Capote's portrayal of the characters and their significance

Truman Capote portrays each of the characters in his book differently, each description entailed with his opinion about the people. Specifically referring to the Clutter family, Capote portrays them as he views them- the perfect American family, living the ultimate American Dream. When he describes each member of the family separately, it is evident that he portrays each one of them as this perfect individual, but later looks in at their flaws as the conflict evolves and the ultimate American dream is destroyed. Several references that he makes about each character, such as Nancy being "the sweetheart of the town", and Mr. Clutter being a succesful farmer with a strong character, sum up to create the impression of the ideal American family around that time. However, while describing the Clutter family, he often jumps to Dick and Perry, to describe their life. He does not portray them in the worst of terms and most evil of all people. He simply describes the lives of the two, how life is for criminals, life of the cold blooded humans. In Section 1, Capote does a great job of comparing two different worlds, different people who were born on the same Earth, drink the same water, and eat the same food. By jumping back and forth between the Clutters and Dick and Perry, Capote increases and emphasizes the differences between their ways of life and character. This way, he suggests that good and evil must both exist, and balance each other out, in order for the world to be the way it is.