Physiological Minds behind Murders
A loss that can never be replaced is an innocent family with a shocking, devastating loss of a loved one. Such an action removed the smiles of not just one, but many. A heinous murder would drastically change the lives of every presence in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas. Reading In Cold Blood by Truman Capote gave me, the reader, a new psychological understanding of why the murders committed such a crime even though both murderers share different personalities and come from different experiences in their pasts.
The Clutter family lived like any other American family. They were more fortunate than others in that financial issues were not present upon them. With Herbert Clutter, the father of the family, owning large property including the River Valley Farm, kept him contently wealthy. Furthermore, his involvement within the community and its organizations led him to serve upon the Federal Farm Credit Board. Unfortunately, his wife, Bonnie Clutter has mental disorders, so she is unable to accompany him upon his leadership and public image. Regrettably, the news of the leader and father of Holcomb was expressed as a murder. The reason is to be explained by the two murderers, Perry Smith and Dick Hickock.
Perry Smith’s background was rather a difficult childhood. After being abandoned by his parents, he was put into nuns’ guardian. Unfortunately, the abusive actions by nuns gave him nightmares upon possibilities of harm towards him. He finally grew up to be rather a petite man, however, very muscular. His personality and critical thinking may shock many, instead of “unable” to pass third grade, he grew up to great knowledge, vocabulary and literature as an adult. His gentle personality gives the...
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...oil. Instead of treating Perry as a friend, he is simply using him as a guard to block his greed. Perry and his innocence, unknowingly help Dick with his masterminded crimes and greed. Soon, Dick diffuses his greed and murder mind upon Perry.
Works Cited
Capote, Truman. In Cold Blood. New York: Random House, 1965. Print.
Declercq, FrédéricAudenaert, Kurt. "Predatory Violence Aiming At Relief In A Case Of Mass Murder: Meloy's Criteria For Applied Forensic Practice." Behavioral Sciences & The Law 29.4 (2011): 578-591. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection. Web. 23 Apr. 2014.
Samuels, AnthonyO'Drscoll, ColmánAllnutt, Stephen. "When Killing Isn't Murder: Psychiatric And Psychological Defences To Murder When The Insanity Defence Is Not Applicable." Australasian Psychiatry 15.6 (2007): 474-479. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection. Web. 23 Apr. 2014.
shocked by the randomness and brutality of the act, in much the same way it was
The disruption of an all-American society plays a key factor in In Cold Blood because of the effect it has on the story. In Holcomb, Kansas, the community’s order is disrupted through the murdering of the Clutter family. “Nevertheless, when the community lost the ...
Herb Clutter and his family possess it. Dick and Perry want it. It is often associated with the ideal existence. What is “it” exactly? “It” refers to financial stability. This is the state of not having to fret about paying the bills or providing for one’s family and of not having to worry if one will eat on a given day. The concept of financial stability is central in the novel written by Truman Capote and inspired by real events entitled In Cold Blood. This issue is the backbone of the novel and is the chief motive for the murders committed in the story. Additionally, financial stability is an important component in the typical view of the “American dream.” It is fair to say that the Clutters embody this concept, which involves a pattern of social and personal virtue that is accompanied by financial stability. The opposite seems true for those characters of Dick and Perry who fail to exhibit virtuous behaviors and therefore, never attain financial stability. These characters embody the “American nightmare.” Capote argues in his story that tragedy is not confined to the latter category and life is indeed a fragile thing.
Capote's narrative method also emphasizes two language systems--the first based on punishment, the second on psychological analysis of personality-- that demonstrate opposing ways of judging human behavior, thus making it impossible for one to judge the killers or the novel from one specific viewpoint. This example, and the example regarding two channels for reader sympathy, illustrates the theme of dualism presented in the novel. In order to evaluate these opposing issues, one might investigate the critical "confession" scene, in order to get a more lucid sense of how Capote's narrative is supposed to make the reader feel. This scene provides a basis for reading the murders, for placing them within a coherent design for In Cold Blood as a whole. The narrative promises to create an understanding of the crimes and get to the bottom of the killers' motives--if not through the legal system, then perhaps through the process of psychological analysis. Capote utilizes this consistent sense of dualism that never allows the reader to think only from one biased perspective.
In Cold Blood tells an exact story of the murder of the clutter family that occurred in Holcomb, Kansas in 1959. It consists of Mr. and Mrs. Clutter and their two teenage children, Kenyon and Nancy, and the events that lead the killers to murder. The family was brutally killed, without any apparent reasons, by Dick Hickock and Perry Smith. The family was found shot to death, with very little items missing from the home. Capote read about the crime in The New York Times real soon after it had happened, and before the killers were caught, he began his work in Kansas, interviewing the people of Holcomb and doing extensive research with the help of his friend Harper Lee. Dick and Perry got away with the murders, because of the lack of clues and no personal connections with the murdered family. Perry Smith is a loner, a psychic cripple, almost from birth an outcast from society. Capote insists the reader’s sympathy for Perry Smith from the outset: Comparing him to wounded animals; described as a frightened “creature” than as a human being responsible for his actions (Hollowell 82). So much suffering could be taken and given by a single youthful human...
Each man survived an automobile accident in his past and subsequently suffered from traumatic brain injury (TBI). TBI impacts a person 's social judgment, temperance, and impulse control (Stone). Both Smith and Hickock displayed these symptoms, meaning that mental illness played a significant role in the murder of the Clutter family. This theme and the many others found in In Cold Blood guide the storyline and reflect the points Capote was intending to make through his work. Therefore, it is critical for students to spend time analyzing required books to identify such themes in order to gain understanding about the purpose of the book as a whole. In Cold Blood offers many such opportunities for high school students to develop their analytical skills.
In November 15, 1959, Richard "Dick" Eugene Hickock and Perry Edward Smith were motivated to kill four members of a highly well- respected family for a safe that supposedly contained thousand dollars. The gruesome murders of the Clutters occurred on an isolated village located in southern west of Kansas, which provoked members of the community to begin to suspect whether someone in Holcomb committed such action since the crime appeared to be senseless. Truman Capote, author of In Cold Blood, explains how the people in the village were tormented and devastated because of the murders that took place. Capote emphasizes the result the murders had on Holcomb by using dashes to describe the scene and setting.
Capote's structure in In Cold Blood is a subject that deserves discussion. The book is told from two alternating perspectives, that of the Clutter family who are the victims, and that of the two murderers, Dick Hickock and Perry Smith. The different perspectives allow the reader to relive both sides of the story; Capote presents them without bias. Capote masterfully utilizes the third person omniscient point of view to express the two perspectives. The non-chronological sequencing of some events emphasizes key scenes.
In the early morning of November 15, 1959 four family members of the Clutter family were brutally murdered in the small town of Holcomb Kansas. Two men make an escape, fleeing across the country living what those two thought to be the dream. While on the run, a detective works tirelessly night and day to catch the despicable people who could commit such an atrocity. Truman Capote captures both realities, putting them together in a true crime story of convicts, Perry Smith and Richard Hitchcock who run from the law and Al Dewey’s hunt for the killers. In his nonfiction novel In Cold Blood, Truman Capote reflects on the events of his turbulent and lonesome life, exposes his internal struggles with the murder mystery case, but also the search
Truman Capote’s non-fiction novel, In Cold Blood, was a breakthrough in literacy in that it was accredited as the first non-fiction novel. There was a lot of controversy when the book was first published because of the incredibility of the work. This could be expected in that time, because people where not familiar with the concept of non-fiction novels yet, but this is where the beauty of this style of writing lies, the recreation of the truth. It would have been impossible for Capote to have documented the occurrence fully, because he only read about the murder after it had happen, after all, this was not what he wanted to do. Capote got a lot of criticism for the book, because of him bending the truth, putting in scenes that never happened and his ways of gathering information, but people still saw the talent that went into creating the non-fiction novel. Truman Capote will forever be recognized for this novel and the contribution he made to literacy. In this essay we will be discussing the strengths and weaknesses of In Cold Blood when it delivers facts and the credibility of the work. We will also be discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the novel when Capote bends reality and ad some parts of fiction.
Truman Capote finds different ways to humanize the killers throughout his novel In Cold Blood. He begins this novel by explaining the town of Holcomb and the Clutter family. He makes them an honest, loving, wholesome family that play a central role in the town. They play a prominent role in everyone’s lives to create better well-being and opportunity. Capote ends his beginning explanation of the plot by saying, “The suffering. The horror. They were dead. A whole family. Gentle, kindly people, people I knew --- murdered. You had to believe it, because it was really true” (Capote 66). Despite their kindness to the town, someone had the mental drive to murder them. Only a monster could do such a thing --- a mindless beast. However,
Dick Hickock stood motionless, watching as his companion, Perry Smith fired his shotgun into the heads of each member of the Clutter family, sending blood and brains splashing against the wall. What would drive a man to do this? With a cold-blooded fire in his eyes, Perry moved from one person to the next, splattering the country house with brain matter. This terrible
In Truman Capote’s non-fiction novel In Cold Blood, the Clutter family’s murderers, Perry Smith and Dick Hickock, are exposed like never before. The novel allows the reader to experience an intimate understanding of the murderer’s pasts, thoughts, and feelings. It goes into great detail of Smith and Hickock’s pasts which helps to explain the path of life they were walking leading up to the murder’s, as well as the thought’s that were running through their minds after the killings.
In the nonfiction novel, “In Cold Blood” by Truman Capote, the author tells a story of the murderers and victims of a slaughter case in Holcomb, Kansas. Instead of writing a book on the murder case as a crime report, the author decides to write about the people. The people we learn about are the killers, Dick and Perry, and the murdered family, the Clutters. The author describes how each family was and makes the portrayals of Dick and Perry’s family different from the Clutters.The portrayal of the Clutters and of Dick and Perry’s families, was used to describe what the American Dream was for each character. In the beginning we learn about what type of family the Clutters were and how they represented the American Dream for the people of Holcomb.
Brian Conniff's article, "Psychological Accidents: In Cold Blood and Ritual Sacrifice," explains how Truman Capote's nonfiction novel demonstrates the psychological trauma that the murderers and the townspeople of Holcomb face after the murders of the Clutter family. Conniff begins his article by stating that in the last twenty-five years imprisonment and execution has reached an all-time high level of obsession among the American public. Since this type of violence has been so normalized it is rarely properly understood (1). With this in mind, prison literature has continually suggested that "the most fortified barriers are not the physical walls and fences between the prison, and the outside world; the most fortified barriers are the psychological walls between the preoccupations of everyday life . . .and the conscious realization that punishment is the most self-destructive kind of national addiction" (Conniff 1).