Biblical References in "In Cold Blood"

In the novel, "In Cold Blood" Capote uses biblical references to make known that something horrible is going to happen early on in the book. Mr. Clutter says, " 'an inch more of rain and this country would be paradise, Eden on Earth' "(12). We all know what happens in the Garden of Eden; Eve eats the apple, killing her innocence. In Holcomb, Capote shows that someone is going to "eat the apple", killing Holcomb's innocence. Holcomb is described by Capote as clean and innocent, and so was Eve. Capote is trying to show that even to the cleanest or most innocent towns or people, something bad can strike. In this case, Capote uses this biblical reference to show that something bad is about to happen, killing Holcomb's innocence. Furthermore, Capote states, "Though he was a good sentry, alert, ever ready to raise Cain, his valor had one flaw: let glimpse of a gun, as he did now-for the intruders were armed..."(13). Cain, in the bible, is known as the evil brother that kills his brother Abel. Capote is showing the readers that murder is about to happen, and the killer will be from the same small town, Holcomb. Capote uses biblical references to show that like the Garden of eden and Holcomb, something that sounds so innocent and sweet, can turn into evil, killing innocence and people of the same town, or "brothers".




Perry: Fated Represented by Religion
Capote shows that Perry is fated, and a complex man with many different sides to him, represented by religion. For example, Perry shows his life philosophy. He says, “Because one thing is set to happen, all you can do is hope it won’t…As long as you live, there’s always something waiting, and even its bad, and you know its bad, what can you do? You can’t stop living” (92). This is extremely upsetting because his philosophy is that one knows that something bad is coming, but all one can do is hope that it won’t happen. One can come to the conclusion that he is fated, and the sad thing is that he knows it. He truly believes that he was put on this earth to suffer, and all he can do is pray that it won’t happen. This lifestyle is unhealthy, and is purely self-destructive. He proves that he is fated by his dream that has a crucial amount of religious references. In this dream, Perry describes,
“…A jungle. I’m moving through the trees toward a tree standing all alone. Jesus, it smells bad, that tree; it kind of makes me sick, the way it stinks. Only, its beautiful to look at-it had blue leaves and diamonds everywhere. ..That’s why I’m there-to pick myself a bushel of diamonds. But I know the minute I try to, the minute I reach up, a snake is gonna fall on me. A snake guards the tree. This fat son-of-a-bitch living in the branches. I know this beforehand, see? And Jesus, I don’t know how to fight a snake. But I figure, well I’ll take my chances. What it comes down to is I want the diamonds more than I am afraid of the snake. So I go to pick one…when the snake lands on top of me…we wrestle around but he is a slippery son of a bitch and I can’t get a hold, he’s crushing me, you can hear my legs cracking…See, he starts to swallow me. Feet first” (92).
This is a clear religious reference to prove that Perry is fated, and in essence doesn’t really care that he is until the aftermath. The tree standing alone, the diamonds, and the snake all represent the story in Genesis about the Garden of Eden. His description of the tree proves he is torn between accepting the fact that he lives a terrible and fated life, and give in to temptation to do wrong out of anger, or he can try to get his life around and get back up on his feet and try to live a good life, because he both says its so awful smelling, but it amazing to look out; he is clearly torn. The diamonds represent the temptation to do wrong, such as the apple served this exact purpose in the Garden. Notice that even though he knows he is only looking at this tree because he is provoked by temptation, he knows that something bad is going to happen if he does it, represented in the snake. The snake is playing the exact same role in both In Cold Blood and the Garden Of Eden; the snake creates the consequences and punishment for Eve’s and Perry’s actions. He knows that he can get potentially in trouble if he acts on emotions, but, as he mentioned, he knew this before; he is simply fated to do so. Furthermore, Perry doesn’t know how to fight temptation in the snake, he openly says so. That is his biggest problem he faces in the novel, he doesn’t know how to control temptation or the urge to do something potentially criminal. Notice how he states, “I don’t know how to fight a snake…well, I’ll take my chances” (line 6). This proves that Perry doesn’t carefully think through his actions, but he will take the chance if he gets in trouble or not, because he believes that one can’t stop something bad from happening. Also, this proves that he impulsively acts on emotions, in that he says that he wants the diamonds even with the consequences. Sometimes, it seems as though Perry doesn’t think clearly, this being one of them; sometimes in the moment he doesn’t care about the consequences, it is in the aftermath when he realizes what he has actually done. When he acts on temptation, such as the murders, he describes that he can’t control himself, it literally takes over his body, and he is helpless; the snake breaks his legs, the only thing that is holding Perry up, holding his mental sanity from collapsing. Therefore, one can make the argument that Perry’s life fell apart in the motorcycle accident, his legs get crushed, making his mental stamina collapse.