In Cold Blood: Does Insanity Justify Murder?

In Cold Blood: Does insanity justify murder?

Insanity manifests itself as violations of societal norms including the idea of being a danger to oneself and others; although, one would not consider all such acts as insanity. (Wikipedia 2011). Commonly used in legal context, using insanity as defense keeps recurring as a common plea of innocence. In the book, In Cold Blood, Truman Capote depicts the average, well-mannered family known as the Clutters. Residing in a town called Holcomb, they are so established and respected that every event is based around them. Unfortunately, this Richard Hitchcock and Perry Edward Smith murder this family in cold blood. Money motivated this killing. Perry and Dick believe that the Clutter family has money hidden in a safe, according to one of their prison inmates. The brutal killing leads to a further investigation of the case in which both killers receive the death penalty. At the time of the trial, the court calls the psychologist to the stand to tell the court after evaluation of their abilities to tell right from wrong whether the two men are mentally stable or not. As they both receive the death penalty, many question Perry's insanity. Yes, he carried out the murders, but could there have been motives for such an act? Insanity indeed should be a justification for murder depending on a psychopathological evaluation; if the person is truly crazy then he or she should have that right to be condoned. During Perry's childhood, many factors that played a role leading to his insanity; parental discrepancies, moving from place to place, and growing up without direction.

Perry's insane and mischievous act of murder can relates to his witnessing of his parents' disrespectful relationship. "Perry Smith shows definite signs of severe mental illness. His childhood, related to me and verified by prison records, was marked by brutality and lack of concern on the part of both parents" (Capote 296). The psychologist describes how the parents' lack of concern could have turned Perry mad. Perry's father abuses him and his other children without any recollection of doing so because of his natural ideas about it. His mother behaves badly just in the way his father does. She has an alcohol problem which leads her to isolation and death. Another traumatic event that obscures Perry's mind is the suicide of his father and siblings and the elimination of contact between him and his remaining sister. (Wikipedia 2008) The loss of contact between him and his whole family is the primary reason for his mental instability. A person can handle only so much before the emotional and mental anguish must be dealt with. It is difficult to distinguish whether a person is truly unstable or merely lying; only the most intelligent killers use the temporary insanity plea as a defense mechanism.

Perry does not have much of a childhood as he frequently moves from orphanage to orphanage. The orphanages in which he lives only provide him with abuse, which definitely brings an emotional destruction to him. In addition, he has issues with chronic bed-wetting, and for this people abuse him physically and emotionally. (Wikipedia 2008) In another orphanage, the caretakers attempt to drown him. According to the psychological analysis, he has a paranoid state of mind; "he is suspicious and distrustful of others, tends to feel that others discriminate against him, and feels that others are unfair to him and do not understand him" (Capote 297). Unfortunately,