Everything Has a Flaw

In In Cold Blood Capote proves that the even most perfect things is haunted by a flaw that one can’t, no matter how hard they try, conceal it. For example, it seems as though Perry’s sister lives the perfect life. When describing Mrs. Johnson’s garden, capote states, “the small back garden; her husband-by profession an insurance salesman, by inclination of a carpenter-had built around it a white picket fence…” (180). Capote uses this passage to show the close connection between Mrs. Johnson’s garden, and the Clutters. The Clutter’s had a beautiful garden that can be represented as what the town thought of them. The Clutter’s were presented to the town of Holcomb as perfect, but internally were not as they were described. The town’s view can be represented in the old Clutter’s garden, the “Garden of Eden”, but even what seems to be the most perfect garden that God creates, has a flaw. This flaw is Mr. Clutter’s finger, which represents that he is not in love with the person he marries, but someone else. In Perry’s sisters’ yard; it is quite similar. Capote purposely describes the Johnson’s garden similarly to the Clutter’s to show how picturesque her life seems on the surface. Her husband is even described as a carpenter, like Jesus Christ. They look like the perfect family, but in the Garden of Eden, there is a flaw. Mrs. Johnson’s flaw is her brother Perry. She is haunted by her brother, and like the Clutters, Mrs. Johnson doesn’t want anybody to find out. For example, she states, “What did upset her was the prospect of having guests arrive to find her being questioned by detectives” (181). This proves that she doesn’t want the public to know her imperfections, just like the Clutters. The Clutters hid the truth from the town, and Mrs. Johnson wants to do the same. Unfortunately, the detectives uncover her flaw; Perry.