In Cold Blood Character Analysis Essay

Truman Capote’s book In Cold Blood, focuses on a quiet town in eastern Kansas where the slaughter of the Clutter family occurred. Although Perry is a brutal murderer, he is the result of his troublesome past; therefore, indicating that the past plays a part in the character of one's future self. Throughout his childhood, Perry has encountered abuse, separation, and abandonment from his home and it directly affected who he has become. The way that Capote writes about Perry’s past makes it evident that it was miserable. Perry lived with his “disgraceful drunkard” mother who forced his father out of his life and his three siblings who ended up either dead or pitied him (Capote 126). The separation between Perry and his father left Perry with

“Since I was a kid, I’ve had this same dream. Where I’m in Africa. A jungle. I’m moving through the trees toward a tree standing alone. Jesus, it smells bad, that ree; it kind of makes me sick, the way it stinks. Only, it’s beautiful to look at--it had blue leaves and diamonds hanging everywhere. Diamonds like oranges. That’s why I’m there--to pick myself a bushel of diamonds. But I know the minute I try to, the minute I reach up, a snake is gonna fall on me” (Capote 92). The story goes on to say that just before he is about to be crushed to death by the snake, a parrot comes in and saves him. This dream that keeps recurring in his dreams symbolizes the pain he has gone through in his life. The tree is his dreams of traveling and making music, but the snake keeps him from achieving them. The snake represents Perry’s troubles or conflicts he has faced that hold him back from ever being able to be free. Finally, the bird represents his father. His father was the one who would encourage him to be good in school and to learn from his mistakes. But the minute that Perry was no longer with his father, he lost his constant reminder to stay out of trouble. Perry’s past played a major role in his development of becoming a murderer because of the miserable experiences he went through and the troubles he never seemed to