Perry's Belief in Premonition

[ellievancuren]

While Perry and Dick are discussing Perry's beliefs about premonition, and Perry says to Dick that, “…once a thing is set to happen, all you can do is hope it won’t. Or will – depending. As long as you live, there’s always something waiting, and even if it’s bad, and you know it’s bad, what can you do?”, he is referencing to his beliefs that humans have no control over what will happen in their lives. He thinks that fate has already determined the course of a person's life. He hoped that he wouldn't crash his bike because he thinks he's a "medium" that uses his "built in radar" to see things before or while they are happening, but he rode his motorcycle anyway because he also believes that "You can't stop living". Although Dick discards this idea as silly, I believe that Perry uses this as justification for how people act in the world. Through this naive perspective, he refuses to take accountability for his actions and refuses to hold others responsible for their wrongdoings as well. It can be implied that Perry believes that he and Dick are destined to be these murderers that work together to hurt or kill people, like the Clutters, and this is just the way that the universe is meant to be. According to Perry, as soon as Dick got the idea to murder the Clutter family, all the two of them could do was go along with their plan and hope that it happened accordingly. Now, Perry thinks that they will be discovered and all he can do is hope and pray that they won't get caught. This is similar to the Puritan theological idea of Predestination. Puritans believe that people are already predetermined to reach salvation or to be damned. Like Perry, members of Puritan communities think that a person can do absolutely nothing to change their fate. When they are born, Puritans are either the "Elect" or "Visible Saints" that will be saved or the "Damned" that will go to hell. Likewise, Perry seems to think that a person can do nothing about the "bad" in their life. So, I am curious, if when the the killers eventually get caught, does Perry apply his belief that all he can do is "hope" that they are not found guilty or "hope" they will get off of death row? Or will he go against his notion of the control premonition has over our lives and attempt to do something about his situation?

[ikschultz]

Ellie I completely agree with you. Perry believes his fate has been determined already and he cannot stop it. He doesn't take full responsibility for what he has done by saying "...particularly if whatever was wrong was not your own fault but "maybe a thing you were born with." I believe in fate but I also believe that you have partial influence upon your fate. If you try to be a good person and do charity work and are friendly, fate or God will somehow reward you. You are put on the earth for a greater purpose then just to be on earth. He wants to stop feeling this guilt so he justifies it through saying he had no control over her actions which is no excuse. Many people come out of jail and turn their lives around. They go back to school or make amends with their loved ones. Just because you've been to jail once does not mean you will go back. I'm also curious to see if Perrys guilt ends up eating away at his conscience. Do you think maybe Dick might surprise us and be the one to break down instead of Perry?

[ellievancuren]

Izzy, although that may be a possibility, I feel that if one of them decides to turn themselves in, it will be Perry. I believe this because we now know that the story that Perry told Dick about the man he killed was a lie that he told in order to impress Dick. He has started to grow more and more paranoid, which is evident through his obsession with the progress of the investigation and him feeling "glad to be out of Kansas". Lately, he is starting to wonder whether it was the right thing to do at all. Whereas Perry evidently assumes that they have succeeded in escaping becoming suspects and that Perry should stop worrying so much. So, in my opinion, if one of them decides to confess it will more likely be the remorseful Perry.

[ikschultz]

That's a good point. I kinda hope they don't turn themselves in and that Dewey finds a clue that leads him to the killers. I just want there to be some sort of evidence that gives the town a clue as to who would do such a malicious thing to this wonderful family.