Truth in Nonfiction discussion

For this first thread, I wanted to discuss the Clutter family on a whole. Why were they viewed as such a perfect family? It was obvious that there were some issues with the members. Take for example the mother Bonnie, she's suffering from postnatal depression and has a sense of uselessness with her children. Kenyon, the only son, barely has any male interaction. In fact, his one friend Bob Jones chose his girlfriend over Kenyon saying that girls aren't so bad after all. The way the Clutter boy acts he is "not in the least Mr. Clutter's son but rather Bonnie's child, a sensitive and reticent boy" (Capote 39). Nancy is nearly too precious to exist, yet she does have a rebellious streak going on. She doesn't follow some of the rules that her parents told her, like a midnight curfew, yet she is still seen as a precious child to the Clutters and the community. And then there's Herb, which may be the most puzzling out of the whole family. He is seen as the nice guy in town, but he sure does have some interesting standards. There was an instance where Nancy's friend Susan was transferring over to another school so she could go to college. Herb didn't let Nancy go because he "considered such defections an affront to community spirit; the Holcomb School was good enough for his children, and there they would remain" (21). Now this is just a theory I came up with, but it seems like Herb doesn't want his kids to go too far from the farm. Especially Kenyon, to which Herb even admits "he kind of leans toward being an engineer, or a scientist, but you can't tell me my boy's not a born rancher" (47). He seems to have this mindset that his kids will take over the farm when he's gone, but it isn't likely at all. Since his first two daughters, Eveanna and Beverly managed to get away, have careers and men, it's most likely that Nancy and Kenyon would have found a way out. This kind person that the community knew was a bit of a secret control freak. So that's what I got out of the first part. What did everyone else think about the Clutters? Were they really the perfect family, why or why not?

I think you pose a very interesting idea here, challenging the ideas the book has so far forced upon us, but I do not find so much to disagree with. If Herb Clutter were really to be this control freak, wouldn't he have not let his eldest children leave? He also speaks about how much he cares for his children's choices of spouse/boyfriend, therefore it can be assumed that he truly cares for them. I think you might be tuning into the smaller negatives of the family a bit much, and should instead focus on the massive amounts of good deeds they do for their community-after all, no family can be perfect. Perhaps they had done something in their past to create some negative bond with Perry and Dick, causing such brutality in their murder, but from what we know so far, I believe that the Clutter's are a pretty decent family.

To answer Tina's question, I believe the Clutter family lives by high moral standards imposed upon by Mr. Clutter. I have read this section in terms of looking at the two parallel stories that coincide with one another. When doing so, the Clutter's appear to be somewhat perfect amidst their flaws, in that their flaws are far more "typical" and understood than the flaws that surround Perry and Dick. I enjoyed finding the connections and contrasts between these characters that are, as we are set up to believe, living unrelated lives. Truman Capote writes, "Like Mr. Clutter, the young man breakfasting in a cafe...never drank coffee...three aspirin, cold root beer, and a chain of Pall Mall cigarettes" (14). Capote later writes, "...she could not believe that Mr. Clutter was finding secret solace in tobacco" (22). Once the stories start to come together these little instances of connection are interesting in setting the two completely different lives of Perry and Dick in the same world as the Clutter family. Other instances showing the contrast between the morally sound lifestyle the Clutter’s live and the immoral lifestyle of Perry and Dick is the outrage Nancy has towards Bobby’s drinking (51) versus the commonality of drinking for the two ex-cons (48). There are these parallels throughout in that Nancy is respected for her lady-like ways, "Nancy Clutter is always in a hurry, but she always has time. And that's one definition of a lady" (25); while in contrast, Dick holds Perry in high regards for his exceptional ways of being, as Capote writes, "'a natural killer'" (55). I'm intrigued by the way the breaks in the reading and the initial content given makes it seem as though two completely different stories are being written simultaneously. However, overlapping can easily be spotted and, as we read, the two stories become one in the same.

I think that the nature of the story telling in this work is the reason we question the Clutter family's "perfection". As all three of you have said there is something in the way the story is slowly passed on to the reader that leads us to think that the Clutters are supposed to be perfect and then slowly to see that they may not be. I noticed this in the beginning when the characters are introduced (6-7). The facade of the family is immediately marred when it is disclosed that Mrs. Clutter is not in good health and even more so that it was common knowledge. This got me thinking that maybe the characters were only introduced in such a way to make the reader see the imperfections and create an immediate sense of drama in the story. The question of perfection is thrust at the reader right at the beginning and there is a constant flip flop between perfection and imperfection. In day to day life if you meet a family you usually do not judge them as perfect or imperfect; if I were to meet the Clutters in person, I wouldn't know these intimate facts about them right away. I know it is a little besides the point since we are given this information outright. But I feel that in the sense of fiction versus non-fiction we are given a viewpoint that is no longer objective and it skews the way we see the Clutter family as a whole. Probably Nancy was not as perfect as she is portrayed and maybe Kenyon was not as odd as he seems and maybe we do not fully understand Mrs. Clutter's condition or Mr. Clutter's motivations. Knowing that they were real people makes it hard for me to believe that they could have been perfect at all; even though I wanted to believe it as I read the first part, I couldn't help but remember that they were just a regular family.

I completely agree with you Tina, that while the language in the book has a way of making the Clutter Family seem perfect, but in reality they are far from it. It all really goes back to the idea of the truth in the fiction. The book in some instances has a way of making the Clutter Family seem perfect, but in reality the truth is they are not. Bonnie while in public is pulled together and lady like, but alone in the home she retreats from reality into depression. Kenyon like Tina said, isn't the "perfect," son with realtionship to the Clutter family, he is guarded and sensitive. Nancy "the perfect daughter," is battling with feelings of rebellion, while Herb the leader in all senses of the word, is fighting his self to make sure he doesn't see any of the flaws within his family. But as Skdank09 says, I as well can't help but realize that they are just a family, not perfect, but nonetheless a family.

I think an important question we need to address is how everyone defines the “perfect” family. So far it seems as though the community of Holcomb sees perfection in Mr. Clutter and Nancy, who are both successful, active members in the community. I do find myself questioning Mr. Clutter’s and Nancy’s motives for their actions because although they may be viewed as good people, it’s possible they could be trying to compensate for Kenyon’s more passive nature and Mrs. Clutter’s complicated illness. It was much easier for the community members to discount issues such as Mrs. Clutter’s postnatal depression and label the family perfect as a whole because often times people associate wealth, success, and good deeds with some degree of perfection. In terms of Mr. Clutter, I don’t think the fact that he wants Kenyon to take over the family business makes him imperfect. Parents always want the best for their children, and if Kenyon took over the family business he would be almost guaranteed a good life like Mr. Clutter had before his death. Although Mr. Clutter had unwavering opinions about drinking and smoking among other things, I agree with what others have been saying about him merely having strong morals, and I don’t believe having strong morals regarding certain subjects makes him a bad person. I can see where Tina is coming from in that Mr. Clutter might not want his family to leave Holcomb because of the good reputation he has made for himself and his family. His standing in Holcomb does become a bit questionable when we see Myrt’s reaction to the murders. When she refers to Mr. Clutter, she says he may have been “…getting jobs maybe other people wanted. And now look—it’s all caught up with him” (69). The community’s reaction to the murders and their opinion of the victims is very integral to the story, because they reveal not only important information about the Clutters and their relationship with the members of Holcomb, but how Holcomb functions as a whole. After the murders, it seems as though the people don’t know who to trust. Even Myrt says, “If it wasn’t him, maybe it was you. Or somebody across the street. All the neighbors are rattlesnakes. Varmints looking for a chance to slam the door in your face” (69). I’d be interested to see if there is some history between them that we don’t know about that may reveal another side of the Clutters.

When is a family ever perfect to begin with? There are always some peculiarities or bones hidden in every families' closet. Although the Clutter's live in a fine house, run a successful farm, and appear to their town as having it all together, they still possess their own inner and outer conflicts (like any family would). What I found quite interesting in this reading though was in Capote's first describtion of Mr. Clutter. To me Capote's description was god-like, "He was not as rich as the richest man in Holcomb....He was, however, the community's most widely known citizen (6). I, at least associated the traits of solidness and honesty with Mr. Clutter. Which is why it surprises me when Nancy is talking on the phone with her friend Susan that she confesses to Susan her belief that her father is smoking cigarettes (a practice he does not believe in). I was not even thinking of Mr.Clutter smoking, so this assumption of Nancy's is quite baffling. But this also proves the point that even the most "perfect" appearing people can have flaws and perhaps secrets hiding behind them. So I guess to sum up Tina's question, no the Clutter's were not the perfect family, and Mr.Clutter was not the perfect man. But in all fairness they came off on me as a very kind, sweet, and charismatic family. I would have liked to know them, even if they were not quite perfect. Who, or what family, ever is?

I reflected a lot on my own family, as well as others I know, while reading part one. I realized that many families with talented children or successful parents, will veil their imperfections from the public in hopes to not discredit themselves. Beyond Mr. Clutter's expectations for his children lies imperfections among his family. Kenyon is "not in the least Mr. Clutter's son but rather Bonnie's child, a sensitive and reticent boy" (Capote, 39) and Bonnie suffers from postnatal depression. However, his eldest daughter is wed with children and Nancy is a great student, musician, baker, etc. After learning about this family, I see the Clutters as just a family with high points and low points. They seem to be private people who want to keep their problems to themselves while they celebrate each other's praiseworthy moments. I agree with Brianne's comment about how everyone defines a "perfect" family. I looked up a synonym for "perfect" and the first word on the list was "ideal". In my mind, something that is ideal is satisfying or fitting. So, to me, a perfect family is one with both flaws and strengths. A family needs balance. A mixture of shortcomings and spirit is what gives a family character, and I back up this belief with my own family. Thus, in response to Tina's question, I think the Clutters are a family that fits my definition of "perfect".

I initially agree with Cassia in that the little things in the beginning of the story didn't stifle a feeling decency that got across to me early in the book. Up to the point in the house after the four members of the Clutter family were killed, my perception of them as a family seemed respected and dependable, not necessarily perfect. I believe that the way Kenyon is described, "guarded and sensitive" and the way that Mr. Clutter wanted to keep his children near Holcomb were only natural. This story being based in truth does go to show that this was a real family, more or less. I enjoyed reading about the Clutter family, particularly Mr. Clutter and his way of work and interacting with the secluded town of Holcomb. I think that what strayed me from saying they are a "perfect" family is the way the rest of his family interact with Holcomb. For example, Mrs. Clutter is ill and depressed at home, and Kenyon is rather unsocial. Other than this, the Clutter seemed to be highly regarded throughout Holcomb. After the scene inside the house, it hit me that maybe there was an external part of the story, driving Dick and Perry to brutally and apparently skillfully, in the sickest of ways, murder Mr. and Mrs. Clutter and two of their children. After this thought went through my head, there was an ominous tone to the reading, as if a dark secret from the Clutter's will be exposed in the upcoming reading. I also didn't know how to react when Myrt got off the phone and reacted to the news that several of the Clutter's had been murdered. At first she suggests that it was the man who crashed upon Mr. Clutter's fruit trees that killed them, and then she continued to suggest that it was the person she was talking to, Mother Truitt, implying that it could be any one of their neighbors. It was also rather unsettling to see how Perry and Dick reacted after the deed they committed, particularly Dick. He went about his daily routine with his family without a hitch, other then sleeping, as if nothing happened. I am not sure if this was an act of revenge, but its discomforting reading about his comfort after such an act.

I think many people have touched on the point that no family could ever be completely perfect. Certainly, the Clutters were far from a fairy tale family, however I did find a portrayal of uniquely close, well known, and respectable family in Capote's depiction. Through his explanation of each family member, I found that by the time I read of their death, an event that I knew of even before I opened the book, I felt the tragedy just as the residents of Holcomb. Although I am a strong supporter of the type of family the Clutters were in the community, I also think that they must have kept something about themselves playing hide and seek; something that made them the target, and something more than their status of wealth. They attempt to hide the status of Mrs. Clutter, perhaps for the sake of their reputation, even though many people know of the visits to psychiatric retreats. What else is in the dark? Is there something that Capote has failed to reveal to us thus far? I cannot help but think that there is more to Mr. Clutter than meets the eye. He seems like a more complex character than we are led to believe. Even his daughter Nancy, his pride and joy, has noticed a recent oddity about him that leaves her feeling uneasy. As the tax collector noted, Mr. Clutter seemed preoccupied when signing off on life insurance, and coincidentally, he was murdered hours later. Perhaps it was not so much a coincidence. There must be reasoning behind Dick and Perry’s madness, which brought them to the house and turned them into killers of the town’s “perfect” family.

I have to agree with Sally--Capote manages to portray the Clutters as an "ideal" or "perfect" family while simultaneously hinting, every so often, of something much more menacing, bubbling right below the surface. When I was reading, I noticed a certain trend in how the story related the events: everything seemed to converge upon one central idea, though I don't think this idea has been revealed yet. For example, starting on page 14, the story is told from two alternating perspectives (switching suddenly and without warning from the Clutters to Dick and Perry), with increasingly shorter bodies of text that focus on Dick and Perry driving ever closer to River Valley Farm. At the same time, this "converging" theme is echoed in how the story is told alternately from before the murder to after the murder. Capote describes events of the Clutters last day alive, and then jumps to an post-tragedy interview with someone close to the family. I agree with Lauren's description of the "contrast" that Capote utilizes to distinguish the characters, and I predict that all of the converging events will climax to something hugely dramatic, something that will expose the Clutters for who they really were.

I agree with Brianne that the community is shaken up and turned on it's head after the killings and the question arises, "But who hated the Clutters? I never heard a word against them; they were about as popular as a family can be, and if something like this can happen to them then who is safe, I ask you" (70). I don't think any character in the story actually ever uses the term "perfect" (correct me if I'm wrong), but it is determined that the family is extremely well-liked and respected.

I do think that the family tries to uphold a label of perfection and Bonnie has the most difficulty doing so. Her anxiety is due in part because she lacks the confidence and ability to make decisions out of fear that she will make a mistake or will displease Herb (28). She is disappointed that she never received her diploma and feels that she hasn't succeeded at anything, unlike her husband and children. I do not think that Herb puts pressure on his wife or children and I have confidence that he would support them and their own lifestyle choices.

The village of Holcomb is a backdrop that creates illusion causing the readers to believe the Clutters are more perfect than they are. The village is, although baron, a surprisingly ideal place to live because it is safe and the people are abnormally friendly. One sign even says, "Howdy, Stranger! Welcome to Garden City. A Friendly Town" and it seems like once people come, they never want to leave as if there is this uncontrollable force causing them to stay(53). Such a community can only bring out the best in you because if you feel supported, you will want to support others in the same way. And that's how it goes in Holcomb and the residents make up one giant family who strive to achieve and help each other (like how Herb attends the 4-H meetings and Nancy teaches people how to cook and play instruments). In such a nurturing environment, I can understand why the Clutters are the way they are and, although I know there is more to their story, I think the family is very benign.

Sort of going off of what Sally said, I think it's hard to tell what this family was actually like because Capote only took an interest in the Clutter lives after they were no longer living. This means that all of the information we have about the family is coming from a mourning and somewhat shell-shocked community. Regardless of the true characteristics of any family, I find it hard to believe that someone would have the heart to list off all the imperfections of the victims’ lives. It just seems a bit immoral to focus on the bad parts of someone who died so tragically. I think this is where the “truth in non-fiction” can come into play; how are we to know whether or not these depictions of the Clutter family members are accurate when the writer never even knew them? (Unless they did know each other and I’m just missing that part of the story…) How are we to know where the REAL truth lies?

I do think that Capote was able to gather a somewhat accurate depiction of the family because multiple people had the same descriptions of each member, including the best friend, the boyfriend, the teacher, the postmistress…The wide range of community members with the same image of the family leads me to believe that Capote gathered a somewhat accurate depiction, but this still does not mean that all of their flaws were completely exposed. I do think that there was more going on in this household than meets the eye and that there were many imperfections within it that even the closest community members didn’t know about. But this is so common of the typical image of a “perfect family.” In my experience, the only reason that someone might appear to be perfect is because we don’t know them well enough to see their imperfections. And I think that imperfection is what makes someone perfect, because in my mind, that’s the way that humans are supposed to be. We’re supposed to have talents and flaws and secrets and everything in between. I might be contradicting myself here, but I think that the Clutter family could be classified as perfect because, although they lived ideal lives, they certainly had flaws and imperfections that made them more human-like, therefore making them perfect. Sorry if that’s confusing -- I think that the definition of perfection is a too fuzzy to apply to the Clutter lives.

I agree with the general consensus that the Clutters seemed more perfect than they really are when we take a closer look at them. At first it appears that everyone in the family is a model in some way; the family for the most part is a well-off, well known, and respected family, but as Capote slowly reveals each family member has his or her own "secrets" that detract from their public image. It seeems to me that the reason Capote emphasized the "perfection" of the Clutters was to add to the element of mystery he was building up in the beginning of the book. Almost as soon as we are introduced to Dick and Perry we know that they must be setting out to kill the Clutters, but while they are preparing the Clutters are blissfully ignorant and continue living their normal lives. It helps create more of a shock when a family that was held in such high regards is mysteriously murdered, and it keeps the reader wanting to read on to find out what happened. Capote states several times that this is the last day the Clutters will see, so we know all along that they are killed, but because they seemed so perfect at first the question of how and why they are killed still needs to be answered.

I read Tina's prompt after I had not quite finished the reading. My initial thoughts were that it doesn't really matter whether or not the Clutter family was perfect; as many people have pointed out no family is flawless, and "imperfections" such as Bonnie's illness simply are a fact of life. What matters more is that the family was held in such high regard within the community, and the effects that their murder had on the community. As Bess Hartman says, "What a terrible thing when neighbors can't look at each other without kind of wondering!" (70). That such a thing could happen to such a seemingly perfect family would incite distrust within the community, as well as arouse curiosities about what secrets the Clutters, and perhaps other families, were hiding. Whether or not the Clutters truly were "perfect" may be less important that the fact that this is how their community viewed them.
Then, as John and Brianne pointed out, there are of course suspicions that arise about the Clutters following their murder. What could be the motive for the murder of such a seemingly perfect family? There is the not-so-shocked reaction of Mrs. Clare to provide suspicion here as well.
I think Tina is quite right in raising this question over the nature of the Clutter family, and surely (or maybe I should say hopefully?) this is something that will be further explored as we read on.

Allow me to offer my perspective as a native of Garden City, Kansas. I was born in 1965, two months after Hickock and Smith were executed, and shortly before “In Cold Blood” was published. So, obviously, I did not personally know the Clutter family. I do, however, personally know many people who did know them, including a niece of Mr. Clutter, and also my own father.
With that in mind, I believe it is important to consider just which Clutter family we are discussing here. There is the Clutter family, as depicted in great detail in “In Cold Blood”. And then there is the actual Clutter family.
The Clutter family made famous in print is an amalgamation of information gathered by Truman Capote in the days, weeks and months following the murders. Capote’s research was, by all accounts, exhaustive. But, still, every shred of information he gathered could not help but be shaded, to at least some degree, by the fact that this family had fallen to a sudden, unexpected, and terrible fate. Capote came to the small rural communities of Holcomb and Garden City a short time after the murders occurred. He interviewed friends, family members, and associates of the Clutter family who, because of the tragic and shocking nature of their demise, often remembered and regarded the murdered family almost as martyrs. Therefore, in one sense, it stands to reason that the Clutter family of “In Cold Blood” appears to be “a perfect family”.
On the other hand, I believe it is also extremely important to consider how the family background of the author might have influenced his perspective on families in general. On the website, Wikipedia.org, Capote’s own childhood was described as, “troubled by divorce, a long absence from his mother and multiple migrations”. Then, as an adult, Capote was famous for his flamboyant, metropolitan lifestyle in New York City. He seemed to view the Kansans who were subjects of his work as a bit of a novelty, largely unrefined and unsophisticated. Perfect or not, the Clutter family - the conservative and conventional nature of their lives - would most likely have been extremely difficult for Capote to personally identify with. Indeed, I believe it’s probable that Capote viewed the Clutter family he came to know, through those remembrances clouded by shock and bereavement, in a somewhat cynical manner - as “too good to really be true”. And I believe, if this point of view is considered, the author’s cynicism, albeit very thinly laced throughout, is present in his literary portrait of the slain family.
Ultimately, it is an inescapable fact that Truman Capote never personally knew the Clutter family – the four real human beings who, in life, were never the subjects of a groundbreaking literary work, but rather the members of a family that most people would have considered quite uninteresting, had their tragic fates never occurred.
And, while Capote himself described his watershed work as “a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences”, we must never lose sight of the fact that “In Cold Blood” is a non-fiction novel which, by definition, is the depiction of real historical figures and actual events woven together with fictitious allegations and using the storytelling techniques of fiction.
Every bit of the discussion in this thread thus far is valid, and each point is worthy of consideration. But I believe it’s important to recognize that the Clutter family being discussed here is, at least in part, a family that only existed in the mind of Truman Capote.