In Cold Blood Critical Analysis Throughout the novel it goes back and forth between Dick Hickock and Perry Smith, the murderers of the Clutter family. As the story goes on, the reader grows to know each of these characters more in depth. Dick and Perry are alike, but they also have some very major differences;however, Dick is worse of a person than Perry. Dick and Perry are similar in their childhoods, their mental state, and different in the sense of their personalities. The childhoods of both Dick and Perry were not like those of the average child. Both of them went through hard experiences. Perry went through the traumatic experiences of his alcoholic mother and sister dying. His father drug him around traveling constantly, and this causes Perry to never be able to attend school. Perry wished to go to school, but was never given the chance past the third grade. He even ends up going to multiple orphanages where he was beaten. To top it all off, Perry was in a motorcycle accident which…show more content… Perry cared about his intelligence. He always wished to be smart and after not receiving an education, he tried to join the army; however, he has to fake the test results just to pass. Throughout the entire novel Dick continues to disgust readers. Dick is in it for the money and nothing else, he does not care about anyone other than himself. Some may feel sorry for Perry because of what he had went through; although he is sensitive, he committed four murders, had previously been to jail, and has anger problems. Perry shows his sensitive side when he says, “I sympathize with that. They’re good people. She’s a real sweet person, your mother.” (27) Dick is far worse, he has sexual interest in young girls and does not feel remorse in that either. Dick even says “I’m gonna bust that little girl,”(289) while heading towards Nancy’s room. Dick is evil, while it is easier to sympathize with
