Similarities between the Victims and Their Murders

Throughout In Cold Blood Capote shows similarities between Dick, Perry, and the Clutter’s, doing such to prove that Dick and Perry, though convicts, are in fact regular people with pasts that lead them in the wrong direction.

Dick and Perry, although very different from the Clutter’s, are shown to share unique similarities with the family members. The first of many similarities that can be noted is very unique similarity between Nancy and Dick. Both had been beautiful, well rounded, smart, and had been raised in an overall good home. The two were both adored by their parents, when describing Dick his parents say, “An outstanding athlete—always on the first team at school. Basketball! Baseball! Football! Dick was always the star…with A marks in several subjects” (166). When Nancy is described it states, “…always winning prizes…a straight-A student, the president of her class…” (18). Dick and Nancy both shared the concept of stardom and good grades, an outstanding thing for two young people to achieve, when already doing extra things around their school. Dick also shared another similarity with Kenyon; the two both enjoyed the concept of engineering, fixing things up on their own free time. Kenyon who spent most of his time in the basement of his house, also known as the playroom, had personally fixed up the furniture himself. Kenyon enjoyed his building many things and it is said, “…free to bang, saw, and mess with his inventions…an elderly wind-up Victrola that he was restoring to service” (38) Dick had a passion for restoring things as well, these things being cars. He was had a dream to become a successful engineer, his father backs up this fact, saying, “…Mechanical drawing. After he graduated from high school—June, 1949—he wanted to got to college. Study to be an engineer” (166). This was one of the two things that Dick and Kenyon had in common, another being their enjoyment of rabbit hunting. Kenyon had rabbit hunted with a close friend and Dick who had rabbit hunted with his brother, it was said for Kenyon, “Equally intoxicating, and more profitable, were the rabbit roundups the two boys conducted: Kenyon was a good shot…”(39). When Dick’s father speaks about Dick’s gun he mentions, “That’s his gun. Dick’s. Him and David go out once in a while. After rabbits, mostly” (170). Perry shared similarities with the Clutter’s as well, the first notable was like Nancy, Perry enjoyed music and writing. (18, 57,133,146). The similarities between Dick, Perry and the Clutter family show that Dick and Perry are not completely inhumane.