attempts to create sympathy for him in Part II, “Persons Unknown.” Following the murders, Capote shows Perry as feeling guilty and upset about what he has done in order to show the reader that Perry has a conscience. Capote tells how Perry recalls with horror the final utterances of some of his victims. The words,“Oh, no! Oh, please! No! No! No! No! Don’t! Oh, please don’t, please!” continually play in Perry’s mind (110). Perry’s remorse over the killings is further evident when he tells Dick that there must be something wrong with them to have murdered the Clutters. To show the reader that there is some goodness in Perry, Capote relates how as a young boy, Perry stands up for the small children at school who are being bullied by the big kids. Perry becomes known as “King of the Kids” for his protective role (127). To further gain the reader’s sympathy for Perry, Capote goes into great detail about Perry’s tragic life. Born to a Cherokee mother and an Irish father, his parents divorce when Perry is a young child. His mother is an alcoholic who chokes to death on her own vomit. Perry’s sister, Fern, who he loves very much, commits suicide by jumping out of a window. His brother, Jimmy, also kills himself. His only remaining sibling, Barbara, appears to have written Perry out of her life. Much of his childhood is spent in orphanages where he is treated harshly. After his father takes him in, he travels around the country often having little money. His education is severely lacking as he only attends school through the third grade. All of these details make the reader understand the horrible loneliness that Perry has experienced. He has lost practically everyone that he has ever loved. To elicit compassion for Perry, Capote reveals how Perry is in constant pain following a motorcycle accident that has badly damaged his legs. Capote explains that Perry’s injured legs are a source of embarrassment and shame for Perry as evidenced by his unwillingness to wear a swimsuit out of fear that his legs would “disgust people” (119). Capote also informs the reader that during Perry’s time in orphanages he was constantly berated and struck for soiling his bed. Perry says of his treatment by the nuns in the orphanage, “….the Black Widows were always after me. Hitting me. Because of wetting the bed”(132). Capote relays these stories because he wants the reader to understand the humiliation that Perry has endured. As the reader comes to know and understand Perry, there is indeed some sympathy created for him. It does not, however, overcome the revulsion felt by the reader for the murders that Perry has committed.

I found it interesting how Capote really let the reader know how Holcomb was responding o the Clutters murders.The town of Holcomb has experienced a loss of innocence is a point that Capote continues to explore in this section. Disillusioned by the crime, the residents are fraught with feelings of fear and mistrust, and many set off to settle elsewhere, hoping to regain their sense of security and well-being. Capote really focus on one character, Alvin Dewey. The investigation begins to take its toll on the family of Alvin Dewey, who develops an obsessive interest in tracking down the perpetrators. In the absence of any real breaks in the case, rumors continue to circulate in the small town, and several prominent families announce their decision to pack up and move out of state. Agent Dewey continues to obsess over the materials of the crime, and we are given Capote gives the reader a glimpse into the manner in which the killings transpired: the mattress-box underneath Mr. Clutter, the pillow under Kenyon’s head, and the fact that Nancy all indicate that the killers felt some sort of empathy for or personal responsibility toward their victims.

One thing that I thought to be very interesting in the second part of In Cold Blood is when Perry recalls a recurring dream. In this dream he is rescued from danger by a yellow parrot, who “wings him away to paradise.” In the course of his retelling, Capote offers hints of a troubled childhood. Dick ridicules the dream and Perry, whom he recalls from their early days in prison to be overly fretful, sensitive and romantic, “such a kid.” Perry, on the other hand, regards Dick’s cavalier machismo with a mixture of awe and disdain. In prison, Perry recalls, “he’d wanted Dick’s friendship, wanted Dick to ‘respect’ him, think him ‘hard,’ as much the ‘masculine type’ as he had considered Dick to be” (111). For this reason, Perry invented a story about murdering a roommate with a bicycle chain,which Dick began to regard him as a possible accomplice, and perhaps even someone to be “afraid of” (109).
Perry’s dream of the yellow parrot, offers him salvation from the abusive nuns of his childhood, and later from other “tormenting” figures in his life. This gives us reason to believe that all of his dreams are a kind of coping mechanism, a way of compensating for misfortunes he has suffered. There is a point at which Perry’s self-protecting mechanisms become a kind of self-pitying self-aggrandizement. A tension begins to emerge between Perry’s perception of himself as exceptional , misunderstood, unsuited for conventional living, and the fact that others have, throughout his life, looked down on him, viewed him as inferior or inadequate. Based off that idea i thought it was interesting that perry wanted Dick to think of him as “hard,” or “masculine,” he has invented a story about murdering a stranger, which impresses Dick. But to Dick's advantage, Dick uses Perry as a foil for his own self-image, belittling him for his superstitions and sensitive outlook. Next to Perry, Dick considers himself to be “a normal.” Moreover, Dick has been pretending to go along with Perry’s schemes, not actually believing a word of them or intending to follow through, creating a potentially volatile scenario in which Perry will feel slighted or betrayed when he realizes Dick’s true feelings.

 I agree with Aaron Naft, in that Capote describes the "true harshness in the story by describing what is lost"(Naft). In the beginning of the second section, Capote writes about Herb Clutter's closest friends: J. E. Dale, Carl Myers, Everett Ogburn, and Andy Erhart, taking a trip down to the River Valley Farm to cleanse the house of all items stained by the slaying of November 15. The reader begins to sympathize with these four men, who volunteered to go clean up ther dear friend's house. One of the four later described this task, saying "It just shut you up. The strangeness of it. Going out there, where we'd always had such a welcome"(78). But its not just the fact that they're going to the house to clean, its the fact that Capote describes their cleaning, describes their burning of everything stained on that night. Aaron also makes a nice point about double-vision; Capote describes the nice weather and the "quartet" of men, who seemed to be heading out for a hunting expedition, only to later be described going to clean the Clutter house.

Many people were, and still are, unclear as to why Truman Capote chose to devote nearly a decade to writing about this specific murder, that initially seemed like nothing out of the ordinary. Focusing on the process that led up to the arrest of Perry and Dick, the story seems quite incredible. The case was almost impossible on the basis of two facts. One was that there was insufficient evidence to be able to draw any reasonable conclusions. The other was that the finding and arrest of Dick and Perry can be considered unbelievably lucky.

Dick and Perry were two outsiders of Holcomb, Kansas, aiming to rob the household of Herb Clutter. It was a simple robbery case. But the question remained: who did it? No one was expected to be able to answer this, because Dick and Perry were complete foreigners to Holcomb. So right from the beginning, nobody had any knowledge of who could have murdered the Clutters. The other question to be asked was: Why did they do it? No one could answer this correctly either. The murderers had absolutely nothing personal against the Clutters, and this was what fooled the investigation team. One may try to argue that Perry committed the murders because the happiness of the Clutters enraged him, but how could someone figure that out based on such a vague pool of evidence? In the end, the truth was this: Two men choose to rob a wealthy stranger, and ended up killing four people because one of them could not control his emotions. On this issue, Dewey and the KBI were baffled from the start, "It doesn't add up. It doesn't make sense. But then, come right down to it, nothing does" (83).

Dick and Perry had filled their minds with dreams of buried treasure and a life of paradise in Mexico. Had they followed these dreams, it can be safely said that they would never have gotten caught. Their small, but fatal mistake, was choosing to return to the United States. Dick said, "We got to make it out of here. Back to the States. No, now, I'm not going to listen" (124). Basically, the murderers of a prominent Holcomb family were caught because one of them was frustrated with the low wages in Mexico. Not only that, but the other was once again drawn to follow the first. Clearly, luck was on the side of the KBI when this decision was made. It is truly surprising that such a tiny change of direction would cause the complete resolution of such an ambiguous case.

  In the second section of In Cold Blood, Capote switches around his writing, in that he writes more about the two murderers, Perry and Dick, than those of the town of Holcomb. He writes of their trip to Mexico and their adventures in Mexico, visiting various cities and experiencing all they have to offer. But, Capote chooses to write most of their trip through the perspective of Perry. Capote wants the reader to sympathize with Perry because he tells a lot about Perry's personal life. Capote basically takes the reader through Perry's childhood, and goes into detail about some specific events that happened to Perry. Capote shows the reader a letter that Perry's dad wrote about him, who "in an effort to help his son obtain a parole from Kansas State Penitentiary, had written it the previous Decmber and mailed it to the Kansas State Parole Board"(125). The letter told of Perry, or rather what Perry's dad remembered of him. His dad went into great detail about Perry, calling him a quick learner and a nice boy who wouldn't hurt anybody unless he felt threatened. This spiraled Perry into a lot of memories, good and bad, happy and hurtful. He brought up happy and sad memories, and the reader eventually found out what had happened to the rest of Perry's family, all dead except for his dad and one of his sisters. The way Capote wrote this section made the reader want to sympathize with Perry a whole lot more than Dick. The way Capote wrote of Dick made him seem like a heartless, ignorant "user", and he made Perry seem like a lost child.

In the second half of In Cold Blood towards the end, when Perry is deciding what of his belongings he's going to take with him. Of the pieces of material he is considering was a notebook that was titled "The Private Diary of Perry Edward Smith". THis diary was more like a notebook filled with different passages. In it says "My aquaintances are many, my friends are few; those who really know me fewer still"(146). I beleive this quote was written by Perry himself regarding his own life. This meaning he's talked to many people but he can't call a lot of them friends and a smaller number of the so called friends really know hime. This quote makes me feel sympathy for Perry because not many people really know him. I think Capote was trying to show what he learned through his interviews with Perry, that he's not a bad guy but no one sees that becuase they judge him based on his past. Also in this notebook reads " If called upon to make a speech: 'i can't remember what I was going to say for the life of me- I don't think that ever before in my life have so many people been so directly responsible for my being very, very glad. It's a wonderful moment and a rare one and I'm certainly indebted. Thank you!'" Perry obviously already prepared a speech just in case he were to win some kind of award. To me this shows that Perry was hopeful to one day win something he would be proud of. I think he wrote this speech because it was easier than actually trying to go out and do something to be able to give that speech. Here I think Capote is trying to show that Perry had hopes and desires to be a good person but didn't know where to start. I think Capote wanted to show that Perry didn't think horrible things at all times in fact he didn't think horrible things that much; he was a normal person who went out the back door as Capote put it.

Bridge motifs have connected the many characters in the story, as different as they may be. One such motif that spoke out to me were the dreams/goals/aspirations that were mentioned by Capote as a means of helping the reader understand the characters to a deeper degree. I would like to focus on the dreams of Perry.
Perry's dream revealed a lot about his past. He had always been wanting something, as symbolized in the text, "...I want the diamonds more than I'm afraid of the snake" (92). The diamonds symbolized the love and the understanding that Perry had always yearned for, since no one, reaching as far back as his childhood in the orphanage, loved him. The torturous nights of beatings, his negligent father, and other hurtful people, have turned Perry into a normal man into an erratic fiend. The Parrot-avenger was a symbol for this violent behavior of Perry, one who causes others to suffer in order to alleviate Perry's pain.
The mention of Perry's dreams for his future certainly improved his image, as Capote wrote about his love life. He no longer seems like an insane murderer, but merely a hopeless romantic who hopes that finding his soulmate will bring him the love that he had wanted. It was also evident that he had thought deeply about this "soulmate," listing criteria such as "gently spoken" and "a very intellectual type" (98). This insight makes Perry seem more human, and more understandable. Capote's aim is to make readers see Perry with the same eyes that they use to see a normal man.

In the begining of the second half of In Cold Blood, like many other people said, we learn about the aftermath of the murder of the Clutter family. We learn different people's opinions, and how everyone is holding up with this news. Most people question whether or not they are safe because the Clutter's obviously weren't. Toward the end of the second half of this nonfiction novel, Capote spends a lot of time and pages on Perry. It starts with Perry trying to figure out what he is going to take with him as they hike through the desert and turns into us learning about Perry's life. First we read a primary source from Perry's own father discussing Perry's childhood and how he was raised to be a good kid and new that he had to be punished when he went wrong. One realizes that the relationship Perry and his dad had was unbreakable. Dispite what Perry did his dad was in the picture. After this primary source Capote discussed Perry's life after he got kicked out by his dad. We then read a letter from Perry's sister that said "In case you want the truth about Dad- his heart is broken because of you. He would give anything to get you out so he can have his son back- but I am afraid you would only hurt him worse if you could"(141). Here we are able to see the relationship between Perry and his father. His father obviously loved Perry the most and there may have been jelousy evident in this long letter from Bonnie to Perry.

In In Cold Blood, a terrible murder has just occoured. The brutality is shown not only in the means of of the murders, but in the text. What I mean by this, is that Capote shows the true harshness in the story by describing what is lost. By doing this, the reader begins to feel sorry for the vicitims and sorry for those who the death affects. For intance, the second chapter/setion starts off with a memory, a tradition between four friends who go pheasant hunting this time of year, every year. By putting this memory in the story, the reader gets a sence for what is lost. “Today this quartet of old hunting companions had once again gathered to make the familiar journey, but in unfamiliar spirt, and armed with odd, non-sportive equipment” (77). By adding in this scene, the reader begins to feel sorry for the clutter family, in addition to their pheasant hunting friends. This may also be a form of double vision. AT first glance, it may seen that the friends are out for another enjoyable hunting experience, however further reading reveals something completely different. Instead of giong hunting and having fun, they are off to the Clutter’s house to clean. The way in which Capote adds this scene, adds to the effect of the morning.

With the murders of the Clutter family, Holcomb is transformed from a peaceful, idyllic town, to a place of suspicion and overwhelming fear. A town of a mere 270 people, Holcomb is located on the high western plains of Kansas. It is described by Capote as having blue skies, desert-clear air and views that are awesomely extensive (3). The residents are hard working people, most of them being farm ranchers. They are a friendly, close knit community where people seldom lock their doors. The people are content with a simple life of working, hunting, watching television, attending school socials, choir practice and meetings of the 4-H Club (5). With his initial detailed description of Holcomb, Capote succeeds in creating an image of an all American town where people are happy and feel safe in their community. The peaceful atmosphere of Holcomb is shattered with the slaughter of the Clutters. Panic and terror now reign supreme in Holcomb. Neighbors who had been friends for years now look at each other suspiciously. People can not sleep at night as they fear the killer is lurking among them. Whole families are described as staying up all night, fully dressed in brightly lit rooms, fearful that they could be the next victims (88). Locks and bolts are the fastest selling item in the hardware store as people try to protect themselves. Several families leave Holcomb. They are too fearful to live in a town where four gruesome murders have occurred. As one man puts it who is leaving with his family, “How a body can’t sleep. My wife can’t sleep, and she won’t allow me. ..we’re movin’ on…Maybe then I’ll get some rest” (115-116). Capote shows how quickly paranoia can set in. Residents who have known each other a lifetime, no longer trust one another. In fact, most of the residents believe that the murders were probably committed by one of their own, and not an outsider. Everyone in town agrees with Arthur Clutter, a brother of the deceased, when he said of the murders, “…I’ll wager whoever did it was someone within ten miles of where we now stand” (88). Fear is seen as an emotion that can overtake everything. It even erodes the bedrock of Holcomb- a faith and belief in each other. The reader wonders if Holcomb will ever recover from the tragedy that occurred there and return to the peaceful, trusting town that it once was.

In this post, there are two specific quotes I would like to address. The first one comes from page 86. The police and investigators are trying to piece together what has happened and analyzing "clues". One of the investigators brings up the idea that this crime was a murder done to steal the Clutters' money. The interesting part about this quote is that Capote writes, " 'Unless it was robbery,' said Nye, though robbery as the motive had been much discussed and then more or less dismissed. The arguments against it were good, the strongest being that Mr. Clutter's aversion to cash was a county legend; he had no safe and never carried large sums of money". This quote is so important because it proves that the murderer was most likely not from the town. This is because, as Capote has just stated, most everybody in the town knew that Mr. Clutter did not keep cash or have a safe. If the murderer was somebody in the town, they would have to be one of the very few who did not know this fact or they would have to choose to commit the murders while knowning this fact, the latter of these theories being unlikely. Instead of the investigators using this "clue" to hint that maybe the felan is not from their town, they take this information and infer from it that robbery was not the motive of the murders. The investigators recognized that this fact could give off important information about the murderers, but they take it in the wrong context.

The next quote that I would like to talk about is on page 89. This scene is when Dick and Perry go out to eat. They are talking about the murder, and the reader can see the effects of their actions on both Dick and Perry. Perry is very shook up. The reader can tell he is uncomfortable, and there is something troubling him about the murder. This is proven when Perry states, "Anyway, I don't believe it. Neither do you. Own up, Dick. Be honest. You don't believe this no-clue stuff?" I am unsure of whether this quote was meant to have this meaning, but when I read the quote I had this notion that maybe Perry subconciously wanted there to be clues left behind. Or maybe he is showing how uncomfortable he feels with the whole situation by looking for faults. For some reason, this quote hit me, as if it has a meaning behind it.