In Cold Blood Character Analysis

Although Capote seemingly portrays Dick as a self-confident criminal, his true purpose is to expose the obsession Dick has with being a “normal”, therefore asserting that envy and shame can plague even the most self-assured people.

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

According to this quotation, Dick is unable to be held responsible for his actions against the Clutter family because he was likely mentally damaged and incapable of controlling his emotions and

He verbally demands to be removed from the conversation. He also subtly bullies Perry by calling him a baby for mentioning his worries. Dick finds Perry’s confusion and commentary rather irritating because it is a reminder of the murder.

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.

Wells provided a lot of vital information that lead Dick plot to “kill” the Clutter family (Capote, 99). Even though the act on the Clutter family was bad, but the part that truly shocked me was the unholy attraction Dick had to the one of the Clutter children named, Nancy Clutter, and many other young children. “And that was that after the Clutter family was tied up, Hickock said to him how well built the though Nancy Clutter was, and that he was going to rape her.” (Capote,181). Dick, when he first noticed Nancy and her shape, couldn’t control himself.

Everything began in Chicago, on the 16th of December, 1928. Philip Kindred and Jane Kindred Dick cried and wept for the first time in their lives. Jane died after 41 days, because of the carelessness of their mother, Dorothy Grant Kindred (who didn't take her to the hospital at the proper time, a money matter). Since then, Dick had a unconscious culpability complex and we can understand perhaps a bit more why he felt anger toward his parents. Moreover, Jane would be found in many phildickian writings later on. Dick's dad, Joseph Edgar Dick, had a nice job indeed: cutting the throats of pigs as an employee of the government. His mother censored official texts of the government's spokesmen. Here again, what feelings went through the young Dick

Even though Dick and Perry were both the murderers of the investigation, Dick seems to have a much darker and iniquitous mentality, which is a primary component in the reader’s feelings for him. Unlike Perry’s past, Dick had a pretty normal childhood. Although he was convicted of some minor crimes, they were never really linked to his actions in the future. Coming from an economically stable family, Dick seemed to have everything going for himself, but one accident changed the whole outcome of his life. At a young age, Dick hit his head which might have triggered a change in his brain development. Meaning that this might have been the cause of his issues and psychopathic tendencies. Even though this event might create sympathy for Dick, in my opinion this creates a vision of him as a monster. Capote never really goes into detail about Dick’s difficulties or any significant events following the accident. It seems that the author is in fact pushing Dick away from humanity, and depicting him as a living being with “technical difficulties”. What also is very significant about this incident is that it boldens an image of permanency on Dick’s inability to feel human emotions. Even though Dick seems to be compared to a monster, a part of him can still fall into multiple

Anyone reading this has done at least one thing in their life that they regret. We cannot judge a person based on just one mistake that they make; that is why it is so important that Capote gives us many details about Perry in In Cold Blood. Capote manages to effectively build Perry’s character using imagery from his past, describing Perry’s struggles in a way that causes the reader to feel sympathy for him, and building suspense as the reader learns more and more about Perry’s character as the book progresses.

Perry’s obsession with fancies of adventures in foreign locales begin early in the book. Numerous of his fancies are incredibly detailed, but require a great deal of liquid assets to be accomplished. These reveries symbolize his social status as an outcast since he failed experiencing his dreams as an itinerant. Moreover, in the book, it states Perry was recently released from Kansas State Penitentiary (Capote, 14), one could infer that the premise to why he collaborated with Dick was because of financial instability. Additionally, Perry was prohibited from traveling a certain distance due to probation restrictions (Capote,

The second time Irene was faced with a tough situation, was towards the end of the novel. Irene became aware of the fact of how close Clare and her husband Brian were, and it dawned upon her that Brian and Clare were in love with each other. This realization frightened Irene, and once again she was faced with two options and again her loyalty was questioned. Should she tell Jack Clare was an African American, which would result in Jack’s anger and resentment that would surely lead to him taking Clare away, or continue on living the way she had with Clare now in the picture? Irene decides to stay with Brian, and expresses, “Nevertheless, she meant to keep him.”(Larsen,107). Somehow, even though being put in a situation where anybody would have

Dick and Perry are cellmates in jail. Perry is in Jail for murdering a black man, and Dick is just in jail. In Jail Dick meets a man named Floyd Wells who tells about a family he used to work for named the clutters and how they had a safe with ten thousand dollars in it. Ever since then Dick has been talking to Perry about robbing them when they got out of jail.

The passage from the novel ‘In Cold Blood’ by Truman Capote is an account and description of the events which resulted in the brutal murder of the Clutter family. It focuses on a man named Floyd Wells, who is the primary character discussed. This except re-accounts the discovery of some background information, told from a different point of view. Wells, still in prison, implies that his actions practically caused the murder; as he was familiar with one of the victims-Herb Clutter, along with Dick, having been his ex cellmate in the past.

In the end Dick’s immoral actions, lead him to a life of misery and despair. Dick’s constant struggle for perfection caused him to be morally imperfect. Perhaps, if Dick lived in the 21st century, he would have corrected his behavior and lived a more moral

Dick is from a poor but decent working class midwest family. He is a ladies man and an unreptentant con man, mostly getting along in life by what he calls "paper hanging" - writing bad checks, although he occasionally works as a mechanic. Perry comes from a dirt poor family. His parents were circus performers. Perry's mother was the parent he really loved, and she became alcoholic and died, leaving the kids to deal with an abusive father. Perry likes to write and draw, lug around items that are of sentimental value to him. Perry admires Dick's ability to con, his way with people, and thinks him smart. Dick does not think much of Perry at all, thinks him effeminate and silly. They learn of a "wealthy" Kansas farmer from a former inmate of Dick's