The Clutter Family In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

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Crystal Chow Period 1 In Cold Blood Essay Prompt 5 In Cold Blood, a nonfiction novel by Truman Capote, follows the 1959 case of the Clutter family homicide. The Clutters are introduced as, what seems to be, the perfect American family in a close knit town that were believed to be the least likely of families to be murdered. As the case proceeds with the findings of the Clutters’ corpses, Dick and Perry, the murderers, soon flee to Mexico. There aren’t any leads for the case until Floyd Wells tells the police of Dick, who told Floyd that he would murder the family with Perry while Floyd and Dick shared a cell. By the time Floyd tells the police, Dick and Perry have returned back to the States and are quickly caught by the police when they …show more content…

The Clutters, themselves, were the embodiment of the American dream and they seemed to be content with what they had already. However, for Dick and Perry, this was not the case. Perry suffered throughout his childhood and still has trauma from it, but his American dream was very ordinary, which was to be famous. It is seen in one of his theatrical fantasies that Perry was a star who advertised himself as “The OneMan Symphony” named Perry O'Parsons. He also wanted a higher education than the one he had, which would have been pass third grade since he stopped at third grade due to his father. One of the main reasons why Perry resented his sister and father was due to the education that he didn’t receive. Dick also yearned to obtain a higher education, but due to his financial situation he wasn’t able to study to become an engineer. Dick proclaimed, “I wanted to study engineering, but even with a scholarship, deals like that cost plenty. I don't know, it seemed safer to get a job” (Capote 137). Even Dick’s parents noticed as his father felt that Dick resented not being able to go to college. Also, Dick desired wealth, which explained the motive for targeting the Clutters, the writing of the bad checks, and it also may explain why he stole so frequently. Between Dick, Perry, and the Clutters, the American Dream were mostly contrasting against each

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