Truman Capote includes several primary sources in his book in order that we may better understand Perry Smith and Dick Hickock (but especially Perry). These documents include letters from Perry's father and sister, a pseudo-psychological profile of Perry's sister written by Willie-Jay, Perry's personal diary*, and later, "autobiographies" written by both Dick and Perry.** How important are these documents? What do we learn from them? How do they illuminate the men's personalities (or personality disorders)?
*All from about pg. 125-155.
**Pgs. 273-279
The primary sources that Capote includes in the book are essential to understanding the story fully. The “autobiographies” allow us to enter the minds of the murderers themselves, and the other primary sources shed light on Perry’s personality from the perspectives of his friends and family. From Perry’s primary sources, we see that he had a tumultuous childhood, which led to a less than satisfactory relationship with his father. In his sister’s letter, she tries to explain that he is responsible for his own actions, but he does not agree. He does not want to believe that his crimes are his fault; he wants to pass the blame to others. Perry’s refusal to accept responsibility for his actions highlights his narcissism. The “autobiographies” are particularly interesting. Perry’s is very detailed which also points to his narcissism. On the other hand, Dick’s is short, sweet, and to the point which is consistent with his pragmatic outlook. While these sources give very specific details about the two murderers, let us zoom out for a moment and look at these sources from a very broad standpoint. We see that four out of the five documents deal with Perry. We read a letter from Perry’s father, a letter from his sister, a letter from Willie-Jay, and Perry’s brief autobiography, while Dick’s autobiography is the only primary source Capote includes that deals with Dick. On the surface, it may seem that Perry is simply a more complex character; therefore, it is only natural that more of the primary source material is devoted to him. Upon further scrutiny, this argument does not hold up. It is true that there are many interesting aspects to Perry’s past, but Dick does not lack his own multidimensional past. While Dick describes his childhood as “normal,” some aspects of his past may have shaped his psyche in a negative way. He grew up in an overprotective home where he “was hardly ever allowed to leave [his] yard and visit [his] playmates.” In addition, one cannot ignore Dick’s multiple failed marriages and his pedophilic tendencies. Clearly, Dick’s story is just as complicated as Perry’s. This leads to a very important question: why does Capote only focus on Perry’s past? It could simply be that other primary sources regarding Dick do not exist, or Capote could be attempting to establish sympathy for Perry by providing more details about his past.
ReplyDeleteCapote incorporates these documents to ease in insightful information. By using the technique of including the main characters (as well as blood related supporting characters) opinions and true thoughts, Capote grants the reader a more completed picture of Perry and Dick. The letters provide insights that are no longer slighted by Perry or Dick, but instead by other characters, often removed from the situation. The self-written pieces provide a deeper look into the feelings of the characters, as well as where they place the blame for their misfortunes.
ReplyDeleteThese hold the upmost importance as they quickly reveal information that would take the narrator many pages to compose and then structure how to reveal these truths. Beginning with the letter from Perry’s father, the reader is immediately exposed to how Perry was his father’s favorite. His father differentiated him from the rest of his siblings, insisting he was “different.” Perry is later accused, by his sister, for placing the blame everywhere but on himself, something that his dad continually does while describing the events that occurred with Perry as well as with Perry’s mother. Most of what his father says aligns with Perry’s personality. Following this letter is one from Perry’s sister, Barbara, accompanied by Perry’s personal analysis of what the letter means and how he now feels about his sister. Barbara’s didactic tone leaves Perry bitter in his conclusion that he loves her (“after a fashion”) and that he can use her, one of his main reasons for remaining in contact with her. Perry’s cunning nature is highlighted in his analysis of her letter as he meticulously dissects every aspect of her reply.
Perry’s diary, although the shortest, is easily the most interesting. At first glance, and perhaps it truly is, the diary entries seem to be a random collection of words thrown together. The words he deems “beautiful” hold the most importance, including thanatoid (deathlike). The definitions all involve things the typical human would deem distasteful, far from beautiful, showing just how skewed Perry’s perception of beautiful is.
The autobiographies reveal much of not only the uprisings of the men, but also how they related back to their experiences. Perry writes very honestly, shamelessly recounting a very in detailed childhood. Dick, however, quickly gives a brief description of his parents and upbringing. Dick’s response is about half the length of Perry’s. Dick also shows more signs of shame in his autobiography, especially including his motivation to go to the Clutter’s.
Overall, these written forms offer deeper insight, and a new perspective compared to the usual forms of the narrator or dialogue. They give an unopinionated response to the reader, that is unbiased by the character’s inhibitions in speech or the narrators sight.
The documents that Capote added to the book are crucial in the reader's understanding of the full background of the two men. To fully understand the components of someone's past, a personal account and a reliable outsider account is necessary. From Perry's biography we learn why he felt himself to be bitter, and his troubled past. From abuse and neglect to an estranged relationship with family members, the circumstances in Perry's past offer an explanation for the mental issues he is revealed to possess later in the novel. Through his personal diary, his perceptions of others and things around him are made clear to the reader. These perceptions allow the reader to identify with the man and further understand his thought process. From this letters from his dad and sister, we uncover a few key things about Perry. His sister shows us that Perry has a tendency to blame others for his misfortune and bad circumstances, something that seems to be the case in the killing spree. Perry first blames Dick for making him stick around inside the house after no safe was discovered. Also, it is shown that even though Perry talks down about his father, his father truly loves Perry and grieves over the fact that Perry committed these acts. Another significant source is Don Cullivan's letter to Perry. The way in which Perry reacted to Don signing it as "your friend" and the hasty beginning of Perry's reply shared in the book further illustrates the true lack of friends Perry possesses.
ReplyDeleteIn Dick's autobiography, one thing sticks out the most: his relationships with women. I think this can all be traced back to his days in high school playing multiple sports. These athletic "jocks" seem to be the most popular and attract the attention of girls. In saying that he "played the field", Dick hints at the fact that he started bad habits in mingling with various girls. This, in turn, led to the commitment issues Dick was plagued with later in his life, and to fuel the desire to lust after young girls who are usually thought to be more attractive to older women. The desire that caused Dick to linger around the Clutter house. We also learn about the damage he received from the car wreck, which could have altered his mental capacity greatly, and seemingly did.
In a manner similar to that of a seasoned field reporter, the author strives to maintain objectivity throughout the novel, incorporating concrete facts and testimonies into the story, rather than abstract opinions and speculations. This impartiality, spanning much of the novel, makes the obvious bias of the documents penned by those close to Dick and Perry an invaluable source in completing the reader’s understanding of the killers. While Capote’s technique of journalistic neutrality is crucial in effectively documenting the crime committed in the book’s opening pages, a more personal approach is necessary to complete the psychological profile of the deadly duo. Furthermore, the autobiographies written by the murderers themselves fill out their characters, allowing each of the men to assume a voice of their own, thereby providing the reader an opportunity to fully familiarize themselves with Perry’s and Dick’s personalities. This is a luxury that would not be afforded by the dialogue detailed by the author alone.
ReplyDeleteThe section in which the personal documents detail Perry’s childhood is the longest in the novel. This reflects the fact that Perry is the book’s most fully developed character and underscores the close, real-life relationship that the author maintained with the murderer. Perry’s autobiography, along with his father’s testament, outlines his turbulent youth, a period rife with instability and strife. In addition to providing Perry’s comprehensive background, the report authored by Perry’s father contributes valuable insight into the life of the man Perry once admired: the Smith family patriarch himself. Often alluding to his own traits while chronicling his son’s history, Perry’s father demonstrates many of the same characteristics exhibited by his son. A self-centered man and irresponsible father, Mr. Smith was a likely role model for the boy who would grow to become a narcissistic criminal.
The murderer’s autobiography further presents extensive insight into his own idiosyncrasies. Perhaps the most significant of the traits illustrated is the ease with which Perry is influenced; he was cajoled into committing his first major crime and continues to be manipulated even in adulthood. This attribute, paired with the absence of a strong support system at home, is one that could explain Perry’s apparent loyalty to Dick. Perry continually clings to Dick simply because he is always there and carries out Dick’s unspeakable requests because he is so easily swayed, not necessarily out of allegiance. Another of Perry’s notable characteristics is his whole-hearted faith in his own intelligence despite his lack of education. Evident in the list of intricate vocabulary kept in Perry’s diary, this quality gives reason for Perry’s devotion to Willie Jay. A fellow prisoner who employed erudite language in his wordy evaluation of Barbara’s letter, lending him the appearance of a scholar, Willie Jay is someone who has obviously earned Perry’s affection and respect, likely because of this façade of sagacity.
With only one document divulging Dick’s past, the reader can assume that the author is attempting to evoke pathos in Perry’s favor by fully explaining his past and the circumstances surrounding his current mental state with several sources rather than the single, brief autobiographical statement allotted to Dick. In the pages devoted to Dick’s history, the reader learns very little that would compel a life of crime. Instead, we gain knowledge of Dick’s various misdeeds, further implying that the blame for the Clutter murders should be more heavily placed on Dick rather than on his partner.
Capote tactfully included these documents in the book in order to promulgate our full understanding of the two men, how they became who they are, and of the story in general. The vast majority of the documents within In Cold Blood are pertaining to Perry, who incidentally tends to turn out the be the favored of the duo, if there can even really be a favorite.
ReplyDeleteI believe that these testimonies were specifically selected and integrated skillfully in order to approach the outlook on Perry in a more personal way, even at times conjuring up empathy and pathos for him and his remorse for the committed crime. The autobiography of his father regarding Perry, the primary lengthy source, is the one I feel that most aptly capture Perry's taxing, unstable youth which included a controlling, emotionally abusive mother which resulted in him living with his father whom he idolized. Their strong relationship, temporarily severed at a point with financial strife, significantly influenced who Perry is and is apparent in their similarities, an important aspect in how Perry views life, his mannerisms, and his difficulty with love. These characteristics of Perry are also prevalent through his own perspective in his personal autobiography.
The letter written by his sister, Barbara, accompanied by Willie-Jay's in-depth analysis of it depicts not only Perry's relationship with his sister, but also how he came to loathe her and a glimpse of why her hold such high reverence for his "prophetic" cell mate. Though his sister's letter to him in jail is not entirely censuring Perry, he takes great offense to it anyways, underscoring his sensitivity, and refuses to ever speak to her again only keeping the letter to be able to read WIlly-Jay's analysis of it. By adding this source, Capote emphasized his lack of deep emotion towards any family members aside from his father even after their falling out, as well as also a level of guilt and shame he feels for being in jail.
The inclusion of solely one source pertaining to the past of Dick, an autobiography, augments the focus on Perry and how his past led him to his current self and mental stability, or lack thereof. While Perry's sources illustrated his childhood family challenges and adulthood discords stemming from bad relations and the perpetual need to express himself and be understood, Dick's encompassed mainly encounters with girls and the beginnings of his criminal activity. Though the reader is informed of Dick's failed marriages and overprotective childhood, the emphasis as well as empathy by large falls on Perry, expressed through the multiple documents of his life.
These documents play an extremely important role in the overall context of the novel. They aptly show a sense of the characters we are unable to see from simply reading from their perspective. The documents show us different things, many of which help to understand the early lives of the criminals. In doing so they help provide a better understanding for how the characters got to be the way they are and what led them to their life of crime.
ReplyDeleteFrom these documents we can learn and better understand a variety of things. The first, from Perry’s father, was an attempt to gain Perry parole. Perry highly abused his parole, though, for because of it he was able to murder the Clutters. In this letter his father describes how bright Perry was and how loyal he was to him. It shows a perspective on Perry that is rarely seen, one of his childhood. It seems that many things could have been the cause for his mental instability, such as his rage in opposition to being bullied or the controversy he saw unfold between his parents. It also, though, presents many facts that make it hard to believe Perry had turned into a hardened criminal. His ability to master anything quickly and the love he showed his dad make him seem like a decent person. The letter is flawed, though, in many aspects. First, it is written as an attempt to gain Perry parole, so anything negative could not have been said. Secondly, his father had a disoriented view on things, being uneducated himself.
Perry’s autobiography, then, is extremely different in nature. It is not completely light, for it does not leave out the hard times. From Perry’s autobiography we see many negative experiences that could have led to his current mental problems. His mistreatment by the nuns was a major factor effecting his development, one that also led to his complete mistrust of all religious affiliations. Also, he had to deal with a drunken mother who allowed him to constantly run around with trouble, which led to his eventual turn to crime. He also talks about how he had in fact quarreled with his father, something we were able to gather from his father’s letter. He also expressed his extreme anger for not being able to have an education. He had an above average intelligence, but his father never allowed him to pursue an education, a grudge Perry had always held with him. One has to question, them, had Perry recieved an education, would he have fallen into a life of crime?
These documents provide many insights that leave us with many more questions than we had before reading them. However, we also learn a great deal about the characters. Through these letters we are able to gather insights as to why the men may have developed personality disorders, and also where things went wrong in their development. Both characters’ documents show that they longed for an education that was not provided. Perry was not able to receive a standard one while Dick was unable to receive a college education due to financial issues. These problems, as well as many others, may possibly help us to gather a better understanding for the killers and the reasons they became them.
Before the reader received any documents about Perry or Dick there were two ways of investigating the two men. One was to have the narrator take pages to analyze an action preformed by one of the two men and draw a conclusion based on the evidence of the action. An example is when Mr. Dewey is investigating the crime scene and makes the assumption: since Mr.Clutter was placed on a mattress box there must have been a tinge of compassion in one of the killers actions. His hypothesis later was proved correct in Perry's confessional. The other way of understanding the men was to gather facts Dick and Perry said to one another about themselves.
ReplyDeleteWhen the documents were introduced valuable insight was displayed and the reader could see the depth of emotion behind each character. The information is particularly valuable because it derives from acquaintances and family members fairly detached from the current situation, with the exception of Perry's diary.
Perry's diary easily being the most fascinating of the documents provides a sense of childlike emotion surrounding Perry. Diaries are usually things small kids keep for themselves. Any child who grows older most likely will keep some sort of journal yet Perry still calls it his diary. The most disturbing part of his diary are his words he considers beautiful. One of them being thanatoid , or deathlike. Considering the definition of the word, the reader can see his botched and unnaturally disturbing version of beautiful.
We also gain information as to where the two men might have been changed or what made them the way they are today. As we can easily see Perry had no easy childhood. His mother left him and when Perry choose to live with his father Perry tells us his father never made an effort to understand him. This can hint Perry was not born with any Psychological disorder, one had formed due to more tragic events when he was young. Yet the more disturbing childhood was Dick's; he was raised well, yet it seemed Dick still could more easily kill than Perry and also feel less remorse. The documents offer a valuable and different perspective on the past and present condition of the men, and knowledge as to why they became the criminals they are.
These documents are very important to maintaining the nonfiction authenticity of the book. Though this book is based on fact, there are many instances that Capote uses creative license, from the placement of chapters to the dialogue of the characters. Providing these raw untouched documents adds depth and provides the reader with new insights and opinions. No matter how objective and journalistic Capote’s tone is, there is still an underlying bias that drives the book. However, these documents create a nullifying effect (of bias), which allows the reader to entrust the reliable narrator even more (Capote has researched hundreds if not thousands of hours for this book). These documents justify Capote’s use of dialogue such as the instance of Dick describing to Perry their murder: “We scored. It was Perfect” (90). Obviously, there is no way to verify the conversations between Dick and Perry, but from these documents we can understand his choice, although it is ambiguous for whether his decisions are based with the intention of being closest to fact or to add drama and suspense.
ReplyDeleteThese documents are essential to maintaining the truth and authenticity of the book and the reliability of the narrator by providing documents of others confirming his suspicions.
On a side note, I thought it was really cool the way Capote introduces as a character near the end of the book in almost a cameo appearance as the “journalist who was allowed to visit" (it is not confirmed, but is clear it is in fact Capote) Dick and Perry, which I think is justified considering the amount of work he put into this book.
Truman Capote wants the reader to look at this horrible murder and not just see the victims and the villains in black and white, but to see human beings, human beings that can’t be described by a single act but need to be judged based on their entire existence. To do this, Capote utilizes these primary documents to, as the prompt suggests, “better understand Perry Smith and Dick Hickock” and perhaps force the reader to accept these men as brothers, lovers, and sons before accepting them as murderers. This can be difficult for the reader. If one were to read the primary documents dealing with Perry out of the context of this novel, it would be very easy to feel sympathy for the orphaned, emotionally stunted cripple, but the reader doesn’t have the luxury of such an effortlessly deduced opinion. Instead, we must read his depressing history all the while knowing that he is not deserving of pity or understanding; he is a murderer of five, he is an animal, he deserves what has become of him.
ReplyDeleteI found the letter written by Willie-Jay to be very enlightening. Willie-Jay, Dick, and Perry’s father are characters that Perry admires and looks up to throughout his life. All three are flawed and, to be frank, insufficient role models for the sensitive Perry. In Willie-Jay’s letter, Willie-Jay analyses Barbra’s, Perry’s sister, letter in a very critical, demeaning way. Barbra argues that Perry has problems accepting responsibility while Willie-Jay argues that Barbra is jealous and stupid. The fact that Perry chooses to agree with Willie-Jay shows the reader how poor Perry’s judgment of character is and is just one example of a role model leading him down the wrong path. Capote most likely added this primary document into the novel in order to show the reader that Perry has been following very bad advice for the majority of his adult life. It is yet another excuse for his behavior that Capote is using to remind us that Perry is only human and, in his opinion, deserving of sympathy.
The only primary document we have regarding Dick is his autobiography and, like my classmates have said, it is a short piece of history that seems very to the point and uninterested. This shows a lot about Dick’s character. Either he is embarrassed of his past or he thinks of it as unimportant. I think that Dick views himself as perfectly competent and “normal” and the fact that the philologist ordered this brief history seems irrelevant to Dick because, in his mind, there is obviously there is nothing wrong with him. There is blatant irony here as it is clear that there are signs of disorder in Dick’s thought process given that he hatched the plan to kill five people for a pay day, he has an unnatural attraction to children, and didn’t show signs of remorse after performing his acts of crime. Knowing this, the reader isn’t led to feel as much sympathy for Dick as for Perry, which begs the question: why did Capote present the two so differently?
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ReplyDeleteAdding the different sources to the enhances the reader's understanding of Perry and Dick's mental state at the time of the killings. From Perry's autobiography the reader learns that Perry finds himself to be bitter. This bitterness is in effect caused by his abused childhood. Perry's abused childhood gives the reader a better understanding of why Perry committed this crime. Through Perry's diary, the reader is able to get inside of Perry's head and understand his thought process and how he sees the world around him. Through the letters from Perry's father and sister the reader is alerted to the fact that Perry has a tendency to blame others.
ReplyDeleteDick seems to have commitment problems. This may be due to his high school days. Dick tells us that he "played the field"; this tells us that Dick was with many women, yet did not stay with any for long. I believe that the factor that played the most important factor in the mental state of Dick is the car crash. The mental trauma caused by this accident seemingly did affect Dick's mental state.
Adding the different sources gives credibility to Capote and the story that he told. We are not told about Dick and Perry from just Capote, but also from a variety of authentic sources, which adds to the depth of the story. The different sources also served as a reminder to me that this is a nonfiction novel. A lot of times when I read a nonfiction novel, I forget that the story is actually true and the events in it actually happened. The assortment of documents served as a reminder to me that I was reading a true story, and the documents give the reader the sense that they are almost apart of the story by giving us information straight from the source.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the various sources throughout the book once again turns a historical account into a living story. The personal letters make the reader feel like they are getting to know the people first hand. Dick is a sweet guy. He is always looking at things from a practical standpoint. Perry’s bad childhood that leads to a bad relationship with his father gives the character depth. Getting to know about Perry’s relationship with his father again makes us feel like we really know him, maybe even better than he knows himself. His textbook narcissism is detailed within the sources as well. I believe that the sources are one of the most interesting parts of the book. I took great joy in psychoanalyzing the murderers’ troubled past. The sources peel back the veil around these two men and give us a little insight into their past, and it is satisfying to see what might have caused these men to commit this terrible crime.
ReplyDeletePeople are very fragile as children and become the person they are in part by how their raised. Family are the prime source for a child seeking nutriment and if you can look at someone’s background, it can tell a lot about why they have become the way they are. Perry had a very traumatic childhood. His parents split it a dramatic way that pitted the children against their father. His mother became an alcoholic that chocked on her own vomit. He wanted to be loved by his father, who later took away his education which in turn made Perry angry at his father. The letters show the reader how the men were treated by their families because it shows why Perry needs companionship and how he got down the dark path was at. His sister wrote a letter that involved her be raiding him and expressing how she felt he was responsible for the place he was at. This may have been true but he has the law telling him that. He just wanted someone to care about him and he wasn’t getting that from his family, which is supposed to be a person’s support system. Without the documents, the reader wouldn’t know why Perry is the way he is. I don’t think Capote wants to put all blame on parents or families but it helps the readers know in fuller depths who they are and why/
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