Dick: Evil Intentions Clash with Confusing Desires

Part three of In Cold Blood has really changed the way that I feel towards Dick. Before, I felt more familiar with the character of Perry, seeing him as the main character of the novel and seeing Dick as somewhat flat in his zero-conscience personality. In part three, however, I have been surprised by how evil and disgusting Dick actually is. For example, I had figured that Dick saw Floyd Wells as a friend because Wells led him to the money that he thought was in the Clutter household. When Dick realizes that Wells is the person who notified the police of his and Perry’s crime, we learn that “While serving the last weeks of his sentence, Dick had plotted to knife Floyd—stab him through the heart with a handmade ‘shiv’—and what a fool he was not to have done it.” (p227) In the same scene, Dick surprised me again by his thoughts: “Perry, if he lost his nerve and let fly, could put them both in The Corner. And suddenly he [Dick] saw the truth: It was Perry he ought to have silenced.” (p228) I do think, however, that Dick wants to escape from his evil rut. Many times throughout the novel Dick mentions his desires of starting new again. First, Dick plans of starting a new life with a job in Mexico. At a later time, Capote writes, “Dick was in excellent sprits; he had reached a decision that he was certain would eradicate his current difficulties and start him on a new road, with a new rainbow in view.” (p214) His plan, though, included illegal activity. It seems like Dick wants a stable lifestyle, but his plans for achieving it only feed his criminal and evil side of being.