Analysis Of Truman Capote 's Novel ' The Cold Blood Genre '

Dick had a terrible habit. That habit was that he would write bad checks and “pay” for stuff that he bought. One time, he went to a tuxedo store and bought a hundred dollars’ worth of stuff and gave the clerk a

It is very interesting how the book is structured. It is structured in chronological order according to how this tragic event happened. It starts

The breakdown of the murder goes into all of its aspects, educating the reader on how the failed robbery slowly led to increasing tensions and eventually the murder of the whole family to “not leave any witnesses.” The excerpt, part of a 10-page explanation from Perry and Dick about the murders, offers tons of information for the reader, informing the reader about the murder and the motives for it. The excerpt focuses on the robbery aspects, which failed as the Clutters had very little cash on hand. It also highlights a bit of Dick’s personality, who feels little to no remorse for his actions, and lacks self-control. Dick also could become very irritable and angry very quickly, with unpredictable actions.

What the readers know of Dick’s past is very little, as Capote works to characterize him through flashbacks the readers know it was his plan to kill the Clutters and he does have some family “there were those Dick claimed to love: three sons, a mother, a father, a brother—persons he hadn’t dare confide his plan to(Capote 106).” But Capote characterizes Dick more so through descriptions of his habits than through his memories. “Inez was a prostitute…she was eighteen and Dick had promised to marry her. But he had also promised to marry Maria, a women of fifty who was a widow of a very rich banker(Capote 118-119)” Dick is shown throughout the book as someone who uses people to get what he wants, he calls on Perry to help him with his plan, he uses women for sex and money while making promises he never intends to keep. “If he knew Dick, and he did—now he did—would spend the money right away on vodka and women(Capote 119). Capote does not draw any sympathy from the readers, Dick is perceived as an emotionless man who pretends to believe in people and want the same

Alvin Dewey was happy that they caught them since he’s been trying to catch these guys for a month. Later, the KBI were assigned to their suspects and interrogate them in separate rooms. Dewey was interrogating Smith and asking him all this questions about what happen. Smith tells him how it started. Perry Smith says that “The door was unlock. A side door. It took us into Mr. Clutter’s office” (Truman 236). This shows that Dick and Perry went inside to Mr. Clutter office, they were waiting in dark and looking for the safe but the safe was know where to be found. When they encounter Mr. Clutter, they took him to the office and ask him where the safe is. Mr. Clutter said that he didn’t have safe. It made Dick yelled at him and had a knife towards Mr. Clutter. Mr. Clutter gave them money that was about thirty dollars but they wanted more so they went upstairs to see who is awake. Mrs. Clutter keep saying that they don’t have a safe at all and saying that Mr. Clutter was telling the truth. Then Perry told Dick that your friend Floyd Wells lied to you about the safe. But Dick was too ashamed so he decided to tie them to their bed. After the KBI had interrogate them and they found their story to be similar but there was one information that was told differently. In the book In Cold Blood it says that “The only serious discrepancy being that Hickock attributed all four deaths to Smith, while Smith contended that Hickock had killed the two women” (Truman 245). This shows that both of Dick and Perry blamed on each other for the crime they committed to the KBI. Dewey could not forget the suffering they been through. He hoped to see them

Finally we Dick admit the under lying motive for killing the Clutter family. Though not only have we reviled the motive for the Clutters but dicks reason for killing in general. He enjoys making the powerful man powerless. By harming them he is given a transfer of power. But I do not believe that he will be happy or stop killing until he is more powerful than the most powerful man.

Consequently, the Clutter’s are seen as just another family by viewers. Sure, people are saddened by their death, but there’s none of that “Oh they were such good people”, due to the fact that nothing is really given on them.

When Lori and Jeanette are growing older, they decide they want to move to New York City to start a new life, away from their parents. Lori and Jeanette get jobs and begin to earn money. They hide their earnings from their parents in a piggy bank they named Oz. One day Jeanette tries to find Oz to put her paycheck in. Instead she says to Lori “Someone has slashed him apart with a knife and stole all the money” (Walls 228). The kids knew right away who had stolen it. It was Dad. When Lori confronted Dad with the news about Oz, he started playing dumb, acting like he had not idea what was going on. But in fact he did steal the money. This action shows that Dad is very selfish and only cares about himself.

The dynamic between Dick and Perry was always fragile and dominated by a need to determine who was more masculine, who was in charge. This is made easier by simply blaming the other one for any negative consequences. Dick and Perry weren't particularly fond of one another; they had differing hopes, long-term goals, and motives. A dynamic as fragile as this was easily shattered after their arrests, leading to quick confessions and a solution to the puzzling quadruple

motor company, "when I [Dick] had an automobile wreck with a company car. I was in the hospital several days with extensive head injuries" (Capote 278). The car accident caused his face to be slightly maligned, and, as concluded by Dr. Jones, caused residual brain damage and instability in his personality (Capote 286). Dick's father also confirmed that Dick had changed after the crash, expressing that "He just wasn't the same boy" (Capote 255). After experiencing the crash, many parts of Dick's life began to go downhill. His marital life twisted woefully, and when all was said and done, he had gone through 2 marriages. He did not have a steady job anymore, and he began to commit petty crimes, such as writing bad checks and stealing. The latter resulted in him being in jail, where he had met Perry, who was behind bars for burglary as well, among other charges. Dick and Perry had both agreed to kill the Clutters, however when the time came, Dick showed signs of doubt and lingered, while Perry had almost no hesitation. This seems to point back to each man's past, where Perry, who had a rougher childhood, did not seem to think twice about killing the family. His scarred adolescence points to a more cold-hearted, bitter, and lonely person, while Dick's more favorable youth showed signs of mercy and conscience.

Dick was written. He seems to exemplify expected behaviour of a young boot-black by his rough exterior, involvement in fights, lack of money, and disregard for others including their property. Micky Maguire is the enemy of the story, and it is clear that the “hero” must always rise above the bad characters in order to provide a lesson with the story being told. Dick is known to keep his cool and remain confident around Micky, even when a fight is breaking out between the two of them (Alger 94). While Micky is indeed a cruel boy as it seems, Dick does bring on some of the taunting himself because of the cocky manner he upholds when speaking to Micky. Even with Dick being smart-mouthed toward Micky, there is not any sympathy towards Micky in the novel because of his ruffian ways and rudeness towards Dick. Alger does not give Micky credit for why he acts like this towards Dick nor does he establish a true reason why Micky turned out to be such a tough street boy. His childish actions are likely caused by jealously over Dick and not because of sheer hatred (Alger 91). Micky is not given chances like Dick and whether or not Alger sets it up so that option luck is a rewarded behaviour,

Dick's ideal, was to marry the perfect woman, Nicole, write his fantastic book ‘psychology for psychiatrists' and be the best psychiatrist in the world. At the beginning of his career all of these things were attainable, but slowly each one of these things slipped away to falter his life. These things were not only just an ideal or a plan in life, they were a necessity for Dick. He dreamed of them all and it was from then on that it became an obsession. This lead to Dick's belief that his life couldn't be fulfilled unless all of these things were obtained.

Continuing throughout the story, the narrator not only notice the good in Dick 's character, but also became suspicious of other things as well. He senses a presence at times in which he feels is creeping in the dark. Dick continued on

Poirot and Hastings receive the second letter, only this time it gave the date and place the next victim would be murdered. They investigate Ms. Barnard’s fiance after she is murdered, but don’t find anything against him. After they receive the third, Mr. Carmichael Clarke dies. They find that there were stockings involved and that the murderer must have been selling them. They start suspecting Alexander Crust and search his house, they find the railway guide and a knife they caught him in Andover.

was no apparent for the crime and there were almost no clues. During the scene Al Dewey, a