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Justin Marks
Professor Walker
English 10
October 06, 2013
Abuse, Cruelty & Lack of Compassion-A Destructive Metamorphosis
Capote’s novel, In Cold Blood, centers on the character development of the
protagonist, Perry Edward Smith. Capote effectively highlights how Perry’s tragic
upbringing and personal experiences influence the man he becomes; a cold hearted killer.
His cruelty and criminal activities in adulthood seem to be a continuation and
consequence of the dysfunctional and abnormal environment Perry was raised in. Is it
possible this negative early stimulus in life can affect one's personal growth, shape your
moral fiber and cause aggressive behavior? Truman Capote’s book is based on true facts,
but some may speculate whether the results reflect a fictional depiction. Throughout this
essay, quotes actually from the novel and from outside sources utilizing the tools from
close reading will highlight and support a known fact that the shortcomings in human
nature will lead to an equally flawed individual. Without the restraints of humanity, the
behavior of people will regress to their savage beginnings. Survival and control becomes
of utmost importance. The base form of human nature will lead to anarchy, violence and
death. Perry came from an abusive childhood and endured many dysfunctional
experiences in his youth. Additionally, Perry’s homosexual tendencies and feelings
toward many characters in the book seem to have repercussions on these destructive
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decisions. Ultimately, as an audience, we witness Perry’s transformation from a pettycrime criminal to a brutal violent murderer. Throughout the story we learn a lot about
Perry’s background, mental instability and the effects Perry’s crimes have on society. In
Cold Blood illustrates that an individual with a violent and abusive childhood, such as
Perry Smith, will ultimately become a harmful citizen to humanity.
A close reading essay is one where you take quotes from the book and place them
in your essay as concrete details that you use as evidence for your argument. Based off
the scholarly article “The Art of Close Reading” from The Critical Thinking Community,
we are allowed to pull quotes from the novel and outside resources as long as we refer to
them throughout the essay. There are many instances throughout In Cold Blood where
Capote discusses Perry’s abusive childhood, experience with abandonment and
homosexual feelings that highlights the transformation he undergoes that exemplifies
concrete details for my close reading essay. In addition, published critiques on this novel
support Capote’s efforts to illustrate the correlation between social influence and personal
development.
The protagonist, Perry Smith, is a victim of an abusive environment that deprives
a young man of his youth and humanity. Perry’s actions in the novel directly correlate to
his childhood experiences and savage transformation. Typically, when people are abused
in their formative years, they tend to become the abuser later in life because they are
unable to reconcile their past with their desire for love, acceptance and normalcy. Hence,
Perry reverts to violent behavior despite his perceived intelligence, calm and benign
nature. This is supported by a psychiatrist’s statement about Perry, “He is suspicious
and distrustful of others, tends to feel that others discriminate against him, and feels that
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others are unfair to him and do not understand him... his present personality structure is
very nearly that of a paranoid schizophrenic reaction.'" (289-290). As the reader, we
observe Perry’s inability to attune his personal opinion of himself with his brutal
tendencies. One can surmise if Perry had not been exposed to a dysfunctional and
abnormal lifestyle, he would not have acquiesced to the criminal and immoral society
which resulted in the killing of the Clutter family; one of the most horrific murders in
American history. We can blame Perry’s violent actions on his abusive childhood, being
bullied as a result of having homosexual feelings, and Dick’s influence in transforming
Perry from a petty-crime criminal to a violent murderer. The comment "...it was because
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." (107) reveals Perry’s desire to emulate
an individual he wants to impress; thereby, showing his lack of control over his own
mind and emotions. Throughout the novel, as an outsider, we can see initially Perry is
uncomfortable with his metamorphosis, but then we see his acceptance and rationale for
his compulsive reality that completes the transformation; Perry becomes a hardened
brutal killer.
At an early age, Perry is abandoned by his mother and later ignored and rejected
by his sister and father. As a result of this emotional abandonment, Perry develops
feelings of distrust, insecurity and lack of self-worth. Capote effectively documents
Perry’s sorrowful and lack of loving relationships by the statement, "Jimmy a suicide.
Fern out the window. My mother dead. Been dead eight years. Everybody gone but dad
and Barbara.'" (134). Unfortunately, Perry is denied an opportunity to cultivate loving
kinships. Perry begins to feel that anyone he gets close to abandons him. His father and
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sister left him and his mother and other siblings all died tragically at different times in his
life. Perry realizes his isolation from humanity and his inability to truly relate to others
with his comment, “My acquaintances are many, my friends are few; those who really
know me fewer still." (142). Clearly, Perry is unable to foster and sustain personal and
social relationships. These abandonment characteristics cause an unhealthy personal
development and a distortion of reality, which is illustrated with the quote, "As a child he
had often thought of killing himself, but those were sentimental reveries born of a wish to
punish his father and mother and other enemies. From young manhood onwards,
however, the prospect of ending his life had more and more lost its fantastic quality."
(195) An individual is bound to violent behavior without a foundation based on a
trusting, nurturing environment, morals and a sense for compassion and worthiness.
The underlining sexual connotations and eventual violent consequences are
prevalent throughout the novel. The subtle repercussions are highlighted by Perry’s
narrative, “Now, that's something I despise. Anybody that can't control themselves
sexually." (236) and later he reminisces, "I remember my mother was 'entertaining' some
sailors while my father was away.... And my father, after a violent struggle, threw the
sailors out & proceeded to beat my mother. I was frightfully scared" (265). The sexual
influence is obvious. Also, Conrad Knickerbocker notes in his New York Times book
review, “The tragedy was existential. The murder was seemingly without motive. The
killers, Perry Smith and Richard Hickock, almost parodied the literary anti-hero. Social
dropouts filled with nausea, disillusioned romantics, they were the perfect loners. Their
relationship, if not physical, was spiritually homosexual, similar to the exacted
Freundschaft, bound in blood, of SS brothers’ reinforce this perspective. In addition, Guy
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Rocha points out, “Some critics of the book and first movie, speculated that Capote,
openly homosexual and a product of a troubled youth, identified with Smith's shattered
childhood and developed an attraction to him.”. Capote’s personal experiences do
emphasize and reinforce the impact psychological orientation can have on an individual’s
actions. However, despite the sentiment and influence of homosexuality, Perry is clearly
responsible for his actions and should be held accountable. Certainly, Capote’s ability to
relate to Perry provides a unique perspective on the significance of sexual predisposition.
Perry’s actions have reduced him to a human shell acting on instinct, without
emotion and oblivious to his personal destruction. His perceived fight for normality and
aggressive behavior destroys his humanity, honor and sense of compassion. Nurturing
relationships and compassion are definitely necessary to keep the darker side of human
nature in line. When all elements of good disappear and abusive behavior emerges, Perry
reverts to a more primitive part of his nature, and turns into a savage, and cruelty replaces
decency. Guy Rocha’s comment, “Truman Capote's portrayal of Smith is strangely a
sympathetic one that belies the fact that Perry's dysfunctional family life and violent
sexual abuse in the service had helped to create a monster” supports this concept.
Society’s high moral standards hold everyone together, and without humanity and
compassion, Perry’s ideals, values, and basic ideas of what is right and wrong are
forgotten and the evils of human nature emerge. Ultimately, Perry comes to the
realization he cannot separate himself from his tragically embedded immoral fiber, which
impacts the destructive effect on his humanity.
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Work Cited
Book Source
Truman Capote. In Cold Blood. : Vintage International, 1965.
Online Sources
Conrad Knickbocker. The New York Times; Books; One Night on a Kansas Farm.
January 16 1966 <http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/12/28/home/capote-blood2.html>.
Guy Louis Rocha. State Library & Archives Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood: The
Nevada Connection
<http://nsla.nevadaculture.org/index.php?option=com_content&id=959&itemid=418>.
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