Guilty?

Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood we get to know two men Perry Edward Smith and Richard Eugene Hickock. When I read the book in its entirety I had no doubt that these two men were completely guilty for murdering the Clutter family. But as I kept thinking about their situation I came up with several different conclusions for their circumstance. Is this what Capote wanted his readers to feel? As I’ve said in the discussion Dick was just as much at fault as Perry. What if the men got two different consequences? Would that have been the right thing?
We see that Perry’s childhood was nothing to be proud of. Due to his parent’s divorce Perry “home” was not stabilized. Though out all the trouble of living with his mother then trying to live with his father, Perry ended up in a orphanage. I can’t say that is why he killed the Clutter family though. It might have had an impact of Perry’s life when he grew up but you can’t prove that his childhood is to blame for his actions. We can see by Perry’s life description, Capote’s “connection” with this character. There isn’t nearly as much information about Dick then there is Perry. Is it safe to say the Capote had a weak side for Perry and that is why the narrator goes on to show us the sympathy we should have for Perry and maybe not Dick?
As for Dick he didn’t really have any traumatizing stories that would lead the reader to believe there is a reason for his sick mind. This makes the case worse because he doesn’t have an excuse for his madness. He came up with this whole mastermind plan, but has no evidence to show he is actually medically insane. For me as the reader I know that Dick is guilty no matter what. He was there, he planned it, and he didn’t stop anyone. One can say otherwise he didn’t do it so he’s innocent, but knowing the facts and the law both are guilty.
I tried to put my personal opinion aside with Capote’s novel and just think about the book and how Capote was trying to make the reader perceive it, but it was hard for me to do that because I got so involved with characters and plot. I feel for the Clutter family they didn’t deserve to be killed like that by these sick men. On the other hand we made a connection with Perry and Dick. We got to know who these killers are, make no mistake I don’t feel bad for them, but there was a connection Capote was trying to make with us and the characters. The book was different because there really was no “closure” the reader was left with a question. It’s something that the reader will think about for a little while. This opens the readers mind to new possible answers for In Cold Blood and what they think is right and wrong.