Perry Smith The Serene Man with the Explosive Temper

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Perry Smith The Serene Man with the Explosive Temper

Perry Smith is perhaps the nicest, most gentle-hearted man I've ever met in my life. If he and I were to have met under different circumstances, I would never have hazarded a guess that this kind man could be a cold-blooded killer. He's such a gentle man that it startles me to think that a man such as he would ever so much as touch a hair on a human head. However, it is the story of his past that lends credence to the fact that he slaughtered four members of the Clutter family. Built up emotions of hatred and rejection have been bottled up inside of him for so long, that he sometimes explodes with little cause. Although he appears soft on the outside, it is the build up of emotion within that causes him to behave so irregularly and explode without warning. Perry Smith's troubled personality comes as a result of the polarities of his two sides.

As an experienced psychiatrist, I have dealt with many cases such as this case involving Perry Smith. I have diagnosed personality disorders such as schizophrenia, and I believe that Perry shows several signs of this disorder. My diagnosis comes from the fact that Perry has emotional reactions that are unpredictable and inappropriate, he has disturbed relationships, and he acts withdrawn, always "a loner without any real friends." His inability to communicate with his family is a warning sign of schizophrenia. Poverty and a disorganized family life are often looked at as causes of the disorder; Perry Smith's family was not, by any means, wealthy, and they were unarguably disorganized. Perry Smith has a split personality; he's a schizophrenic.

Perry's schizophrenia seems to stem from a disturbed childhood and erratic family life. P...

... middle of paper ...

...he killed all four Clutters so that Dick's mom wouldn't worry about her son being a murderer when he really wasn't. Perry once wondered if there was something wrong with them that they could kill four people for a little money and get away with it. Perry Smith shows remorse for killing the Clutters.

In summation, Perry Smith is a man of several personalities. He is schizophrenic. He may have many sides that he keeps hidden, but the most prevalent one is the cold-blooded side that he displayed in killing the Clutter family. Only his closest friends can see the other sides behind the gentle, kind-hearted Perry Smith when the emotions he's kept bottled up for years explode in an out-of-sorts physical reaction. Perry's troubled past has caused him to have a troubled personality, and that is what made him kill the Clutters in cold blood.

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