Question 4

[mollybeerman]

4. Do you think Capote believed in capital punishment ?
No, I think he sympathized with Perry too much to think it was acceptable. I think before he really knew the hard facts of Dick and Perrys crime he did not chose a side on it, so in the beginning he was unbiased towards it but by the end he thought it was unlawful and that capital punishment was a crime in itself. If Capote believed it was fair then he would not have fought as hard as he did for Perry to avoid the punishment.

[aliviasteffen]

I agree with this, but to add to it, I think that he believed that before the ruling, Dick and Perry should've had gotten more of a psychiatrist's help to see if some mental issue was the problem so they could go to a mental institution to correct it. Therefore proving that he didn't really believe in the punishment, and to show how much he really did care about Dick and Perry. Throughout this, you can see different examples of how close Capot was to the killers, particularly Perry. You can see this as Capote tries to make a case against the death penalty in favor of Perry.