Does Perry Kill The Clutters Analysis
This quote shows how Perry describes his motivation to kill the Clutters. It begins with a rivalrous confrontation with Dick over whether Dick will go through with his promise to “blast hair all over the walls”; this is quickly eclipsed by Perry’s feelings of shame and self-loathing, while reflecting on the indignity of the botched robbery and by association, the indignity of his life as a criminal. He is hardly conscious of slitting Herb Clutter’s throat; the murder comes as a kind of automatic response to the memory of other frustrations and insults he has endured, of which the Clutter household is symbolic. This quote contributes to the author’s purpose and overall theme of the novel by proving that Perry killed the Clutters because