In Cold Childhood Essay

Because I loved Dad then. Even though he could be rough on me. Bossy as hell. But I loved Dad then. “ (Pg 82, In Cold Blood). His father taught him how to survive while they lived in Alaska he mentioned how it was in Alaska “Christ, it was cold," Perry remembered. "Dad and I slept hugged together, rolled up in blankets and bearskins. Morning, before daylight, I'd hustle our breakfast,biscuits and syrup, fried meat, and off we went to scratch a living.,” (Pg 82, In Cold Blood) they stayed there for a pretty long time, but Perry grew up hating that he could not go to school or learn like a proper kid, they moved a lot, for some reason his father was looking at weirdly as Perry states “ When we stayed some place too long, people would begin to look at Dad, act like he was a character, and I hated that, it hurt me. Because I loved Dad then. Even though he could be rough on me. Bossy as hell. But I loved Dad then. “ (Pg 83, In Cold

A lot of those insecurities show through the way Perry acts around Dick; one of these are seen with the use of juxtaposition, “The sound of Dick’s voice was like an injection of some potent narcotic, a drug that, invading his veins, produced a delirium of colliding sensations: tension and relief, fury and affection. He advanced toward Dick with clenched fists. ‘You sonofabitch,’ he said”(Capote 194). Perry has an internal conflict over whether he should be mad at Dick for overjoyed to see him. As a child Perry’s mother neglected him, left him by himself. He doesn’t want that to happen again, he doesn’t want Dick to abandon him like his parents did. This affection for Dick was toxic and caused the death of the Clutter family. Though this whole section of the book Capote uses a multitude of people and events to prove Perry is not to blame for how he has acted, it was the fault of this neglected childhood. If it weren’t for Perry’s trauma as a child, he may never feel these feelings for Dick preventing multiple deaths including their

Perry is described as a “...normal sized man, a powerful man, with the shoulders, the arms, the thick, crouching torso of a weight lifter...but sections of him were not in proportion to others... his tiny feet...would have neatly fitted into a delicate lady’s dancing slippers... no taller than a twelve year old child…(15)” Just from the way Perry is described, he’s not seen as the stereotypical villain, but more of a tired and pained man with dreams and aspirations. With Dick as his “partner in crime”, the two contrast--making Perry look more good and innocent in light of Dick. Through Capote, the readers learn of Perry’s past: a father who beat his mother who in return drank until she died, a suicidal brother and sister, another sister who shivered at the very thought of him, life in a trailer, staying in an orphanage, and being denied education from his father. This causes more of a sympathetic approach--letting the readers potentially feel more sorrowful rather than

Capote manages to impress Perry Smith by making us feel sympathy for him in his writing. The perry we know he has most likely killed someone before and later goes on and kills the Clutters. When we hear this breathtaking information we start to feel like Perry isn’t necessarily the good guy in this novel he might just be as worse as Dick is. Later in the text on pages 110 to 113 we learn about Perry’s past and his true family. We digest that he had two sisters and two brothers and one of his sisters as quoted in the text “Fern, the other daughter, jumped out of a window of a San Francisco hotel” (Capote 110).

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

To go along with Perry being secretive, he hid the story about killing King from everyone including Dick. He explains how he killed King but tells that he does not know why he killed him and that he had no incentive to. He has the same idea when in the process of killing the Clutter family. He actually liked the family and really enjoyed spending time with Nancy, but because of Dick, he helped him murder them. For example he explains “ Particularly if whatever was wrong was not your own fault but maybe “a thing you were born with” Look at this family! Look at what happened there!” This shows that Perry does have feelings and cared at one point or another.

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.

The dynamic partnership between Dick and Perry stems from their egos, or lack thereof. Perry is especially self-conscious, and his behavior as presented in the book is due to his sense of lacking and

Although Perry can sometimes seem as a person who does not care about others opinions, his need for approval can be seen through how he got his relationship with Dick and the impression he leaves him with. While discussing the story of Perry beating up a colored man to death for no apparent reason, the author states, “It was a significant question, for his original interest in Perry, his assessment of Perry’s character and potentialities, was founded on the story Perry had once told him of how he had beaten a colored man to death”(109). By “his original interest in Perry”, the author is discussing Dick’s reason for getting close to Perry. Dick‘s sole reason for becoming Perry’s friend was because of the story he was told by Perry, which is

Suspicious, self-righteous, spiteful, he was like a wife that ,must be rid of. ”(Capote 214 & 215) Dick was never really Perry’s friend. To Dick, Perry was a tool. He was just being friendly to Perry so that he can use him for what he wants.

Although Perry is the one who killed the family, Dick plans the crime with ease due to his evil characteristics and guilt free conscious, therefore vulnerability can easily be molded by manipulation.

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.

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

“In Cold Blood” by Truman Capote is a nonfiction book based on a real crime happened in the peaceful town of Holcomb, Kansas. Capote wrote from both victim and criminal side to show both thoughts and point of view of the story to avoid the one-sided account. In the book, Truman Capote, a former journalist and the author of “In Cold Blood” is making readers feel sympathy for Perry since Capote befriended with Perry while interviewing him. Capote uses of pathos and strong diction effectively in order to evoke sympathy for Perry’s childhood environment and deleterious effect it had on Perry’s mind. To begin with, Capote uses emotional appeal in order to illustrate Perry’s devastating past.

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,