In Cold Blood Summary:
In Cold Blood depicts the events that lead to the murder of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas, in 1959 and the subsequent investigation to find the killers. The killers Perry and Dick murdered the family including Mr and Mrs Clutter, their daughter Nancy and son Kenyon over a safe that Dick believed was in the house after talking to his former cell mate Floyd Wells whom inform him about the Clutters. Initially their seemed to be no motive for the crime with people in Holcomb labelling the Clutter the least likely to be murdered as they where well liked and heavily involved within the community. However robbery become the clear motive when it was discovered certain items, Mr Clutters binoculars and Kenyons zenith radio where missing. Capotes style of writing the 'nonfiction novel' lead to the successes of the book as he describes the events as fact and not from the view point of wither the victims or killers allowing the reader to draw their own conclusions about the murders. This is further aided by Capote carefully revealing the details of the murders at different points once the murders have been caught. Additionally the interchanging narratives within the book further add to the impartial nature as Capote gives equal importance to both the murders, victims and investigation. The investigation into the murders took a significant tole on Capote as he became close to the murders and never finished writing another book with many saying In Cold Blood was his undoing.
Chapter 1:
Introduced the characters and sets up the scene for the murders, jumping from the families day-to-day to the killers. The families account is fictional and created by Capote. This chapter sets out the families hope and dreams which heightens the tragedy of the murders when they are committed. The juxtaposition of the the killers day next to the families normalises them allowing the reader to see them as people and not just killers.
Chapter 2:
The bodies have been discovered and the investigation begins. Capote reveals more information about the killers, in particular Perry's childhood. Throughout the investigation the police discover Nancy's missing watch and Kenyon's missing radio, with more details about the murders being revealed such as the fact that Nancy was tucked into bed. Throughout this chapter Dick and Perry continue there journey, hitchhiking along the way.
Chapter 3:
This chapter sees the introduction of Floyd Wells Dick's former cell mate who informs the police about the killers after telling Dick about the Clutters but failing to mention that Mr Clutter didn't keep cash within the house. The police became more confident that Perry and Dick are the killers but haven't realsied this information to the media. However the pair are arrested later on in the chapter with Perry giving a full confession.
Chapter 4:
Perry and Dick are in prison awaiting trial. They are sentenced to death and arrive on death row where Capote breifly discuss the other prisoners. The killers are hung with the book ending on Detective Al moving on with his life.
Characters:
Herbert William Clutter:
Mr Clutter is the head of the family and ranch owner who is known for providing well for his family and employing several ranch hands. He's infamous for not carrying cash which makes the motive for the murders troubling as well as for not employing anyone who drinks alcohol. Its believed he was the first to be killed by Perry which started an unstoppable frenzy in which Perry killed the rest of the family.
Bonnie Clutter:
Mrs Clutter is a recluse suffering from post-natal depression after the birth of Kenyon, however puts her illness down to a pinched nerve in her back an believes she'll be back to her old self in no time. She notorious for always being cold even in the height of summer and for collecting miniature things.
Nancy Clutter:
Nancy helps run the house due to her mothers illness and is well like and involved within the community. Her boyfriend Bobby was the polices first suspect as he seem to be the only person with real motive but was later cleared.
Kenyon Clutter:
Kenyon is highly intelligent with a talent for building electronic machinery and carpentry. He's takes after his mother in being a bit of a loner by having only one close friend who he no longer sees regularly.
Perry Smith:
Perry who is believed to have killed all the Clutters himself had a difficult childhood after he was abandoned and abused by nuns with two of his sibling dying at a young age. This difficult upbringing could be seen as the hidden motive for the murders as Perry displaces his anger by taking revenge on those who heart him through the Clutter family. Perry is small in height but has a muscular upper body which create a significant contrast against his short legs. He has an incredible interesting in knowledge, vocabulary and literature despite never finishing third grade.
Dick Hitchcock:
Dick is the mastermind behind the murders after hearing about a big score at the Clutters via cell mate Floyd Wells. Dick is motivated solely by money, greed and vanity and is also motivated by the fact there was a teenage girl in the house who he planned to rape however never did. His friendship with Perry is based on a story Perry told him in which he beat a man to death using a bicycle chain and he hoped to bring out this murderous side of Perry during the robberies.
Floyds Wells:
Dicks former cell-mate who later told the police about Perry and Dick which lead to their capture. However he is the originally instigator of the murders as he told Dick about the Mr Clutter, his former employer. Wells also failed to correct Dick when he believed that there would be a safe containing £10,000 in cash despite Mr Clutter being notorious for not carrying cash.
To create a better understanding of In Cold Blood I've created a list of adjective to help inform my designs:
- Destructive
- Clever
- Sophisticated
- Engaging
- Suspicious
- Impartial
- Random
- Uncontrollable
- Complex
- Needless
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