Nurture: The Case Of The Murderers In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

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Nature vs. Nurture: The Case of the Murderers in Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood”
Are serial killers inherently evil, or are they just victims of ill-fated destiny and circumstance? The mass murder of a well-known family in Holcomb, Kansas on November 15th, 1959 stirred Truman Capote to work for six years on writing “In Cold Blood” which describes how nature and nurture are involved in the crime committed by Richard Hickock and Perry Smith through explaining backgrounds and experiences that made them what they are. . Capote’s detailed narration from how the suspects planned in killing the family until they were both sentenced to death was emphasized in every character’s dialogue thus further understanding their personalities. Nurture has the …show more content…

Genetics is responsible for not only fingerprints, moles, or skin tone, it also affects the whole system including our minds and our thoughts. Freud, 1957, claimed that active stimuli that are "emanating within the organism and penetrating to the mind" of humans drive them into action (Weiner, 1972). The nurture theory states that genetic influence over abstract traits may exist; however, the environmental factors are the genuine origins of our conduct. This includes the use of conditioning in order to induce a new behaviour to a child, or alter an unlikely behaviour being shown by the child. Capote believed that Hickock is a natural-born criminal since he did not have any problem growing in a loving family but he was the one who plotted the murder. And although he was not ill-treated in his childhood, evidences of criminal tendencies are seen in him. In an instance when he swerves to run over a dog instead of avoiding it. Feeling relieved by executing vicious deeds like hurting or slaying creatures is a behaviour seen in people who have higher chance of doing crimes. It is said that when they were younger, criminals felt inferior to their parents satisfy themselves though murdering animals (Stein, 2007). While Smith had a terrible childhood marked by cruelty and lack of concern of both his parents and the guardians in the orphanage who abused him instead of taking care of him may have developed his criminality, eventually killing the

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