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Dick Hickock And Perry Smith

1037 Words5 Pages

Dick Hickock and Perry Smith have several psychological motivations behind murdering the Clutter family. Their psychological behaviors came from many different things, for example, childhood experiences, societal influences, and personal choices. These events would cause Dick to be a sociopath and Perry to suffer from schizophrenia and PTSD as well as many other mental health issues. These diagnoses would have a big part in murdering the clutter. Dick Hickock was born June 6, 1931, in Kansas City. He was a popular athlete student at Olathe High School until he was involved in a tragic automobile accident that left part of his face disfigured. Dick wanted to attend college to be an engineer, but his parents couldn’t afford it, so he went to mechanic school. A few years later, he …show more content…

Perry and his dad also traveled and moved a lot so he did not get a great education. He would also later on join the United States Army and fight in the Korean War. He received an honorable discharge and became a truck painter for the Army and stayed with close friends. After the army, he took the money he got from working for the army and went on to buy a motorcycle that he would get in an accident that would nearly kill him and cause him to shatter his legs and become addicted to aspirin. A lot of these traumas will cause Perry to suffer from schizophrenia and show signs of PTSD. Signs of schizophrenia, according to WebMD, are false beliefs that cannot be changed, delusions, hallucinations, and the belief that others are reading or controlling their minds. Signs of PTSD include being easily startled, feeling tense or on edge, difficulty concentrating, difficulty falling asleep, anger issues, and reckless behavior. According to the book In Cold Blood, Dr. Jones says “Perry Smith shows definite signs of severe mental

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Deadly Dick Hickock In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

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He manipulated him in many ways, mainly during the execution of the crime, where he forced Perry to slaughter all four of the Clutters. Truman Capote makes it apparent that "It was Hickock who had forced Smith to take part in the murders, who had led him astray, who had destroyed him" (Capote 246). Perry was a victim of his influence, and was led down a destructive path that eventually led to both of their deaths. Moreover, Truman Capote contrasts their personalities; "Hickock, the mastermind of the crime, was the more vicious of the two...Smith, on the other hand, was a mixed-up kid who had been led down the wrong path by his older, more experienced partner" (Capote 93). Perry was very vulnerable and impressionable, so Dick took advantage of it.

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The murder of Herbert, Bonnie, Nancy, and Kenyon by two men, Dick Hickock and Perry Smith, came as a shock to everyone and rocked the small town to its core. One of the special agents assigned to the Clutter case even said “Of all the people in the

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Perry wasn’t just included in the plan, he was hand-picked by Dick. Dick believed that Perry had the killer mentality that was necessary to kill the Clutters’. Dick was very opportunistic towards Perry and wanted to use him. By using Perry, Dick proves that he is a manipulator who is also the mastermind behind the plan. The situation of Dick and Perry is comparable to the situation that had occurred twenty years prior to the Clutter family murder.

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Throughout the novel, it’s visible to see the post symptoms of the psychological disorder affecting Perry and the army. In the book, Perry describes one of his encounters with PTSD by saying, "The noise was terrible. Every time a mortar went off, I jumped. I couldn’t help myself.

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1021 Words | 5 Pages

However, the Clutters have certain aspects which could be considered ‘abnormal’, especially in the case of Bonnie, a depressed and reclusive mother. Perry and Dick are juxtaposed with the Clutters, they are a seemingly abnormal duo, who are antisocial, have a hunger for murder and are even physically disfigured. Both Perry and Dick have attributes that are still somewhat ‘normal’ despite their surface abnormality. Perry is sensitive, creative and sings, Dick has had an upbringing that was completely typical of any American child, that is, he was brought up in a loving and caring environment, with enough money to live comfortably and attend secondary education. Dick also constantly defends himself saying: “I’m a normal”.

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In addition, he had a sister and two other brothers who committed suicide as he grew up. As we look back at his childhood, we can see that Perry represents everything it means to come from a broken family and that his bad childhood deprived from relating to people in a positive way. Maybe Perry was the murder of this malicious act, but as a reader, it was troublesome to not feel sympathy for a person who was deprived of living a happy

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1037 Words | 5 Pages

Dick believed it was for his “scams” he was doing on people in Nevada. Once they are in custody the officers start to question them about the night of the murder and the two “friends” turn on each other. Dick and Perry were both executed in 1965. “At the time not a soul was sleeping Holcomb heard them- four shotgun blasts that, all told, ended six human lives” (Capote 5). I now know that the other two lives that ended the night of the Clutter murder was Dick and

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According to the text “Perry says that after the killings the two men couldn't stop laughing, that they felt "high" and joked around as they buried evidence and cleaned themselves.” which shows how they are very psychotic. Dick and Perry should be off the streets so people can be safer and should be an example to others that don’t think things through before they do it and think they can get away with just anything. The question everyone wants to know is does insanity have anything to do with the crimes Dick and Perry have made .

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Throughout the book, Perry is genuinely the cold-blooded killer, and the reader 's view him that way. While in interrogation, Dick confessed that “ Perry Smith killed the Clutters... It was Perry” (Capote 230). At this point, the audience doesn’t know if they believe that Perry killed all four or if Perry killed two and Dick killed two. While talking in the interrogation room, Dewey mentioned to Perry that “Hickock [thought of Perry as] a natural born killer.

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Although Perry is responsible for the murder of four innocent people, Perry’s actions do not reflect on who he is as a person because he is easily influenced, therefore; showing how easily people can be pressured into doing something they would not typically do. Dick, a violent, cold-hearted, manipulator, has molded Perry into the person he is today. As Perry is a follower, Dick has taken advantage of that by turning Perry into the cold-blooded killer he is today. Capote displays Dick’s manipulation of Perry through symbolism to make evident that while Perry did pull the trigger on four innocent people, although the fault does not entirely lay on him, as he was taken advantage of by Dick.

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He is portrayed as a mastermind in the cold-blooded killing of the Clutters family, a man with little respect for the lives of others, which can be seen through Dick’s expression before the murder of the Clutters when he converses Perry, “We’re gonna go in there and splatter those walls with hair” (Capote 234). This sudden tone shift enables Capote to depict Dick as a cruel and immoral character. Dick’s lack of empathy and concern for other people beside himself allow him to commit crimes without remorse, which is in contrast to Perry’s moral contemplation after each bad actions they committed. Moreover, Dick is represented as the true criminal with evident motives in murdering the Clutters, while Perry is seen as a vulnerable victim who depends on Dick for validation and acceptance, something in which Dick happily provides in order to manipulate Perry, as Capote writes, “Dick became convinced that Perry was that rarity, ‘a natural born killer,’—absolutely sane but conscienceless, and capable of dealing with or without motive, the coldest-blooded deathblows. It was Dick's theory that such a gift could, under his supervision, be profitably exploited” (Capote 205).

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