On the night of November 14th, 1959, Richard Hickock and Perry Smith entered a home in Holcomb, Kansas, and slaughtered four members of the Clutter family, a wealthy and respected household in Finney County. Capote learned about the crime through a newspaper and decided to travel to Holcomb and investigate the case as a writing project. His childhood friend Harper Lee accompanied him and together they interviewed residents and investigators assigned to the case. Hickock and Smith were arrested six weeks after the murder in Las Vegas and transferred to Finney County, where they were tried and convicted of the killings. They spent five years on Death Row, during which time they corresponded regularly with Capote and provided him with numerous interviews, as well as written accounts of their personal histories and experiences.
Truman Capote used triple narrative for the novel describing the lives of the murderers, the victims, and other members of the rural community in alternating sequences. He researched and gave specific attention to the psychology of the killers Richard Hickock and Perry Smith. Capote noticed that Perry Smith, who allegedly pulled the trigger on all four victims was more sensitive of the two. He learned that Smith was highly intelligent and creative, yet scarred from a turbulent upbringing by neglectful parents. Capote himself suffered a turbulent childhood and thus he developed a liking for Perry Smith. Harper Lee mentioned the relationship between Capote and Perry Smith and noticed, “Each looked at the other and saw – or thought he saw – the man he might have been."
Characters of In Cold Blood:
Herbert William Clutter is a 48 years old, successful, rich, and well-respected farmer of Holcomb Kansas who lives at his ranch with his wife and two children. Herbert is a hardworking, ethically strong, religious Methodist man who not only provides well for his family but also employs many local people and helps them through. He is a generous employer but a strict father who teaches his children the importance of hard work. He is a well-educated man who got a degree in agriculture from Kansas State University. Bonnie Clutter is Herbert’s wife. She is a slight, nervous, apologetic woman who suffers from chronic postpartum depression, which leaves her bedridden for many days. Nancy Clutter is 16 years old beautiful, intelligent, and smart daughter of Herbert and Bonnie. She is a good student and generous human being who is involved with community service activities. She is a good musician and teaches music, sewing, and baking to other younger girls in the town. She is dating Bobby Rupp, the star player of the High School Basketball Team. Kenyon Clutter is 15 year old younger brother of Nancy. Unlike Nancy, Kenyon isn’t too much social. He doesn’t like dating girls and prefers to spend his time in the Clutters’ basement workshop, where he does carpentry and mechanical projects. He too is a good student and he has a good friendship with Bob Jones, his classmate. Perry Smith is the man who murders all four members of the Clutter family. Initially, he resisted and opposed the plan of robbing Clutter’s home. Things got out of his hand and in his frustration and rage, he shot at the members of the Clutter family. He suffered a troubled childhood that has a great imprint on his psyche. He is a sensitive, intelligent, creative, and thoughtful person with more feminine traits. Dick Hickock planned to rob the Cluttle house. However, he didn’t think of murdering anyone. Though he didn’t try to stop Perry, rather remained a bystander when Perry executed all four members of the Clutter family. Dick is a bombastic, smooth-talking, self-confident petty criminal. Perry finds him more masculine than himself and feels that he needs Dick as a support. Alwin Dewey is the lead investigator of the Clutter case. He is an old friend of Herbert and Bonnie. He is too hurt after their murder and obsessively hunts for the perpetrators of the crime. Susan Kidwell is the closest friend of Nancy Clutter who spend her childhood with her. Nancy Ewalt is another friend of Nancy's who, along with Susan discovers the dead body of Nancy.
Summary of In Cold Blood:
Herbert and Bonnie Clutter are leading a peaceful, prosperous, and principled life at Herbert’s ranch in Holcomb, a small rural town in western Kansas. They have two teenage kids. For many years, Bonnie is suffering from postpartum nervousness and often remains bedridden. Despite their troubles in married life, they are a loving couple. Nancy is their 16-year-old daughter and Kenyon is their 15-year-old son. Both kids are intelligent, smart, and good at studies. Nancy and Kenyon learned the worth of hard work from their father and they too are principled and generous like Herbert. Bonnie often feels that her illness renders her from being a better, strong mother. All four members of the Clutter family are well respected and admired by the local people of Holcomb. On November 14th, 1959, two men who recently got out of prison on parole, plan to rob the Clutter family. One of them is Richard Hickock, also known as Dick and the other one is Perry Smith. Initially, Perry wasn’t interested in the robbery but then Dick suggested that with the help of robbed money, they can go to Mexico for the treasure hunt. Perry is very interested in the treasure hunt and thus, he decides to be with Dick. Dick manages to get a 12-gauge shotgun, rubber gloves, rope, and black stockings to be used for the purpose of the robbery at Clutter farm. They use a car to travel toward Garden City and arrive at Holcomb at midnight. Soon, they head towards the Clutter house.
On the morning of November 15, Nancy’s friend Susan visits her house with one of their other friend Nancy Ewalt to go to school with Nancy Clutter. They see the dead body of Nancy at the stairs. The police arrive at the scene and find that not only Nancy but the whole of the Clutter family has been brutally murdered. The news spread like wildfire in the town. Every member of the Clutter family was well-respected and loved by the local people. The police fails to find any evidence except two boot marks and the black stockings and tapes that might have been used to bind gag and blindfold the victims. The authorities resolve to find out the murderers as soon as possible and authorize an investigative team to solve the crime. Alwin Dewey, who is a friend of Herbert and Bonnie is appointed as the head of the investigative team. Other members of the investigative team include Roy Church, Clarence Duntz, and Herbert Nye.
Meanwhile, Perry and Dick reach Kansas City where they read the news about the quadruple murder in Holcomb in a newspaper. Perry wonders if they can be caught, Dick assures him that he was very cautious and they left no clue to be caught. Yet, they decide to move to Mexico as soon as possible to ensure their safety. Since they have no money, they decide to issue forged bad checks in Kansas City to get some quick cash.
The narrative changes as the author describes the psychology of the murderers. Perry is an intelligent, creative person with a troubled childhood. He often tries to forget the harsh memories of his childhood and his current ignominious lifestyle by dreaming of grand adventures and being whisked away from his troubles by beautiful yellow parrots. This is the reason why he is very keen to go to Mexico and engage in the treasure hunt. He is very sensitive, self-conscious, and philosophical. He feels feminine within himself. He is not very confident about himself and admires Dick for his masculinity and self-confidence. Dick has a contrasting personality as he is cocky, self-assured, and pragmatic; financial irresponsibility has led him away from a solid upbringing to a life of petty crime. His ambitions are also a way of compensating for his lack of means, but his bluster and bravado stand in sharp contrast to Perry’s demure presence.
At Holcomb, the police learn that Bobby Rupp was the last person who saw the Clutter family alive. They interview him but fail to find out any clue about the murders. Alwin Dewey decides to visit Kansas State Penitentiary where Floyd Wells is serving his jail term. Floyd was once employed by Herbert Clutter. He informs that his previous cellmate Dick Hickock once planned to rob Clutter Ranch when he informed that Herbert Clutter used to keep a locked safe full of cash in his home. When Dewey investigates further, he comes to know that Dick was traveling toward Holcomb along with Perry on the night when the Clutter family was murdered. The investigative team begins a statewide search for Dick and Perry who have already crossed borders to reach Mexico.
Dick continues his extravagant ways while Perry invests a good sum in a treasure hunt but gets nothing. Soon they lose all their money and are forced to come back to the U.S. Dick and Perry are unaware that the special investigative team is looking for them yet, they maintain a low profile and continue to roam the countryside. One day, just before the New Year, six weeks after the murders, they are caught stealing a car in Las Vegas.
The investigative team reaches Las Vegas to interrogate Dick and Perry. Alwin Dewey decides to interrogate them separately. Initially, the investigative team does not reveal that they are being questioned for quadruple murders. Alwin first pressurizes Dick by gradually implicating that he is responsible for the murder of the Clutter family. He traps Dick in his lies and false alibis and forces him to confess his crimes on the night of 14 November. Dick succumbs to the pressure and confesses that he did plan to rob the Clutter ranch as he was informed by Floyd about the hard cash Herbert Clutter used to keep. But Dick claims that he didn’t kill anybody and that all four were murdered by Perry. On their way back to Holcomb, Alwin interrogates Perry and reveals to him that Dick has already confessed and has blamed Perry for all four murders. Perry tries to discard the accusation but finally accepts his defeat as he fails to provide any strong alibi for his presence anywhere on the night of 14 November. He then offers a detailed confession about what transpired that night. Perry says that Dick had planned to rob Clutter Ranch as he got information from Floyd that Herbert Clutter used to keep ten thousand dollars in cash in a locked iron safe at the ranch. Perry says that he was not interested in the robbery but he needed money to go to Mexico and engage in the treasure hunt. But when they reached the Clutter ranch, they found no safe nor any cash. They tried to threaten Herbert Clutter to reveal where the cash was. But they were surprised to know that there was really no cash or any valuables at the home of Clutter. Perry says that he wished to go back and leave the ranch right at the moment but Dick stopped him and said that they cannot just go away and they should not leave any evidence or witness for their crime. Perry tried to convince Dick that they cannot just kill people to avoid witnesses. He tries to show how difficult it is to kill anyone by making a bluff knife attack on Herbert but failed to control his rage and stabs Herbert on his neck. This created a shock to Perry and in his frenzy and fear he used a shotgun to kill the other members. The police match their foot size to the boot prints that they collected.
The two accused then face trial in Garden City and are kept at the Kansas State Penitentiary. During the trial, the accused are kept on a psychiatric test which reveals that both are psychologically ill and show definite signs of mental illness and emotional dysfunction.
Meanwhile, the police gather enough foolproof evidence to ascertain that they are the actual murderers of the Clutter case beyond any doubt. The court considers the psychiatric report of the two criminals but follows the M’Naghten rule, which disregards mental illness in determining whether criminals are responsible for their actions. The court and jury declare them guilty of four counts of brutal murders and they are sentenced to death by hanging. Dick and Perry continue to appeal for clemency to postpone the date of the hanging. During the period, they meet many other convicts of murder charges including Lowell Lee Andrews, Ronnie York, and James Latham. All their pleas get rejected and finally, after spending five years on death row, Dick and Perry are hanged on April 14th, 1965, before a crowd of twenty witnesses.
Alwin Dewey visits the cemetery where the Clutter family was buried and sees Susan Kidwell there, praying for her friend Nancy and her family. Alwin marvels at the persistence of life, even in the aftermath of such a hopeless tragedy.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of American English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!
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