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Stephen Hymer
American Literature-1/2
4 May, 2016
The Downfall of Chance
The demeanor around the majority of novels on todays shelves can only be described as
one sided. While they deliver a complex storyline and attempts to entrench the reader into the
text with plot twists, and sensory appealing details, many fail to fully encompass the wholarity of
the world they are placed in. Some get away with it in the sense that they describe the
protagonist's surroundings in a manner that conveys details that give the more holistic type of
viewpoint, but many do not. As a result, it creates a sense of sides. Not as in multiple sides of an
argument, as this occurs regardless of how good the book actually is, rather they only give the
reader the what of the situation, instead of fully explaining the why, how, and any possible
alternative outcomes. Specifically in In Cold Blood this occurs when the economic status of the
two characters responsible for the murders is brought up. Simply put, had the two perpetrators
behind the grizzly Clutter murders-Dick and Perry-economic situations been more fruitful, the
Clutters would never had been killed, and Capote would never had created the murder mystery
genre.

Evidence of these two characters economic situations prior to the Clutter murders is not
in short supply. It is thoroughly detailed in the book that nither Perry or Dick originated from a
family with significant wealth. Perry grew up in the back of his parents car traveling from circus
to circus. Dick was a gifted student athlete, but could not afford college tuition which marked the
beginning of a slow decline both his actions and way of thinking. The latter describes the rules

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and emotions with Perry-parents were a traveling circus act-and thus, the reason why the two
bond so well starts to make sense. They both knew what it was like to grow up poor and having
their lives fall apart as a result.

Much like Dicks parents, Perrys parents were at an economic disadvantage. They were
traveling circus performers, and as detailed by a letter from his father, they did not live lavishly.
In fact, they mostly lived out of their car in which they travel from performance opportunity to
performance opportunity. However, being at an economic disadvantage, Perry's father struggled
to support his family and as a result Perrys mother left with him and his two sisters for San
Francisco. It's possible that had the Smiths been able to procure more of a profit from their
performances that Perry's mother might have had more motivation to stay with her husband. In
addition, Perry's parents didn't have much in the way of education. While it's never extensively
detailed about their past or childhood upbringing, it is safe to assume based on their profession
that they, like Perry, were raised in economically disadvantaged households. This can be
connected to the wealth gap in the modern era. As evident by Perry's family situation, the poor
stay poor and the rich stay rich, and if anything it is getting worse

Similar to Perry, dick did not grow up in a wealthy family. However, his athletic ability
and good grade are evident of somewhat of an edge over Perry. These capabilities, had he gone
to college, would have made the Clutter family murders highly improbable. However, Dicks
parents could not afford to send him to college to become an engineer and thus one could argue,
is when his downhill spiral began.

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Although the exact what caused Dicks change in character is never explicitly defined
there is one theory that is plausible. According to his father, Dicks criminal behavior started after
he was in a car accident and got a concussion. However, it is more likely that any behavioral
changes that occurred were a result of Dick never receiving proper treatment after this incident.
Furthermore, had Dick gone to college, this accident would have most likely not occurred, but at
the very least, occurred where he could have gotten proper treatment. Looking at dicks father
analysts, it was arguably not the accede to itself that could have caused dicks change in mental
processing, but rather the economic disadvantage he was in the prevented him from revive
proper medical treatment. In addition, had he been at college, Dicks parents, or Dick himself
would have been able to afford treatment for his concussion. Dick also writes bad checks
throughout the book, though his doing so is mainly because he's at an economic disadvantaged
and in need of money to make the best out of whatever situation he is in. To clarify, this in no
way justifies him helping to murder the Clutters or committing fraud, but it does give an example
of one of many explanations for his actions.

Not unlike Dick, Perry's life was also impacted as a result of an accident. Perry suffered
from an injury while working with heavy machinery and as a result had trouble finding work.
There is no textual evidence that he revived any treatment other than bed rest for his injury. As a
result, he struggled to find work as because the injury never healed properly. Had Perrys parents
or himself been better off economically, it is unlikely he would have had a limp and an inability
to find work. In addition, had Perrys place of work given benefits, it is possible he could have
gotten better treatment. However, considering Perrys level of education it is more than likely
that his place of work was part of an industry that relied on low wage, undereducated labor of

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whom received very few or no benefits. Yet again we find another example, of how economics
played a role in Dick and Perrys decision to kill the Clutters.

Additionally, had Dick been in a more an economically advantaged family, they could
have been able to help him with his pedophelia. However, because he never got proper treatment,
his mental disorder manifested over the years that transpired after his car accident, which again,
can or cannot be attributed to his behaviors thought it the book. It's first mentioned directly by
perry while they are at a beach in Florida. Dick grabbed a little girls had and after she began to
squirm, he released her and lied and said he was just trying to play a game with her. However,
because he never got proper treatment, his mental disorder manifested over the years that
transpired after his car accident, which again, can or cannot be attributed to his behaviors thought
it the book. Perry, stating that he had, no respect, for people would could not control their
sexual impulses, still follows Dicks lead for the rest of the book. Curious considering Perry has
the least worse morality of the two. However, due to his injury and neglect as a young child,
Perry was a bit of an outcast until Dick came along. He acknowledged Perry without pity, or
remorse and accepted him as something along the lines of an actual friend. Perry, who had been
seeking belonging the majority of his life, stuck with Dick even though he consistently violated
Perrys morals. This can again be contributed to his economic status as he could have gotten
treatment for his injury, and gotten a better education then he would have never gotten so
desperate for companionship that he would encounter and stay with someone like Dick.

Unlike Perry, Dick was not necessarily looking for companionship. Rather, it can be
argued that he was simply trying to find his place in the world. For example, about mid way

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through the book, it is mentioned that he once worked in a mechanic shop working on cars.
Though it does not excuse his actions, part of finding himself in the world became intertwined
with his need to survive. The majority of his criminal acts-writing bad checks, stealing cars,
stealing other items, etc.- he had done on multiple occasions throughout his life. It can be argued
affirmatively that this very concept of his storyline is one of the core reasons he decided
spontaneously to kill the Clutters. When he was not able to attend college, he more than likely
lost any sense of establishment he had within society. In addition, as evident by his behavior
beginning to degrade, the familiar things he could have used to fall back on to recover from such
a fall more than likely were not present, or became useless to the new situation he was in. Thus,
he became desperate and fell into distinct and new habits which stuck with him until his
execution. To sum up, he lost what he had, and found something new and easy to fall into
because he was desperate. And why would someone who is desperate deviate from behaviors
that have supposedly gotten them out of a desperate situation? The answer is that they most
likely would not unless they were shown they had a real chance. Dick just never had that chance.

The downfall of both Dick and Perry can be attributed to them having been economically
disadvantaged throughout their lives. Whether or not this can be attributed to anyone in particular
nobody could say. However, the very fact that they were economically disadvantaged meant that
neither of them would have a good opportunity to more successful than their parents. As a result,
things that could have been fixed were not, which increased the likelihood Dick and Perry would
become criminals. Had things been different it is very possible that the Clutters would not have
been murdered, and Dick and Perry could have made something of themselves in the world.
Maybe they would not have become murderers.

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