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

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Nature versus Nurture, genetics versus environment. In the book, “In Cold Blood,” it is seen everywhere. Between the killers, Perry Smith and Richard Hickock, Nancy and Kenyon Clutter, and even, Herbert Clutter. It is even seen in everyday life, with twins being put up for adoption and separated at birth. They have the same genetics but different environments that they grow up in. In the book, “In Cold Blood,” by Truman Capote, the debate between Nature vs. Nurture is seen with the murderers, Perry Smith and Richard (Dick) Hickock. Before they went to prison and were put on death row for the murder of the Clutter family, Dick was in prison for bad checks and Perry was in for breaking and entering. Dick and Perry being killers were due to nurture. If they had not been in prison, then they would not have found out about the Clutters, which means they would not have killed them. They found out about the Clutters from Floyd Wells. Floyd Wells was also an inmate with Dick and Perry, and also previously worked for Herb Clutter. That is how he knew about Mr. Clutter having so much money and having a “safe” at his house. Without this sort of information …show more content…
Nurture is seen is with twins that were put up for adoption and separated shortly after. The twins are born with the same genetics, but growing up they have different environments that could affect how they act in the future. In the article Twins Separated at Birth Reveal Staggering Influence of Genetics, they followed identical twins- Jim Lewis and Jim Springerfrom the age of four weeks old until they were thirty-nine.“When the twins were finally reunited at the age of 39 in 1979, they discovered they both suffered from tension headaches, were prone to nail biting, smoked Salem cigarettes, drove the same type of car and even vacationed at the same beach in Florida” (Tanya Lewis). Since they were separated at only four weeks old, they did not know that they had the same problems or