Though the Clutter family was viewed by many in Holcomb, Kansas as the all around perfect family, they did not see themselves as such being unhappy and uncertain with their lives, yet hiding such insecurities with smiles.

As the reader is taken deeper into the Clutter family’s life style and home atmosphere, it is obvious that the environment is a tense and unhappy place. However the Clutter’s were viewed around the Holcomb area, this image appeared to be presented differently behind closed doors. In Cold Blood presents Mrs. Bonnie Clutter as the first Clutter to become insecure and unhappy with her life style, which ultimately causes her to lose her sanity. Mrs. Clutter had dreams, but appears to have lost her identity underneath her husband’s success. Mrs. Clutter, thinking upon this, becomes sadden of the thought of not originally going through with her dreams, “Yet to this day she had regretted not having completed the course and received her diploma—“just to prove”……”that I once succeeded at something”…Instead, she had met and married Herb, a college classmate of her oldest brother...” (pg 26) She believed that she need to complete her courses to become a nurse as she wished, therefore she wouldn’t have to live under her husband’s shadow of success. She stated that she was not, “a born leader” (pg 27), like her husband thus making her insecurities worse. On top of her insecurities, Mrs. Clutter had four very bad cases of postnatal depression causing her to go insane along with her stir craziness. (pg 27) Though all this was very true and well known, the other members of the Clutter family hide Mrs. Clutter and never mentioned when she was home, having her hidden in her room or out of town, “The second floor was dark, and I figured Mrs. Clutter must be asleep—if she was home. You never knew when she was home or not…” (pg 50) Though Mrs. Clutter was described and viewed this way, Nancy and Kenyon Clutter had covered up issues as well. Her and her brother, Kenyon, both showed signs of insecurities. They both shared some of these experiences together and hide them together as well, “That quieted him, for Kenyon, as he knew she knew, did once in a while sneak a puff—but, then, so did Nancy.” (pg 19) They also shared their unhappiness through their basement, the place that together they made as playroom. On Nancy’s pillows it tells what she truly thinks about her life at home, with the pillows saying, “Happy?” and “You don’t have to be crazy to live here but it helps” (pg 38). With these sayings Nancy reveals that her home life is unhappy. Kenyon who spent all of his time in that area as a get away place revealed this as well by choosing to spend his time there instead of with his family. Mr. Clutter showed signs of uneasiness as well, but not as evident. Nancy, the day before their death, states, “Well—Daddy. He’s been in an awful mood the last three weeks. Awful.” (pg 20) All the Clutters were unhappy with their life before their death, giving the reader an image of an imperfect family.