Murder With Dick And Jane In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

Forget Fun with Dick and Jane—Murder with Dick and Perry! Throughout Truman Capote’s nonfiction novel, In Cold Blood, Perry Smith and Dick Hickock are shown in two distinct lights. While Perry appears to have compassion and a possible mental illness, Dick is portrayed as a ruthless, apathetic monster. Through the use of vivid descriptions and changing points of view, Capote makes the audience see Perry as a helpless accessory to murder, while Dick is the mastermind. By establishing Perry as a “good” antagonist, Capote shows that although he did commit the murders, Perry’s mental instability and Dick’s persuasion was the cause—not Perry’s own intention. The two passages represent just how far Capote goes to make the audience feel sympathy
He is open to the idea that there is something wrong with him, and cannot forget his crimes. Even Dick remarks on the possibility that something was not right about “Little Perry”, which shows the audience that anyone who knew Perry could see there was probably a mental disorder (108). Then in the second passage, Capote describes Perry’s disastrous home life, and the fact that his mother had “strangled to death on her own vomit”, his sister “jumped out of a window”, and his older brother had “driven his wife to suicide and killed himself the next” (110-111). By including the horrifically colorful ways that Perry’s family perished, Capote incites a feeling of pity from the audience. Like the image of a Dick mercilessly running over a dog, the image of Perry’s family killing themselves appeals emotionally to the audience, and makes them feel sympathetic towards Capote. It is also revealed that Perry lied about being in jail for murdering King and he only told Dick that he had because “he’d wanted Dick’s friendship” (111). Due to the fabrication of events, Dick thought of Perry as a dangerous criminal and enlisted him in the death of the Clutters. While Perry simply tries to make himself liked, Dick takes advantage of this and coerces him into murder. Capote shares this detail to show that while Perry had innocent intentions with Dick, Dick only used Perry for his seemingly heartless murderous tendencies. By
Hawks wheeling in a white sky”; though the exact same words are used in the previous passage, the tone is softer, almost mystical (110). This is because the audience is now experiencing the same moment from Perry’s point of view, which is more childlike and dreamy than Dick’s candid disposition. He also differs because of his recollection of events from the night of the murders, using specific diction such as “the glass eyes of a big toy bear” and “hysterical inhalations” (110). By using such exact wording, the audience can see the images and know that they are ingrained in Perry’s memory. There is no way to erase the night from his brain, and he will forever live haunted by what he’s done, unlike Dick. Capote uses this technique to show that Perry feels emotion, and that he has the mental capacity to know that what he did was wrong. This is comparative to the syntax of the description of Perry’s home life. Capote uses exclamation marks to emphasize the sentences, “Look at his family! Look at what happened there!”, and he creates an exasperated, defeated tone (110). In these lines, Capote clearly shows bias by revealing his emotion towards Perry and his belief that Perry could not help his circumstances and that the audience should feel compassionate. While both Capote and Perry contribute to the point of view of the second passage, it is a stagnant positive portrayal of a