Truman Capote sets Perry up to be the villain that we become attached to. Capote makes it so that we actually begin to sympathize with what is going on in Perry’s life leading up to the atrocious crime. After the murders, Perry recalls a recurring dream where he is rescued by a yellow parrot, which wings him away to paradise (92-93). When he retells this dream to Dick, there are subtle hints that Perry endured a troubled childhood. Dick tells Perry to forget the dream and remembers when he first met Perry in jail. Dick remembers Perry was overly fretful, sensitive, and romantic (108-109). This is all a source of his lack of a childhood. He missed out on all of the things that a child goes through with his family, and he never had those things growing up. This can lead to the reader feeling empathetic and almost a sadness towards Perry. Capote also hints that Perry’s childhood was lonely and disorganized. All of this leads toward the reader feeling empathy for the horrible, ruthless things that Perry Smith did after learning about his childhood.