Analysis Of Perry Smith in In Cold Blood

Building relationships throughout one’s life is essential because it yields normal social and emotional development; an especially important relationship is the connection between a baby and its mother. In Otto Rank’s theory of Birth Trauma, he discovered that separation from a baby or child’s mother early on in life can lead to long lasting, negative effects. In Truman Capote’s nonfiction novel, In Cold Blood, Perry Smith suffers from anxiety disorder, as it can be developed from the lack of relationship he had with his mother while growing up. Perry’s anxiety disorder developed because of how unuttered he was as a child, due to the absence of his mother through most of his childhood; the development of his disorder can be explained through the theory of Birth Trauma. The fights that broke out between Perry’s mother and father led to his mother’s abandonment; one specific fight that he remembered started because his mother was “entertaining some sailors while [his] father was away” (274). Trauma is a cause of anxiety disorder, and the fights between Perry’s parents typically turned violent, and most of the time Perry was thrown into the middle. Not only did the fights cause Perry physical harm, but they also caused him emotional harm and often times he was not able to hold back his tears. His parent’s fights and his mother’s abandonment early on in his life caused Perry a lot of distress, and was the root of his anxiety order. Perry’s unstable home life while growing up hampered his ability to remain calm and compelled in situations as an adult, which ultimately led to his anxiety disorder. 

Perry’s anxiety disorder developed from his trauma as a child, and characteristics of his disorder can be seen through constant worrying and nervousness over past and future events. After Perry and Dick murdered the Clutters, they went out to eat, and “Dick ordered another hamburger...Perry, on the other hand, was without appetite; he subsisted on root beer, aspirin, and cigarettes” (145). After seeing all of the newspaper articles regarding the Clutter family murder, Perry’s constant worrying increased, and he continued to fear that he would get caught. Feeling nervous and having a sense of impending danger are both characteristics associated with anxiety disorder, both of which are characteristics Perry possessed. Dick’s ability to remain during the situation had to do with his stable childhood and loving family, while Perry was unable to stay tranquil during this situation because of his mother’s early abandonment which is explained through the theory of Birth Trauma.

Ever since he was born, Perry had experienced trauma from both of his parents that created a breach in his relationships with his mother and father and brought about his anxiety disorder. Even if Perry had not experienced trauma, it is still likely that he would have developed an anxiety disorder because the disorder can actually be genetic. While there are several causes of the disorder such as environmental stress, genetics, and medical conditions, the cause of Perry’s was environmental stress. Otto Rank’s theory of Birth Trauma explains how the lack of relationship Perry had with his mother growing up led to his anxiety as an adult.