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Cristal Velarde
Professor Anne Walker
Writing 10
6 October 2013
Murderers: They Were Not Born So
Each person starts out the exact same way, as an innocent child whose mind has
not yet been molded by the world and whose personality has not yet been defined. As life
goes on, people face different challenges, some more than others and at varying degrees.
Certain events are out of their control, like their family situation or a sudden accident.
How a person copes with these adversities determines what kind of a person they will
become. Some become stronger and grow from their experience, others fall into one of
the most loathsome states possible: a cold-blooded killer. In the novel In Cold Blood,
Truman Capote validates the idea that becoming a murderer is an elongated process by
providing the history of Perry Smith and Richard Hickock allowing the readers to
understand why these men killed an innocent family.
This essay will be utilizing close reading to provide concrete evidence supporting
the main idea. The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers
Close said, “analytic reading stresses engaging with a text of sufficient complexity
directly and examining meaning thoroughly and methodically, encouraging students to
read and reread deliberately.” (PARCC, 7). One way this essay will be engaging with the
text will be by using direct quotes from the novel and analyzing them in terms of the
thesis. The purpose is to create a stronger justification with less room for argument.
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The first character to be examined is Perry Smith, one of the culprits in the Clutter
case. He and Richard, or Dick, did kill the Clutter family. When they were arrested, Dr.
Jones did a psychiatric assessment of their mental health. Had Dr. Jones been able to
testify to the court his findings, he would have said that Perry’s “present personality
structure is very nearly that of a paranoid schizophrenic reaction.” (Capote, 298). Dr.
Jones highlights some of the most significant reasons why he made this assessment. Perry
had a very difficult childhood: his parents separated when he and his siblings were
young, his mother was an alcoholic, he was sent to an orphanage where he was abused,
his father denied Perry an education and made him suffer in the harsh conditions of
Alaska. As a result of these traumatic events, Perry became suspicious of other’s
intentions towards him, making it difficult to make and keep significant relationships. He
was overly sensitive lost his temper easily. He separated his feelings from his actions so
that he would not feel pain or guilt.
Perry’s had a difficult time growing up because he did not have anyone to teach
him moral values. He understood that some actions were punishable, like robbery, but he
figured he might as well gain something from it. Then the moment came where he had
Mr. Clutter at his mercy, Perry did not want to kill Mr. Clutter, a respectable gentleman,
but at that moment, his emotions were detached from his actions. He was not thinking
about what he was doing as the knife slid across Mr. Clutter’s neck or when he shot Mr.
Clutter and Kenyon. Perry later said, “They [the Clutters] never hurt me. Like other
people. Like other people have all my life. Maybe its just that the Clutter were the ones
who had to pay for it.” (Capote, 302). Perry acknowledged that other people in his life
made him suffering. As he pulled the trigger that night, he was purging himself of the
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hatred and anger he had come to feel toward his family and for everything that had
happened to him in his life. Capote knew Perry’s history, he understood the rage Perry
had inside of him and comprehended why Perry murdered a family he had never met
before. He wrote this book to show the world that not all murderers are heartless
monsters.
Perry’s other siblings grew up in the same environment and consequently suffered
many of the same psychological scaring. His brother was a possessive husband and drove
his wife and eventually himself, to suicide. Perry’s sister, Joy, jumped off a building, but
Perry’s last sister, Barbara, married and had a family. Barbara said, “she was the only
survivor; and what tormented her was the thought that in time, she, too, would be
overwhelmed” (Capote, 183). All of these siblings were affected one way or another by
their traumatic childhood experiences. Even though Barbara never killed anyone or
attempted to kill herself, she feared that something terrible might happen.
Dick is the other culprit in the Clutter case, his story was not as dramatic as
Perry’s but he still experienced life-changing adversities. Dick had a normal childhood
and his parents were kind. He was an excellent student, a sports star, and a family man.
His mother told a reporter that Dick was a very nice boy; he even danced with his mother.
Not many children would do that for their mothers. However, the Hickocks were quite
poor and were therefore unable to send Dick to college despite the various sports
scholarships that were offered to him. Dick had the potential to become a successful man,
he was fully aware of this fact which is why he resented anyone who had what he wanted.
Dr. Jones also made an assessment of Dick’s mental state and found that “he shows fairly
typical characteristics of what would psychiatrically be called a severe character
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disorder.” (Capote, 295). Dick knew the difference between right and wrong but he chose
to ignore these moral standards and did what he pleased. He was impulsive and acted
without thinking about consequences. He knew that he could have been a prominent
figure in society, but he was not, which is why he felt subordinate to everyone. He tried
to compensate for his inferiority by sexually dominating women, and sometimes,
pubescent girls.
Dick’s father claimed that this drastic change between the sweet boy and the
ruthless criminal was due to an accident that happened in 1950. He said, “Prior to the
accident, Dick had been a ‘happy-go-lucky’ boy.” (Capote, 292). Dr. Jones
acknowledged that this accident, which resulted in several concussions and brain damage
of unknown extent, might have contributed to Dick’s personality disorder. However,
Dick had been arrested for breaking into a drug store in 1949, a year before the accident.
A combination of dissatisfaction because of the way his life turned out and the accident
could explain why Dick robbed and murdered an innocent family. Dick was not
originally a malicious killer. A long process of self-pity and an unforeseen accident
brought Dick to the doorstep of the Clutters’ house that night. Capote investigated and
published Dick’s background so that the readers could understand the motives behind the
murder and that the people standing behind the trigger were not always wicked.
The last character to be analyzed is Lowell Lee Anderson, better known as Andy,
who was sentenced to death for murdering his entire family. The psychiatric staff of
Menninger Clinic made a “diagnosis of ‘schizophrenic simple type’. By ‘simple, the
diagnosis meant that Andrews suffered no delusions, no false perceptions, no
hallucinations, but the primary illness of separation of thinking from feeling.” (Capote,
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315). Andy admitted that he killed his family to inherit his father’s property and assets.
He understood that killing was wrong, which is why he created a false alibi to avoid
suspicion. All he knew was that he wanted his father’s money and in order to get it, his
father had to die, but he would be arrested if anyone found out. He did not love his family
and did not feel remorse for killing them. His emotions were separate from his actions. A
person who is intelligent and emotionless can be a danger to society, they have little to no
consideration for others as they use any means to get what they want. Some people would
argue that Andy was born a killer, but this is not necessarily true. The fact that Andy was
highly functional, emotionless, and schizophrenic does mean he was destined to kill.
Several people in history and in present day have become wonderful scientists and
musicians while fighting schizophrenia. If Andy had been provided with the right
medical attention earlier in his life, he could have led an extraordinary life.
This novel evokes sympathy for the murderers as they come to know Dick and
Perry and therefore understand that people were not born to be murderers. Capote was
close to these killers, he investigated their childhoods and discovered their intimate
secrets. He knew and understood these people better than anyone else, is was natural that
he would want to show the world that these men were once sweet and innocent boys.
Dick and Perry did not become killers over night, it was not an accident, and they did
premeditate the robbery and swore to leave no witnesses. Capote wanted to answer the
question that was on everyone’s minds: why did these men kill the Clutters? He found
that both men were damaged emotionally and possibly mentally and after a series of
events, they fond themselves slaughtering an innocent family.
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Works Cites
Capote, Truman. In Cold Blood. New York. Vintage International. 1994.
Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers. (2011). PARCC model
content frameworks: English language arts/literacy grades 3–11.
www.parcconline.org/sites/parcc/files/PARCCMCFELALiteracyAugust2012_FI
NAL.pdf