Nature Vs. Nurture In Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

Some people might say people inherit traits from their parents, and some say they learn them based on an upbringing, but In Truman Capote’s account of the brutal murders of the clutter family in In Cold Blood, he uses the argument of Nature vs. Nurture to further explain the life behind murderer, Perry Smith. After hearing the accounts of the brutal murders, Capote goes on to explain the story behind both Perry and Dick’s lives, But Perry’s childhood stands out more. After being abandoned, beaten, and left to survive alone, Perry’s cards were stacked against him. By showing the complexity of criminals, Capote uses Perry to show the example of a non-nurturing childhood creating a person capable of murder. Throughout the novel, Capote uses Perrys

Capote uses direct accounts of the abuse to further develop the reality of an un-nurturing childhood. In Perry’s description he explains, “‘She woke me up. She had a flashlight, and she hit me with it. Hit me and hit me. And when the flashlight broke, she went on hitting me in the dark’” (Capote 93). BY explaining the brutal beatings that Perry experienced can further show how Capote also uses direct statements from the trial to show how Perry’s abusive childhood altered his life forever. As explained in the book, “The History relating to extreme violence, weather fantasied, observed in reality, or actually experienced by the child, fits in with the psychoanalytic hypothesis that the child's exposure to overwhelming stimuli, before he can master them, is closely linked to early defects in ego formation and later severe disturbances in impulse control” (Capote 300). As explained in the passage, the history of the events that took place throughout Perry's life is “closely linked to early defects in ego formation and later severe disturbances in impulse control,”making it even more evident that the circumstances of the un nurturing abuse he went through corresponds to his future actions of murder. By explaining the brutality in which Perry grew up experiencing, Capote further backs the argument that Perry smith lacked the nurture it

By using the drastic comparison between Nancy Clutter’s upbringing and Perry smith, Truman Capote paints the vivid picture of how a murderer is made. The book starts with the description of the Clutter family and each of the family members. Capote portrays them as the perfect family during the 1950’s by highlighting their strengths. He says, “Where she found the time, and still managed to “practically run that big house” and be a straight A student, the president of her class, and a leader in the 4H program and the young methodist league [...]” (Capote 18). Capote explains Nancy as a “straight A student” and the “president of her class”, this description of Nancy Clutter shows how she was the perfect student and daughter. By explaining this before the readers know anything else, it illuminates how her nurturing childhood shaped her. Unlike Nancy, Perry Smith is the complete opposite. He grew up with no sense of direction and no help from his parents. After growing up in an Abusive orphanage he knew nothing but violence. The most crucial years of his childhood where spent being beaten and battered for things he couldn't control. Capote explains, “[...] when he was seven years old, a hated, hating half-breed child living in a California orphanage run by nuns -