How deep is Perry?

Capote once again compares Perry to Dick, making Perry seem more sophisticated and deep, and Dick cold. He also makes the reader connect and pity Perry. Alvin Dewey comes home after learning the identity of the murderers, and as he shows his wife the photograph of Perry, she notices, "the lips and nose seemed nicely made, and she thought the eyes, with their moist, dreamy expression, rather pretty-rather, in an actorish way, sensitive. Sensitive, and something more: 'mean,'" (164). It is unlikely that Mrs. Dewey actually thought these thoughts but more likely that Capote himself noticed these details. Regardless of the owner of these thoughts, Capote uses Perry's eyes to stimulate the feelings in the reader that Perry is more that flesh-deep. A deep character is an interesting character, and while it is well established that Perry is deep, Capote continues to drive the point of how profound Perry is. It is even more clearly distinguished from Dick's personality when Mrs. Dewey (or capote) noticed, "...something more: 'mean.' Though not as mean, as forbiddingly 'criminal,' as the eyes of Hickock, Richard Eugene," (164). Here, Capote implies that Dick does not have the deepness of Perry, but is simply more villainous. This clear-cut comparison is clear evidence of Capote's affection for Perry. The words "moist, dreamy expression, rather pretty," would only be warranted by someone who has a tenderness for the character (164). In addition to making Perry seem so deep, Capote makes Perry seem sophisticated. Harold Nye looks down at Perry's signature at the motel and notices, "The ornateness of it, the mannered swoops and swirls, surprised him- a reaction that the landlady apparently divined..." (176). This level of sophistication adds once again to the deepness of Perry. Capote seems to give this level of profundity only to Perry. Contrasting to the previous examples, capote also makes Perry seem childish and lonely when describing he box of junk kept in the motel, "True, it was valueless stuff even to a clue hungry detective. Still, Nye was glad to have seen it; each item-the palliatives for sore gums, the greasy Honolulu pillow- gave him a clearer impression of the owner and his lonely, men life," (178). Capote couldn't have more bluntly given the reader reason to pity Perry. He outright says that Perry's life is lonely, that his childhood was hard. This gives the reader more of an answer of why Perry would have committed the crimes he did. Someone with such a deeply troubled life would be more justified (while the crime is still heinous) for murdering an entire family, as opposed to someone who is just shallowly bad (i.e. Dick).