In Cold Blood Commentary

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Capote’s In Cold Blood is more than the story of the brutal murder of a suburban family from Kansas it is a commentary on the uncontrollable and calibrated will of humans. Not only does Capote narrate the story, but he frames it with detailed insights of the murderers lives suggesting the crime was the outcome the negative influence of past experiences. Capote includes Dick and Perry’s pasts to set a foundation where the readers can relate and understand the course of their actions. Capote bases his reasoning on the idea that people with troubled pasts are more susceptible to a life of crime and violence. He includes perry’s miserable past full of rough experiences and disappointments illustrating the effect it had on the development of his psyche: “Oh, the man I could have been! But that bastard never gave me a chance. He wouldn't let me go to school…I happen to have a brilliant mind…But no education, because he didn't want me to learn anything, only how to tote and carry for him. Dumb. Ignorant. That's the way he wanted me to be. But …show more content…
Like how Perry was restrained from reaching his full potential since birth Dick suffered the same restriction after High school and his car accident: “After he graduated from high school – June, 1949 – he wanted to go to college. Study to be an engineer. But we couldn’t do it. Plain didn’t have the money”(Capote 166). If something was not always standing in their way of a satisfying life would they have turned out differently? Would they have acted differently? Would they be brutal murderers? Yes, if these past experiences, ideas and social forces were not part of Dick and Perry’s lives they would not have wills capable of their actions. If they were given a chance to reach their highest stature, any opportunity to escape their inadequate lives, they would have not needed to pursue this desperate and nefarious
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