Capote seems to paint Perry in a more sympathetic light than Dick. He seems sensitive and even kind at points. Did you sympathize with Dick more than Perry at any point? Or did you not buy any of the kind characterizations?
Does In Cold Blood have a protagonist? Is it Herb Clutter? Dewey? Perry? Explain.
Rate In Cold Blood by Truman Capote on a scale of one to five. Explain your reasoning.
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Perry is a true murderer. Dick picked him because of that. You cant feel sympothy for perry because when it comes to killing, he doesnt care, he doesnt have a concious about it.
In my perspective of what i've read, In Cold Blood gets a 4.5. The way Capote described the family made us feel like we knew them. Hence the Clutters getting murdered is ten times as worse. Also the back and forth readings from Dick and Perry to the Clutters was brilliant.
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I don't buy any of Capote's sympathy towards Perry. Perry surly doesn't deserve any of it. I think that Capote definitely favors Perry, probably for more than one reason, and is therefore biased. It actually makes me mad that Capote spends so much time sympathizing with Perry. If anything, Dick should be shown more sympathy. He didn't even kill anyone. He deserves more sympathy than Perry does, even though he intended rape. I think that Perry has a way of sucking people into a pity party for him. At first I thought that maybe the book does have a protagonist, but after thinking more, I don’t think so. The way Capote describes the book, as a montage, pulls away from the idea of a protagonist. Rather than having set main characters, he concentrates on a few all at once. It would be kind of hard to have one main character and use a montage to describe the book. I would rate this book a 4 out of 5. It is suspenseful and enticing in the beginning. It really keeps you hooked. I took one point off because of the over excessive detail and the favoritism toward Perry. It’s a great book other than that. I liked the back and forth descriptions too.
I did not feel any sympathy towards Dick and Perry I felt that they did the murders and both took part of the murders in some way. Even if they have a story about their pass time and how it led up to the murder that nobody should be sorry for them. I give this book a four not the best book you will ever read but Capote does a good job of putting a image in your head when reading the book to help you understand it more.
In the book Capote talks about Perry much more. When I was reading at points I didn’t want Perry to get caught but eventually when it came to the facts and when he was telling the story about when they killed the family he seemed so cold. He honestly didn’t feel any remorse for killing the family. I mean he was the one who shot every person and if he wouldn’t have gone ahead and started killing them who knows if Dick would have actually gone through with it. Overall I wouldn’t say that there is an exact protagonist in the book but I would say there is kind of one. I think that Dewey was probably the protagonist the murder basically consumed his life and that was all he thought about. And he the reason everything got solved. If he wouldn’t have becomes so obsessed with the murders the case probably wouldn’t have been solved and it probably would have just been forgotten about. I would rate the book probably about a 4. I’m not all the way done, but I am pretty close to finishing it. I like the book for the most part. I actually got scared sometimes. One down side of the book is that I think that it focuses on Perry too much. It doesn’t give Dicks opinion enough.
Personally, I didn't sympathize Dick at all. The fact that he had a sick obsession with younger girls probably didn't help though. Even though Perry did murder the Clutters, Capote had the persuasive writing to make Perry shine in the light. When I did feel like I should sympathize Perry, I the thought that he was a greedy murderer came back into mind.
This novel was jumping all over the place on who it was focusing on. In the beginning it was the Clutters, there was a point where it was about Dewey finding the killers, and Capote focused on Perry for a large section of this book. Perry would qualify for the protagonist position, but he would be more for the antagonist, the murderer. A protagonist is more likely the 'good' people in the book. The protanonist would be Herb, for trying to save his family, or Dewey, for devoting all his time for trying to find the killers of his friends.
I would give In Cold Blood four stars. It was good, but Capote focused to much on Perry at one point. It was interesting bout how they got murdered, and pathetic on the reasoning why they were murdered, and I think Capote did combine it together very well.
I don't have any sympathy for Dick at all. Why should someone have sympathy for Dick when he wants to rape Nancy before he murders her, wants to brutally murder the whole family in many ways, and he is caught he has a cocky little attutide. He deserves no sympathy he didn't give the Clutter family any sympathy. I know that Perry murdered the Clutter family along with Dick but he did it in a more humane way. He was nice to the Clutter family as he was tying them up, he made Dick come with him and helped him find the safe so he wasn't left alone with Nancy to be given the chance to rape her, and when he was caught he was scared and speechless. After a while, he told the whole story and everything that happened truthfully. While Dick was blaming the whole murder on Perry. I didn't buy any of Dick's kind characterizations at all. I believe that Perry was the protagonist in the book, In Cold Blood. He was the protagonist because he told about the journey that Dick and him traveled, all the information about the Clutter family, the murders and how they did it, about the time that they were caught, and about their short lives in prison leading up to the execution. Then Capote took the protagonist part over when the murderers were executed. I believe the book In Cold Blood by Truman Capote was a "four", because Capote new all the information about the Clutter family, went intensely into the murderers lives and the murder itself, and plus was able to write an extraordinary book about a horrible murder that occured in the small town of Holcomb.
I sympathized Dick more because he was an overall nicer person. He had no intentions at killing the Clutters at first. Dick ended up not killing anyone. He didn’t even rape Nancy. Once Perry started torturing and killing them, he didn’t care anymore. He was having fun killing them. I would have to say that In Cold Blood does not have a protagonist because it focuses on more than one character at a time. I would rate In Cold Blood a 3 on a scale of 5 because I thought the middle of the book where they talked about the murders and how they did them and got away with all of it was interesting, but the beginning was too detailed and the end got boring. But, I’m really glad that we read this book. I thought it was interesting and it’s kind of cool how it was based on true events that actually happened. It is also kind of disturbing that this can happen in a little town in the middle of nowhere where everyone knows everyone else. Good book!
The way that Perry describes the murders make you not sympathetic to either one of them. So no I didnt sympathize Dick or Perry because they were cold blooded killers. The use of montage also pulls the story away from having a protagonist also. I would rate this novel a four on a scale of five because i actually read and understood this novel and it is really in depth. Also this novel is based on a true story which made it better.
nice job Luke Gilson!!
I never had any sympathy towards Dick. He seemed to be running the show at all times. Perry just kind of tagged along. Perry was the one to try and keep Dick from harming the family. I think the protagonist would either be Herb Clutter or Dewey. I think Herb Clutter because he has never harmed anyone and always did his best to help someone out when they were in need. When Wells Floyd worked for Herb, Herb would give him money in advance if he was a little short and Herb would never expect anything in return. I think Dewey could also be the protagonist because he did everything in his power to solve the crime. He would be answering phone calls all night long which disturbed his family greatly all because he was doing his job. He never stopped thinking about the murder. I would rate the book as a 4. I think it was very interesting at times and you always want to find out what is going to happen next. At other times it would get boring because there was so much going on and the details would start to become too much. It seemed like they would go on about details that didnt really matter.
Capote seems to paint Perry in a more sympathetic light than Dick. He seems sensitive and even kind at points. I sympatized with perry more than dick, cause dick likes little girls, and thats just a little creepy. Perry is the cool one that kills all the people. Thats why i sympathize for him. In cold blood does not have a protagonist.
I dont see how you can feel any sympathy for Perry because he was the one who killed all those people, and even though in the story it seems that Perry is the nicer one, we dont know if that is true because that is his side of the story, we never got to hear Dick's side of the story, his could be completly different. There is a possiblilty to because Capote was gay he had better feelings for Perry rather then Dick and seemed to favor him more, im not saying that this it true but its a possibility. If there is a protagonist in this story i would have to say that it would be the killers because they are talked about the most and go into the most detail about them. If i had to rate the book i would give it a 4 just because he goes into describing the characters to much and it just kind of gets old, but other then that its a very good book because it keeps you in suspense and its hard to believe that this actually happend.
I don’t feel that Perry deserves any sympathy what so ever. However, I do feel that Capote sympathizes with Perry because or his more laid back and cooperative manner. Despite those qualities, Perry still committed a murder without any remorse or shame. The fact that Capote does empathize with him may make some readers feel the same way. Personally, I can’t feel bad for anyone that carried out such heinous actions.
I have trouble identifying an exact protagonist for In Cold Blood. I feel that this is probably because of Capotes use of montage. When a book flashes back-and-forth between characters you are getting many different points of view, making it hard to name only one protagonist. On the side of good, the protagonist could have been Dewey because he poured his whole life into solving the Clutter murders. Without Dewey, the murder cases wouldn’t have been solved. However, on the side of evil, the protagonist probably would have been Perry, solely because he was talked about most often throughout the book.
I would rate this book a 3.5 out of 5. I do like the fact that it was suspenseful and enthralling. The use of montage kept me interested and engaged, but I really didn’t like that Capote sympathized with Perry. In my opinion, I think Capote focused too much on him. I would’ve preferred more equal details and facts about Dick and Perry.
great blogging everybody
I feel terrible for luke gilson i heard his mom always rents bars and makes him smoke dank with her poor guy :( I think morgan freeman is over reacting alittle bit here i mean for god's sakes he only killed four people. people have done worse than that on accident already. i think perry was the protagonist of the book he really was a very nice, kind man aside from the slitting peoples throat part i think capote may have felt alittle more compassionate for him for two reasons; one he was homosexual and perry and him hit it off and two dick crumbled under pressure and told on perry. perry took his punishment like a real man. plus dick wanted to rape nancy got to love a guy with that kind of integrity
I feel terrible for Luke Gilson I heard his mom always rents bars and makes him smoke dank with her poor guy :( I think Morgan freeman is over reacting a little bit here I mean for god's sakes he only killed four people. People have done worse than that on accident already. I think Perry was the protagonist of the book he really was a very nice, kind man aside from the slitting people’s throats. I think capote may have felt a little more compassionate for him for two reasons; one he was homosexual and Perry and him hit it off and two Dick crumbled under pressure and told on Perry. Perry took his punishment like a real man. Plus dick wanted to rape Nancy got to love a guy with that kind of integrity
there I fixed it
I did not feel any sympathy for Perry while I was reading this novel. He was just as guilty as Dick. If he would have ran off and not took part in the killing, and then got caught. Then I would have felt more sympathy for him. What it all comes down too is that if Perry didn't want to be apart of the killing, he would have ran off. The only way I can feel for him a little bit is when he told Dick not to rape the girl. Otherwise, there was no sympathy from me.
I feel bad for Luke Gilson too. We can only hope he doesnt turn out like that.
i think that they are both guilty for doing a crime because they were in this together and one should not be blamed for all of it.
I think it was herb clutter cause he was announced the most.
I would say that it was a 3.
I think that Perry is the true murderer. Dick picked him up just because he killed a black guy. You can't feel the sympathy for Perry because when it comes to trouble he will be right in the middle of it. At first he really didn't want to kill them at first. He killed them because he still had the pain inside him that other people caused him.
In my perspective of what I’ve read, In Cold Blood gets a 5.5. The way how Capote describe the family it feels like I was part of the family. The scene that he describe about the Clutters murdered was quite gruesome but thought it was great. By going back and forth reading from Dick and Perry was great. It felt like some I was with them. I really agree with morganfreeman because i had the same views about it also.
I never felt any sympathy for Dick. Perry at some points did seem very caring and sensitive. Why else would he try and make the Clutter family as comfortable as possible? Capote makes him seem like a good guy, but he just follows along with what Dick does. I think due to Perry's rotten childhood he looks up to Dick as a friend. Perry didn't want to kill the Clutters and didn't let Dick rape Nancy. He may have just shot the Clutters to get out of there because Dick wasn't leaving until all the witnesses were killed. I don't agree at all with what he did, but I can see how Dick may have pressured Perry into doing it sense Dick was too chicken to commit the crime himself.
I see Dewey as the protagonist of the story. He knew the Clutter family, but wasn't great friends with them. Dewey went weeks without much sleep and constantly pondered about the mystery killers. He said he wouldn't give up on the investigation until the murderers were caught. Finally, Dick and Perry were caught. That is when the Holcomb community saw Dewey and his partners as heroes because it gave them peace of mind knowing the men in charge of the crime were locked up.
I would rate this book a 4. I found the Clutter family murder very intriguing after both Dick and Perry explained their stories about what really happened. They are extremely smart men and almost got away with the crime. The one major part of the story that bothered me was the in-depth details. Yes, the details were helpful, but I believe that Capote went a bit too much overboard with them. That made the book quite dragged out and boring at points. I still wonder why Floyd Wells told Dick about a safe at the Clutter's, when there really wasn't one...
I do believe Capote went overboard on the sympathy for Perry. I believe it’s because he (Capote) received the most information from Perry. I did find myself feeling bad for Perry thinking that he really didn’t want to be there, however later on my opinion changed towards that.
Through out the book I believe that there really is no protagonist, because to be a protagonist you have to change through the story and I don’t see really any one change. Nor Perry or Dick has changed.
I would give this book a three because well it has its moments where you can’t set the book down. It also has those moments where you want to but you have to keep reading it because the teacher (Gilsonator).
I do not sympathize with either of those too. They murdered a whole family! Who cares what is going wrong with them they deserve to be in jail and get what they have coming to them. How can you feel bad for two murderers!? They obviously didn’t care too much about the people they killed. Sure Perry made them comfortable but he still killed them! There is no sympathy for Dick because he wanted to have his way with Nancy! Murderers will get no sympathy from this guy!
The protagonist in this story would be Dewey because he is the one whole was investigating the scene of the crime. He did a lot of the work and helped catch Perry and Dick. Without his investigating I don’t think that the two murderers would have been caught. I do have to say that Herb could have been a protagonist too because he tried to reason with Dick and Perry. He tried to get them not to hurt is family and he cooperated with the murderers. Herb could kind of be a protagonist but overall Dewey did the most to be call the main protagonist.
In Cold Blood is a really good story but I have to give it a 4. The main reason it is a 4 is because I got a little confused with the story because of how it jumps so much in-between characters. I think it also starts out pretty slow. The thing that boosted its score of main is the plot of this story. That is a really good plot and how much you get to know the characters.
I don't feel sympathy for Perry just for the fact that he knew what he was doing when he helped murder the Clutter family. I definitely enjoy reading this book, so I would have to rate it at least a 4 out of 5. The book is descriptive and entertaining. It may be graphic, but in my opinion, that's what makes it a great book. If I had to choose a protagonist, it would have to be Dewey. Dewey revolved almost his entire life around the Clutter family massacre, but I also think that the book has a couple protagonists.
Great comment Twix! I agree with a lot of points you made in your blog.Keep up the good work! :)
I do not sympathize with Dick ever. I feel that even though Perry is the true murderer, Dick is a creep. He shouldn’t want to do inappropriate things with young girls. I did buy into the kind characterizations of Perry. I sympathize for him because of the vast descriptions of his childhood. He was neglected and wasn’t permitted an education. He probably could have prevented his violent mind if he was put in a normal setting when he was younger. The way he speaks to people as if they’re his friends and then stabs them in the back literally is just very suspicious. It makes me worry about people in the world who I don’t know very well. What if they are like Perry? What if they seem really nice, but then have no problem killing you?
I think Herb could be the protagonist of the story. He was always willing to help or lend a hand. He was willing to give raises or advances to his workers if they deserved it and really were in need. He really isn’t a big part of the story. He is the one who was killed, but the story revolves around how he was killed and what the murderers were doing. The protagonist could be Dewey also. He was working day and night to solve the case so he and the community could rest easy.
I think In Cold Blood is a 4. I think it’s very long and very descriptive; almost too descriptive. I think it’s very interesting how the story is told. It keeps you guessing.
From what I have read I don't feel any sympathy for Dick. He is disturbing by the fact that all he wants to do and think of doing is raping younger girls and marrying sixteen year olds. For instance when he wanted to rape Nancy Clutter. But then Perry comes in and says don't think about it or you'll have to kill me to.
For Perry I do feel so sympathy for him. Even though he wasd part of killing the Clutters he still stood up for Nancy when she needed it and he cared if all them were comfortable. I think that Perry is a very good guy he just makes bad decisions. He definently deserves what he gets but was kust born a natural killer.
I think the protagonist in the story would have to be Alvin Dewey. Even thought Capote talk about him here and there he wouldn't give up until he found the criminals that took his friends away. I say that he is the hero because without him working his butt off, i don't think that they would ever have found Dick and Perry.
If I'd hve to rate In Cold Blood i would probably rate it a six. In the beginning i thought Truman Capote was describing people to much in a boring way. But I like to montage of the book. He didn't just stay with one person. It was suspenseful and I enjoyed it towad the end.
While reading the book, I found myself sympathizing with Perry more, simply because Truman Capote wrote about Perry more and went into more detail with Perry than with Dick but then when I read that Perry was the one that killed the Clutters, all the sympathy went away. The way he killed and tortured the family, while not caring at all while he did it was terrible and I don’t see how you can have sympathy for something like that. I don’t think that In Cold Blood has a protagonist because it doesn’t only focus on one character at a time, but a bunch of different ones. I would rate this book a 3.5 out of 5 because in the beginning it was a little too detailed. It was kind of hard to keep track of it all. In the middle of the book, however, it was very exciting and it was hard to put down because you wanted them to find the killers and I know I just wanted their motives for killing them. At the end I thought it got a little boring though but it was still a good book overall.
I think that the only reason that capote paints a better kinder picture for perry is because capote is gay. its a fact that he had a crush on perry and its only natural for you to feel better about someone you love compared to someone you dont know.
i think that there isnt a protaganist and that the fact that the clutters were killed was just a sercumstance to the crime. i think that the two killers had no reason to be there and it was complete luck that they were there.
I would rate I Cold Blood a 3 out of 5 because capote gets too indepth and loses the reader at points solid story but to strung out.
I have more sympathy towards Perry, because I feel that he is more quiet and shy and didn't want to participate the whole time. Dick I believe was planning on murdering them the whole time and didn’t want to just go there and rob them. In a way I didn’t feel sorry for them throughout the whole story because they did go through with it all and they did murder the family. I think that Herb would be the protagonist for trying to help and to get the family away from all the troubles. I would give In Cold Blood a 3 because there were times when I was bored reading it and couldn’t really get into until the murders started.
I never sympathized with Dick, and in my mind, he was drawn out as a crude human being. Capote made it really hard to feel sorry for Dick because he didn’t have such a hard life, his big falling out occurred only when he could no longer support his family. I feel that Capote was more interested in Perry, and therefore tried to make him seem sensitive. All in all, when reading this book, you need to remember that these people killed 4 helpless human beings. No matter how charming they are drawn out to be, they KILLED these people, people they didn’t even know nor people that ever did anything against them. They committed an unforgivable crime!
I feel that the book has several protagonists, Alvin Dewey and the members of the KBI and also Floyd Wells. The members of the KBI were protagonists, in my mind, because they devoted their time to the case, and put their life on hold while they worked on the crime. Also I feel that Floyd Wells is a protagonist because he came forward and got the ball rolling, without his confession, the killers could’ve easily gotten away and the murder could still be unsolved.
I would give In Cold Blood a 4.5 because it was beautifully laid as a montage that used chronological order to keep details straight. My only complaint is that it got really lengthy and boring toward the middle. At the beginning, the book was very hard to put down, but as we talked in class and started to find out what was going to happen, I lost interest. But I must say the book is very good and I would definitely suggest it to others.
I mostly agree with Luke Gilson for the first question. I feel Capote does try to make the reader sympathize with Perry more than Dick. I didn’t buy into the characterizations much, because Capote does seem to have preference towards certain characters. The story may not be as objective as he said he wrote it as.
I believe Herb Clutter is the protagonist because he was a big role model in the novel. He was hard-working, fair, and looked up to by most of the community. Herb also had integrity. Even though he did not have a safe, Dick and Perry did not believe him and killed their family anyways. Herb died as a man of his word and the town liked him.
I would rate In Cold Blood a 4 out of 5. The way Capote writes this book as a montage can be a good thing or a bad thing. Sometimes it distracted me, and other times it went to a more interesting scene from a boring one. The description was nice and made us understand what was going through the characters minds during the novel.
While reading the book, because Capote tries to make you feel sympathetic for Perry, and sometimes you do. The only problem is, even though he wanted us to feel sorry for him, Capote could not publish a book with false information, or leaving out major pieces of the mystery. I think he probably wanted to leave out the fact that Perry is a born killer, and can kill without sympathy he could not. It is obvious that he is from the way he so easily killed the entire Clutter family. I also think that a reason he killed them all was because of how easily he was manipulated by Dick. It was Dick’s idea, and I don’t think Perry would have ever even thought about killing them if it was not his idea. For example, how he kept on trying to make them comfortable, could be seen as his conscience catching up with him, and the good he possesses trying to come out.
I think that Alvin Dewey would be considered the protagonist because besides the antagonists (Dick and Perry) a good portion of the book was written from his point of view. Also because used everything he had and all of his power to solve the mystery, and put the town at ease.
I would rate In Cold Blood as 3. It was not the worst book I ever read, but a lot of the sections were slow going, and there was so much detail. I honestly would not have chosen this book for leisure reading, but for books we read for school, it wasn’t bad.
I frequently sympathized with Perry during the course of the book. I didn’t ever really sympathize with Dick because Capote doesn’t portray him as kindly as he does Perry. Capote also tells the story from Perry’s point of view once in awhile- not Dick’s. Dick has a sick obsession with younger girls that Perry just does not have. He is seen as kind and even says that Herb Clutter is a very nice man. I feel sorry for Perry because of his difficult childhood. I know that I should not be sympathizing with a cold-blooded murderer but Capote makes us think that way about him.
Because Capote uses montage throughout the story, In Cold Blood does not really have a protagonist. Herb Clutter and his family are described in the beginning of the story, but after they are discovered, the focus is not on them anymore. The book then switches focus between Alvin Dewey as well as Perry and Dick. You get to know all of these characters very well and feel like you actually know them. Alvin Dewey is seen as the strong family man that becomes the interrogator and hero in Holcomb. We also understand what Perry is thinking when he is murdering the Clutters and we get to know Dick’s personality.
I think I would rate In Cold Blood as a 4 out of 5 because it is a brilliant work of literature that gets inside the murder, investigation, and trial of a real life event. We learn the killer’s motives from their own perspective and learn what everyone in the town was thinking and feeling about the whole situation. I really enjoy Capote’s use of montage, but I think that he focuses on Perry way too much. He should have given more details about Dick and his life and on the surviving Clutter sisters to see how they felt about everything. Capote puts bias into the book because he did not record conversations, but recalled them from memory. Over all, this book is very well written.
I think that Dick does deserve more symphony than Perry because Perry did all of the killing even though Dick wanted to rape Nancy. When I was reading, I thought I kind of liked Perry because he was talking to the Clutter family and making conversation with them but as I went further on I thought Perry was sick he was giving his description of the murders. Capote talked about Perry a lot more and made him seem like he was a good guy but in reality he killed a whole family so he wasn’t really a good guy.
I think that Herb Clutter is a protagonist because he is the leader of the Clutter household and he would do anything to make sure that his family was ok. Also, he is the organizer for Nancy's 4H Club.
I rate In Cold Blood a four because when I was reading I was always wondering what was going to happen next and at the time of the murders it was suspenseful. At some times in the book I was hooked and I had to keep reading. When Capote kept talking about how good Perry was I got a little annoyed.
I didn't feel sympathy for either Dick or Perry. Dick was cruel to the family and planned to rape Nancy. At no point in the novel was anything said to really stir up any kind of sympathy for him. Regardless if Perry was nice or not like Capote emphasized so much he still killed four people without any remorse. It doesn't matter how nice he was, if he killed those innocent people he doesn't deserve sympathy either.
I believe that Alvin Dewey was the protagonist in the novel. He felt that it was his duty to the Clutter family to solve their murders. You could also say Herb was the protagonist, but since he dies at the beginning of the novel he isn't talked about a whole lot.
I would give Truman Capote's novel In Cold Blood 4 out of 5. It's a good story with detailed accounts of all the people involved. That's partially where I criticize it though. Capote goes into far too much detail on some insignificant characters and places in the novel. It becomes quite boring at times. Other than that it's very well written and enjoyable to read.
I feel great sympathy for Perry throughout the whole book. The only time that I had felt sorry for dick instead of Perry was when Perry was lying to get dick into trouble also. I believe that this story is biases and favors Perry for more than one reason. I also agree that dick should receive more sympathy then he does, he may have wanted to rape Nancy Clutter but he wasn’t there to kill anyone. I think that the use of montage in the story pulls the book away from having any protagonist. I believe that this novel would be rated a four on a one to five scale. This book had great attention getters that really sucked me into the book. I wish the book would have more of the towns’ reactions to the situation, and have Bobby Rupp and Sue Kidwells opinion on the hanging of Dick and Perry and how their life was after the Clutters death, now that everyone is not as focused on the murder. I was satisfied how the book ended, even though if my family got murdered I’d be irate that someone was writing a book about it and was sympathizing with the murders.
Throughout the book, I always felt a sense of sympathy for Perry because of the amount of time spent talking about him. I believe Capote was bias towards Perry-for watever reason-which is why Perry was depicted as a more relatable and innocent character in parts of the book. However it was after Perry's confession that I felt no sympathy for him. His step by step description of the murders was very disturbing and I felt no remorse in his words. Earlier on I blamed Perry's agreement to assist in the murders on his confusion with his life but now I find him as demented as any other psychopathic killer. I never felt sympathy for Dick because he seemed pretty gung-ho about the idea from the beginning, not once seeming to show anguish to the family or the situation. Some people said they felt sympathy for Dick because he wasn't the one to kill the members of the Clutter family, but I felt as though it was all part of his plan to make Perry do the slaughtering as he enjoyed it.
Due to the back and forth descriptions (which I thought was a clever way to keep the reader absorbed) I don't think there was enough focus on one single character to call one of them a protagonist. However, if I had to proclaim one of the characters a sort of hero, I would actually say it was Floyd Wells. Despite whatever he may have done to cause him to be detained, he was the one to open up about the men behind the murders, to help lead to their conviction and execution.
I would rate In Cold Blood a 4. I thought it was a great suspense story once it got going, and the use of a montage really kept you interested. The reason I wouldn't rate this novel a 5 is because of the excessive detail on certain characters and their surroundings.
I think that Perry had some real problems. Capote made Perry seem like a good guy, but that might have just been because Perry was more open to talking to about the story than Dick was. Capote focuses on Perry because he got more stories from him and Dick probably gave capote more of a hard time.
I think that the protagonist is Dick because he was the person who started the whole excursion and he was the one that caused the most. Dick was the one who got Perry to join him and go along with this robbery/ murder case.
I think that In cold blood is a four because of all the facts, Capote really makes it seem like we were in the interrogation room, at the Clutter household, and with them inside the café when they met.
At the beginning of the book I had heard about the killers and a little bit about how the killings happened. From hearing this I had no original pity on neither, Perry nor Dick. Now after their stories have been told and the events laid out before me showing both sides; I still feel no pity. Capote might have been trying to show Perry in a good light or might not have and it just happened that way, but either way I believe neither Perry nor Dick deserves sympathy. I believe the montage type story doesn’t allow there to be a protagonist. I believe Hurb Clutter would have been a protagonist, but because he died so early it made it hard to consider him a true protagonist. I would personally rate this book as a three of five. I got board with it very quickly because of so very detailed information that was given. It was just to dry of a book for me.
Throughout the book, I never really sympathize with Dick. I’m not sure what the whole truth is, but it seems that Dick had a much easier life than Perry. Whether or not Dick or Perry had a hard life is not an excuse for killing someone, but I still think Perry was much more sympathized with than Dick. If anyone in the book was a protagonist it would have to be Dewey. The problem is, is that In Cold Blood isn’t a basic good guy, bad guy book. The book explains the events that took place and how they happened, not the morals of the events themselves. That’s why I’m not sure if the book has a protagonist, but if it’s anyone, I believe its Dewey. On a scale of 1-5 I would rate In Cold Blood as a 4. The book kept me interested and I really, really enjoyed reading it. I enjoyed how it described the events from a different side than most people would show it. Overall, it was a good book.
Personally sympathizing with dick would be one of the last things I would do. Yes I realize he didn’t kill the family but he still took part and wanted to rape an innocent girl. If you think about it dick did in a way hurt many other people, by pulling then into his charm and persuasiveness. Dick and Perry both are sick for even have gone threw with the murders. I just don’t get it Perry had the chance to run and get away but he didn’t and instead killed a family. And Dick on the other hand he’s so worried about what is family is going to think then why would you even have the thought of murder.
I really don’t know if there is a protagonist or not. Herb, the things he did before the murder really made you think twice about the guys, but other than him being well known and the father of the family I really don’t believe he is. Dewey could be a possible protagonist but other than the fact of he wants to get to the bottom of the murder and find the people that killed his family, I wouldn’t choice Dewey. Perry in my opinion is, no matter what happens in the story some way it’s related back to Perry. Also, once we would out he was the one that actually killed the family it made sense why he was mentioned through-out. I think Perry would be the protagonist.
I think I would rate the back at and 4. Only for the simple factor, I hated the montage. It was nice at first to see what the family was like and to find what life was like before the murder but after that it seemed like there was no much jumping back and forth. I loved the detail though. It really made it seem like you knew the family and were there when murder happened. Capote set the sense and put your imangination to the test.
I honestly dont feel any sympathy for Dick or Perry. Though Dick didnt kill the Clutter family, he did have that little obsession with younger girls, which is digusting, and he had the vision of what exactly was going to happen that night. I think Perry is kind and sensitive at some points but then all of a sudden..BAM! he kills the whole darn family. So, Dick pretty much picked Perry because he has weak points and gives in to pressure. And i too think that capote describes this book as a montage so that sets away the idea of a protagonists. I think In Cold Blood was a 8 because i really honestly believe the only interesting part of this book was the killing part, but otherwise the book dragged on for me.
Great Bloggin Banana Hamick
I believe that Perry was just more open and more interesting overall to Capote. I think that Perry is a very twisted individual. This is why he committed the crime so horrifically. Capote shows Perry as a kind character, but also shows in the end he is a killer with a disturbing past. This is why he wrote so much about him, because he is interesting unlike Dick who had a seemingly pleasant life. I ended up sympathizing with both Dick and Perry. I sympathized with Perry because he has had a very rough life that has impacted his sanity. Then I sympathized with Dick because he tries desperately to please his parents and in reality he didn’t even murder the Clutter family. I would definitely say that Alvin Dewey is a solid protagonist throughout the story. He tries to find justice but at the same time he is kind and caring. I would rate In Cold Blood a 4 because it was a great story that was suspenseful and vivid in detail so that you could truly picture the story. The book took a psychological approach to the characters so that you could understand why they did what they did. The book taught me that you should never judge a book by its cover; a clean cut, handsome guy might look nice, but then again he could have killed your granny with a hammer. Killers are more than just killers. They are killers as a result of their past or genetics. However, I expected a more crafty motive for the killing and I was highly disappointed that it ended up to be all for money.
Personally I did sympathized more with Perry. All the stories that Capote told about Perry such as his family splitting apart and Perry and his dad where isolated from parries mother. Perry seems to have a ruff life switching jobs and moving around a lot, and also getting kicked out by his father. I really don’t think capote was trying to sympathize towards Perry more than any other character in the book, but Perry had the most interesting point of view.
The protagonist would be more or likely Dewey. He devoted all of his time even Christmas time to search for the killers. He wouldn’t give up until he found Perry and Dick.
I would rate this book three out of five. The book was very interesting at the part when we found out the how the clutters where murdered. I liked the way the book was with all the views of each individual. However I’m not fond of the montage. I had to read the point of views of some people twice to understand what was occurring.
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