Studying Perry’s Past

            Capote returns to talking about Perry and Dick, the two first suspects of the murder. However, he does not talk about their present situation or their whereabouts. Instead, he begins to describe Perry’s past in a very organized and precise manner. Capote depicts the main characteristics of Perry’s life that probably led to make the actions he might have committed. This is exemplified when the narrator explains, “The other children were put in homes as I could not manage to take them all in my home and them being part indian blood and welfare took care of them as I requested” (Capote 127). I realized Perry had a very difficult life and this probably affected his way of thinking. I found it very interesting to see the detail in which Perry’s father descried his son. It seemed as if he had been there for him his entire life and had never left him. Also, Perry did appreciate this manuscript as he thought it was the only valuable thing his father had actually done for him.

            Perry’s experience in jail affected every single member of his family, from his father to his siblings and their families. It is impressive to see the way in which Perry talked in a harmful way about his father. This is evidenced in the letter written to Perry while he was in jail saying the following: “Dad has lived & you show ignorance in calling him uneducated and unable to understand ´the scientific meaning etc´ of life’s problems” (Capote 141). Even though his father had always loved him and cared a lot for him, Perry never actually valued him and felt him close. On the other hand, he felt very close to Willie-Jay, a man who he met in jail and wrote some critics and analyzed the letter from his father. Perry value more a person who he just met and did not know him nearly as much as his father than his father who had given him all his attention throughout most of his life. Although this way another sharp change in style in the book, I believe it was completely necessary, since knowing some background information about the characters allows the reader to understand the actions in the literary present.