A Polemic Against Capital Punishment?

Given the sympathetic portrayal of Perry and his impoverished lifestyle, is Truman Capote making a point about the death penalty? If so, what is it?

Who Should Be Killed?

During the final section of In Cold Blood, while on death row, Dick tries to get himself out of the death penalty by sending letters to various people saying that his lawyers did not put their full effort into his case, that the jury was biased and other complaints. Unfortunately this plan does not work out, although Dick did get some positive feedback. Dick and Perry are both executed. Do you think Dick should have been hanged, or that he should not have had the death penalty? Why or why not? What do you think Perry's opinion on Dicks fight for his life is? Do you think Floyd Wells should be punished for not trying to stop Dick from planning on killing the Clutters?

The Walker Case

On December 19th, 1961, a little more than a month after the Clutter murders, the Walker family of Osprey, Florida were murdered. The family of four were all shot by a rifle. The murders were so similar, that the sheriff of Sarasota County interrogated Perry and Dick with a lie detector. The narrator ominously mentions that "the murderer of the Walker family remains unknown" (258). What is the significance, if any, of this case?

Perry in Prison

Perry is the first man ever to stay in the ladies' cell. He befriends a squirrel he names "Red" whom he teaches tricks. He writes a journal. He contemplates suicide. Are any of these incidents important (or other events not mentioned during his stay in prison)? What do learn about Perry during his incarceration? Does he change? Are we sympathetic toward him?

Means of interrogation

The means of interrogation used with Dick and Perry in order to retrieve the correct information were both decietful and misguiding. However they were effective and retracted the necessary information from the murderers. Does the cruelty of what Dick and Perry did the Clutters justify the deceptiveness of the interrogators? Is it still a wrongdoing to lie despite everything that the murderers did? Why should the interrogators be held up righteously for getting the information out when they used cruel manipulation to get it?

Clutter's Journey

Herb Clutter reminisces to Bobby Rupp about a childhood incident in which a blizzard descended on Western Kansas on Christmas. He was a youth of Kenyon's age. His family was saddened at the prospect of a snowbound Christmas with no presents under the tree. Clutter volunteers to travel to town to buy presents. He almost is lost on his return, however, and nearly dies of exposure. All the time he is worried about his family worrying about him. Yet, when he arrives home safe and sound the house is dark and everyone is fast asleep. What does this memory tell us about Mr Clutter? What does this memory of a memory tell us about Bobby?

Dewey's Dream

Alvin Dewey has a nightmare in which he Herb Clutter is alive again in the Trail Room along with Dick and Perry. He pursues the criminals along Main Street, then swimming in the pool, and finally through Valley View Cemetery. Dewey repeatedly fires at them, shots them in the heart,but they don't die,only become transparent. What does this dream tell us about Dewey? What significance, if any, does, this dream have?

Everything's Up to Date in Kansas City . . .

Broke and on the run, Dick decides the best place to "hang a lot of hot paper" is Kansas City. So the two fugitives return to the most obvious place for detectives to look for them. Although Perry attempts to dissuade him, his appeals go unheeded. Why would Dick dare do this? Why do criminals behave like the old adage and "always return to the scene of the crime"?

Families and Origins

While Perry and Dick commit the same crime, they have very different origins. Perry often blames his origin saying "whatever was wrong was not your own fault but 'maybe a thing you were born with.' Look at his family! Look at what happened there!" (pg 110) However, Dick has a well, put-together family. "An outstanding athelete" and a "pretty good student too, with A marks in several subjects", Dick also had a family, with a wife and two kids. What would his justification be if not how he was raised?

Living Witness

Earlir in the book, Dick and Perry debate whether or not there could be a witness that could report them. A man named Floy Wells pops up, but he is considered to be to afraid of the consequences to even consider telling his knowledge to the police. This character doesn't reoccur until page 160, when he's telling an officer who the commited the murder. What do you thing were the major reasons Floyd told the officer all that he knew, even though he was also aware of what could happen to him? Was he just doing it for the reward, or was it because of his feelings for the family? If Floyd was placed in Perry's shoes, do you think he would have commited the murder? Why or why not?

Betrayal and Motivation

Dick and Perry have finally been apprehended for their crimes. The dream plan has come to an end, and it seems that their partnership has too. Once they're imprisoned, the promise to back each other up is broken when one pins all the blame on the other. Why does this character act in this way, and why is it that only one of them decides to tell the entire truth? And when the truth finally is told, who do people, us included, feel more sympathy for, Dick or Perry?

A True Story ?: Journalistic versus Novelistic Techniques

In Cold Blood bills itself as a "true account" of the Clutter murders. Is it? How is it close to the practice of journalism and how does it depart from it? What literary techniques does it use? Do these techniques make the story more or less real?

Perry's Character

Perry has been described as a natural born killer. Though he has also been described as a poet (or intellectual). As you look toward Perry's character is fascinating. when you look at it does perry remind you of a character from another story, movie, or real life people now or in history.

Second Thoughts?

"'Know what I think?' said Perry. 'I think there must be something wrong with us. To do what we did'"(108). Dick and Perry have finally begun their journey to Mexico. With the death of the Clutters currently behind them, they have nothing to worry about. If this is true, why does Perry continuously think that they made a mistake? Is he feeling guilty or is he merely afraid of the consequences? And what are Dick's thoughts about Perry and his complaining? What does this passage show about the relationship and the differences between these two companions? Is it possible that their partnership is taking a turn for the worse?

Golden Days?

Dick and Perry have been on the run since the murder of the Clutters. In both of their minds they had imagined a smooth get-a-way. Primarily in Perry's mind did a dream of paradise seem to await them. In Mexico, when Dick and Perry spend time with Otto, they seem to reach this paradice. Is this time in Mexico a paradice for Dick and Perry, and do you think that it will prove to be the climax of their adventure?

Macbeth and Perry

Macbeth and In Cold Blood both relate the story of cold-blooded murders. After the murder Macbeth tells us that he has murdered sleep and Lady Macbeth warns her husband he will go mad if thinks too much about it. Do Macbeth and Perry react to the murders in the same way? How about Lady Macbeth and Dick? What do these two stories tell us about guilt, conscience and the workings of the human heart?

Perry's Remaining Family

Perry's only remaining family consists of his sister Barbara and his father Tex. What does Perry's recollection of his life and Barbara's letter to him show about how the family feels towards one another?

Perry's Dream

Perry describes a recurring dream involving a tree full of diamonds guarded by a snake (92). He relates this dream to Dick but never finishes. What is the significance of this dream (the diamonds, the snake, the parrot)? What does it tell us about Perry's character (and about his childhood)? How is this dream related to other myths or archetypical stores you are familiar with? Also, what does the communication of this dream (or lack of communication) tells us about Dick and Perry?

New Character, New Perpective?

At the beginning of the second section we are introduced to Alvin Adams Dewey, the Garden City reperesentative of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. What is his role in the story? What kind of character is Al Dewey? How does his introduction change the dynamic of the story?

Intercutting

The narrator alternates an account of the last days of the doomed Clutter family with the menacing plans of Dick and Perry. What is the purpose of this technique of intercutting? Does it achieve its effect?

Guitars, and Tiger Tattoos and Cherry Pie . . . Oh My!

In the first section are there any objects that are or might be symbols? The guitar that Perry has in the back seat? The tattoos of Dick and Perry? The socks that Mrs. Clutter wears to bed? The cherry pie that Nancy helped Jolene to bake? The fruit trees on Mr. Clutter's property?

Perry and Dick

Perry and Dick were acquaintances when they were in the penitentiary together, but they were never that good of friends, not nearly as good of friends as Perry and Willie-Jay. In Perry's mind, Willie-Jay is the only person who really understood him. If this is the case, why did Dick and Perry reunite, and why did Dick choose Perry to help him with this mission and vice versa? What is similar about these two men that allow them to get along?

Greece in the Heartland

In the opening page, the narrator describes "a white cluster of grain elevators rising as gracefully as Greek temples" (3). Does that comparison strike you as odd? What do Greece and Kansas have in common? What is the narrator evoking by an allusion to classical antiquity? What is the purpose of this simile, other than an apt description?

Somewhere UNDER the Rainbow

In Cold Blood begins with an evocation of Holcomb, Kansas. We have a description of the landscape of the Great Plains and of the ethos of small-town America. How do these descriptions create a mood or atmosphere? Does the setting prepare us for what will follow (foreshadowing anyone?)? How important is the setting to the themes of the story?