In Cold Blood - Reader's Response Journal

Herbert William Clutter - master of River Valley Farm; wore rimmed glasses; average height (5'10"); broad shoulders; dark colored hair; confident; youthful face; strong teeth; widely known; chairman of the Kansas Conference of Farm Organizations; sensible; great cook; strict about alcohol; charitable; generous; gentle; courageous; fearless; hard-headed; Methodist; 48 years old; successful; wealthy; 154 pounds

Bonnie Fox (Clutter) - Herbert's wife; 45 years old, heart shaped missionary face; thin (98 pounds); bony hands; wore rimmed glasses; depressed; ill; timid; distant; frail; invalid

Nancy Clutter - Herbert's daughter; 16 years old; town darling; popular; pretty; talented; smart; organized; lean; short-bobbed chestnut hair; darkly translucent eyes; kind

Kenyon Clutter - Herbert's son; 15 years old; inventive; 6 feet tall; lanky; strong; sensitive; shy; loves to read; wore glasses

Richard (Dick) Eugene Hickock - practical; literal-minded; capable mechanic; fastidious; attentive to hygiene; long-jawed and narrow face; intelligent; car painter; stout; affable; alert of surroundings; envious; blond hair; blue eyes; 5'10"; thief; murderer; brilliant memory; impulsive; lustful; cunning; small

Perry Edward Smith - 5'4"; tiny feet; short; iodine skin; dark and moist eyes; black hair; pink lips; perky nose; dictionary buff; fastidious; attentive to hygiene; dwarfish and damaged legs; aspirin addict; superstitious; musically talented; small girlish hands; thief; murderer; jealous; depressed; alone

Susan Kidwell - Nancy's confidante; tall; languid; pallid oval face; pale blue and gray eyes; long-fingered and flexible hands; serious

Bobby Rupp - 17 years old; dependable; gentlemanly; school basketball hero; handsome face; Roman Catholic; Nancy Clutter's boyfriend

Teddy - Mr. Clutter's dog; alert; gun-shy

Alfred Stoecklein - resident employee of the Clutters; long-faced; long brown teeth

Mrs. Hideo Ashida - chubby; Japanese; hearty voice; plump; round; smooth face

Mrs. Sadie Truitt (Mother Truitt) - Holcomb's mail messenger; 75 years old; stocky and weathered widow

Mrs. Myrtle Clare - Mother Truitt's daughter; local postmistress; famous; gaunt; ginger-colored; gingery-tempered; logical; wore trousers; woolen shirts and cowboy boots

Willie-Jay - chaplain's clerk at Lansing (Kansas state prison); slender; Irish; gray hair; melancholy eyes; tenor voice; kind; Perry's mentor

Mrs. Bess Hartman - unfoolish; owner of Hartman's Café; gray and gold hair; bright green eyes; hates gossip

Tex John Smith - Perry's father; handsome; Irish; cowboy; kind

Alvin Adams Dewey - agent for the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI); lean; handsome; 47 years old

Harold Nye (Brother Nye) - KBI special agent; youngest of the KBI group (34 years old); peppy; little; restless; distrustful eyes; sharp nose, chin, and mind; short-tempered

Roy Church - nicknamed "Curly"; KBI special agent; around 60 years old; pink-skinned; professional-looking; partly hairless

Clarence Duntz - nicknamed "Old Man"; KBI special agent; light-footed; broad and tomcat face; hooded and lazy eyes; sleepy voice

Mabel Helm - worked for the Clutters, and then worked for Mrs. Hartman; shy

Otto - Dick and Perry's friend in Mexico; rich; German; middle-aged; hairy-legged; hearty

Floyd Wells - Mr. Clutter's former worker; Dick's cellmate at Lansing; young; short; nearly chinless; had various careers; sloping shoulders; thief

Mr. Walter Hickock - Dick's father; faded and defeated eyes; rough hands; stooped; tinned-down by cancer

Mrs. Hickock - Dick's mother; plump; soft, round, and pudgy face

Barbara Johnson - nicknamed "Bobo"; Perry's only living sister; 3 years older than Perry; conformist; housewife

Wendle Meier - undersheriff of Finney County Jail; tall wide hands; square, calm, and kindly face

Josephine "Josie" Meier - Wendle's wife; tall wide hands; square, calm, and kindly face; direct and practical; kind; sympathetic

Mr. Arthur Fleming - Perry's lawyer; 71 years old; former mayor of Garden City; short

Mr. Harrison Smith - Dick's lawyer; 45 years old; 6 feet tall; golfer; mildly lenient

Judge Roland H. Tate - Finney County Judge; robust; upright; gray/silver hair; firm-jawed face; rich; raised horses; wealthy (owned a lot of land)

Don Cullivan - Perry's former army friend; depleted hair; kind

Dr. W. Mitchell Jones - stout; 28 years old; moon-shaped face; intelligent; psychiatrist

Joe James - Perry's Indian friend; fisherman and logger; dark-haired; dark-skinned; flexible; generous

Logan Green - Finney County attorney; suavely tough; septuagenarian; great actor; convincing

Lowell Lee Andrews - college student; enormous; weak-eyed (wore glasses); intelligent; cunning; greedy; murderer

Themes

[The Unfairness of Life]

Many examples are given in In Cold Blood in order to give the reader a sense that life isn't fair. First of all, the Clutter family was an extremely kind, innocent, and wealthy family in Kansas, yet they were victims of murder. The book gives many other cases in which innocent peoples' lives were lost by criminals like Lowell Lee, Ronnie York, and Jimmy Latham. Perry Smith had very unfortunate experiences when he was young. For example, he had divorced parents, was never given the opportunity to finish school, was forced to live on his own, was abused by nuns, and got in a motorcycle wreck, which left him crippled. Dick Hickock was also unfortunate to be in a car crash, which gave him head injuries.

[Revenge]

People seeking revenge on others can be seen throughout In Cold Blood. Perry Smith was angry that people - such as his father, orphanage nuns, an army sergeant, and his parole officer - were cruel to him, so he wanted revenge. He got his revenge, indirectly, by killing the Clutters. The death of the Clutters deeply hurt the residents of Hilcomb, Kansas and Garden City, Kansas because the Clutters had a reputation of being kind and generous. Therefore, these people wanted revenge on Dick and Perry, the people who murdered the Clutters. The residents of Hilcomb and Garden City got their wish because the murderers were hanged.

[The Controversy between the M'Naghten Rule and the Durham Rule]

The final chapter in In Cold Blood discusses the opposing viewpoints in determining whether murderers are guilty. If murderers know right from wrong, does their insanity play a role in deciding whether they are guilty? In the cases of Dick Hickock, Perry Smith, and Lowell Lee Andrews; they knew right from wrong, but they showed signs of insanity (mental disorders). The M'Naghten Rule says that these murderers are guilty because they know right from wrong. The Durham Rule says that Hickock, Smith, and Andrews are innocent because they are insane. People today are still debating about which rule courts should use.

Symbols

[The Yellow Bird]

Throughout the book, Perry Smith often dreams about a yellow bird. This bird symbolizes hope and the willingness to persevere in life. No matter what kind of trouble Perry dreamt he was in, the yellow bird would always rescue him. For example, when Perry was young, he would often dream about the fact that orphanage nuns would abuse him. In these dreams, the yellow bird would attack the nuns and lift Perry into the sky, thus giving him confidence.

Important Passages

[Pages 42 - 46]

Perry is reminiscing about how he met a kind man named Willie-Kay when he was in jail. This passage reveals Perry's true motive for returning to Kansas, which was to see Willie-Jay again (Dick thought Perry returned to Kansas because he told him to).

[Pages 92-93]

Perry is remembering how he would dream about a yellow bird (when he was younger) that would always rescue him from danger. This passage shows how Perry finds the courage to not give up in life.

[Pages 111-112]

This passage contains the story Perry used to tell Dick about how he once killed a colored man. This passage is important because Perry's story gave Dick a sense of Perry's character and potential, ultimately leading Dick to respect Perry.

[Pages 125-147]

Perry reads a letter from his father, which triggers him to recall his early life. In this passage, Perry's miserable past, his relationship with his father, and his resentment toward his sister, are all revealed.

[Pages 160-163]

In this passage, Floyd Wells is recalling his past. The passage shows the role he played in the deaths of the Clutters, and that Dick's motivation to kill the Clutters was money. The passage also shed light on how the authorities were able to suspect Dick and Perry for murdering the Clutters (Floyd told them what he had told Dick).

[Pages 183-187]

Perry's sister is looking at photographs from her childhood. This passage reveals Perry's bad relationship with his sister and the dysfunctions of Perry's family (2 suicides and one alcoholic).

[Pages 217 - 224]

Nye and Church are interrogating Dick. This passage reveals Dick's life history and that Dick's story about he and Perry going to Perry's sister's house in Kansas is false. Perry never had a sister living there.

[Pages 233 - 246]

Dick and Perry are on the road to the Garden City jail. This passage is important because Perry reveals the true story of how he and Dick killed the Clutters.

[Pages 273 - 276]

Perry is writing an autobiography. This passage is important because it explains why Perry has bitterness and hatred toward others (he was often abused as a child).

[Pages 294 - 298]

This passage discusses Dr. Jones's conclusions about Dick's behavior. The passage shows that there is a possibility that Dick has severe character disorder and that Perry may have severe mental illness, which means they weren't fully responsible for killing the Clutters.

[Pages 312 - 316]

This passage reflects on Lowell Lee Andrews and how he killed his family. The passage is important because it challenges the M'Naghten Rule in Kansas courts. This rule recognizes no form of insanity if a murderer knows the difference between right and wrong. Lowell Lee knew the difference between right and wrong, but he showed symptoms of schizophrenia. Many psychologists argued that Lowell Lee's mental disease should exempt him from the death penalty.

[Page 320]

Perry is reading a letter from his father. Perry is resurrected emotionally and regains the will to live.

Works Cited

Capote, Truman. In Cold Blood. New York: Vintage International, 1993.