Unconditional Love?

A subtle theme present in In Cold Blood is unconditional love. The people that are able to make successful livings for themselves detach themselves emotionally from the rest of their family in an attempt to become more successful as a completely separate entity. Mr. Clutter, for example, keeps a distance from his family because he does not need them to remain prosperous. He maintains his farmland, has become quite wealthy, and is extremely self sufficient. He does not need his family, therefore he never truly lets himself love them. Another character who separates themselves from the people they are supposed to love is Perry’s sister Barbara Johnson. Because she is “the only survivor” (183) from her family’s fate of becoming corrupt, she wants to lose all associations with them. She doesn’t want their immorality to affect her success, thus her love for Perry “weakened until it went quite away. He wasn’t her baby any more but a wild thing, a thief, a robber” (184). Though family members are supposed to support each other through rough times, Barbara does not do so in an attempt to better her own circumstances. The family that still loves each of its members unconditionally is the family of Dick Hickock. Although he causes them nothing but pain by pulling his innumerous stunts, they always stand by him. Mrs. Hickock describes this love saying how Dick is “afraid because he thinks we won’t forgive him. Like we always have. And will” (171). The Hickocks have nothing to lose by keeping their relationship with Dick, thus they keep their love for him. Though the Clutter family and Barbara Johnson’s family seem perfect, their abilities to have unconditional love are blocked by their selfish desires to succeed.