This essay analyzes the way Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" uses character relationships to
develop the details of the story. Relationship development not only between the characters in the
book, but also between the author and the characters in his nonfiction novel. A novel idea for a novel
with unique aspects to it, Capote emphasizes the importance of relationships between people to further
the events after and before the murder of the Clutter family.
Capote does research on several people involved and interested in the case of the Clutter
family, and although many of these details are seemingly unimportant and unrelated to everything,
Capote establishes relationships between these people and the case. Probably the most important bond
is that between Dick and Perry. It is implied in many stages of the book that if Dick and Perry had not
met, the murder of the Clutter family would have never occurred. A very interesting relationship that
wanes and almost completely disappears by the end of the book, Dick and Perry’s bond is the one that
gives the greatest insight into the story. There are other less important but still relevant to the story, like
the one between the Perry and his family, Dick and his family, the Clutters and the town of Holcomb,
even Capote’s own interest in Perry’s life has big implications on the content of his book.
Capote goes most in depth with the bond between Dick and Perry for obvious reasons. Being
the two people responsible for the murder of the Clutter family, it was only natural that Capote would
focus on these two individuals. Their relationship is an interesting one, other than being in prison they
had seemingly nothing in common. The way they meet and the way they interact throughout the book is
very peculiar, and Capote picks up on this from the details he gathers from the two of them. They
quickly grow closer, with Capote even subtly hinting to a small degree of playful homosexuality in the
nature of their relationship. Perry was eager to please, and Dick had a cold manipulating mind. Perry
even lied to appear more apt for the job that Dick wanted to accomplish, to fit more into the concept
that Dick wanted Perry or his partner to be. This stems from Perry’s childhood relationship with his
parents and siblings, his submissive mentality is perfect for Dick’s dominance to mold and do whatever
Dick tells him to do. This leads to the dangerous and volatile pair of minds that murdered the Clutter
family in Holcomb, something that would probably not had happened if these two had not met each
other.
Although not explicitly stated in the book, Capote also created a strong bond with Perry. This is
subtly demonstrated by how much more information is detailed about Perry’s life compared to that of
Dick’s. It could be that Capote had a preference for Perry because of his childhood situation and he
found something he could relate to in Perry. It is often theorized that Capote and Perry developed a
homosexual relationship in the time they spent together. Regardless of what was really going on
between them, they grew really close and Perry thought of Capote as a friend, he let him into deep and
intimate secrets, moments of his life and childhood that gave deep insight into Perry’s mind. If Capote
also thought of Perry as a friend or not is not revealed, but a lot of the information that is given in the
book almost seems to have the goal of justifying at least Perry’s actions, obviously someone with a
background so terrible and demeaning could not be in his right mind when committing something as
atrocious as the murder of an entire family. Capote shows a greater concern for Perry in his book, or
perhaps Perry was simply more open with his information than Dick was. A lot of this information might
have the goal to justify Dick and Perry’s actions by presenting them as psychopaths.
The majority of the relationships left depict how the town of Holcomb and how all the other
people reacted to the murder of the Clutter family, how they react to Dick and Perry and their pending
fate. Originally presented as a small, calm town where nothing interesting ever happened, the fate of
Holcomb and its citizens was to be changed forever by the fateful events of that night. The whole town
knew about the Clutter family and knew each other, so it was only natural that new would spread
quickly when the murders happened. Capote writes about these relationships in particular, that is the
citizens and the town, to show how the chain of events shook and changed the way things occurred in
this town. How it could have happened to anyone, anywhere, anytime.
Close reading reveals the meaning of relationships in “In Cold Blood” and how they go deeper
than they appear to be in the surface. Capote’s masterful writing reveals opinions and social
commentary through the bonds depicted in the novel. Mental health, homosexuality, corruption and
several other issues are subtly discussed in the showing of these relationships, and they all serve to
develop the story towards its highest peak and its eventual downfall in action, culminating in the death
of Dick and Perry.