“What is the book about?”
Anytime you tell someone that you are reading and they are
even slightly polite they will ask this question. Usually I mumble something
about eschatology or epistemology, or an inside look at the nuances of
freestyle pew-sitting. Yet with Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, the answer has not been so easy.
The easy, quick, pat answer is that it is about a family in
Kansa who were murdered in 1959 and how the police found, tried, and convicted
the killers. It is portrayed by many as a modern murder novel breaking into a
new genre of writing, but I do not think that really is what the book is about.
Yes, the murder of the four members of the Clutter family is
a significant plot turning point. It is what the story circulates around and if
this event never happened then this book would probably have never been
written. Yet the story would still have existed even if it was never told.
To cover my backside and avoid the snobbery of English Lit.
majors I will say that there are many different levels of stories in this work
and there is not one correct way to read it. Ah the postmodern escape from the
culpability of ultra-criticism. I love it! With that said:
On one level the story is about the life of Perry Smith, one
of the murders. Yes, other characters have important parts to play, but Perry seems
to be the tragic hero of the story. He carries that Shakespearian flaw that,
like the pain in his legs, will not allow him any peace. It is a rage and a
sorrow that will not leave him alone. He is someone that we are led to view
with an eye of sympathy as we learn about his torrid relationship with his
father, the death of his siblings, and the brokenness of his relationship with
his sister. We see in Perry a sense of humanity and sympathy as he is concerned
for his partner Dick Hickock’s family, as he cares for a squirrel, and builds a
relationship with Mrs. Meier. He is someone that we begin to feel sorry for,
and yet Capote does not lead us down a path of unadulterated sympathy. Perry
Smith is dangerous. He murdered and we are led to believe that would have done
it again and again. Here is where the tension of the title is so apt. As we
learn about Perry, as we journey with him, feel for him, grow to know him,
always in the background is the murder of the four Clutters and terror of that
crime. It was in cold blood, it was without any real provocation, without real
meaning that these four people gave their lives. In this book he is just as
much a monster as he is a man.
On a deeper level what this book seems to be about is the
complexity of humanity and looks at the question of redemption. As a Christian
I believe that God’s forgiveness and grace is available to all, but after
reading this book could I hold to such a belief? Perry Smith was not repentant,
he was not contrite even saying that “someone had to pay,” for the pain and suffering
of his life. Is there hope for Perry Smith? If he never committed the murders,
if the Clutter family was still alive, would Perry Smith still be considered a
monster? Would he have committed other crimes? We see the compassion and the
brutality of Perry Smith in this work and are left holding that mess. The mess
of Perry is the mess of humanity. Humans are capable of committing vicious
atrocities and at the same time of doing amazing, wonderful things. Can I
believe in the complete goodness of humanity or in the utter depravity?
Or, can I stay in that mess and hope that God can guide us
to a place of goodness (because we do not seem capable of doing it ourselves).
What is In True Blood
about? It is about us, in all of our glory and all of our horror.
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