1. How would you describe the relationship between Dick and Perry?

2. How does Capote color the opening section with a sense of impending murder and doom?

3. What do you believe is Capote's stand on the death penalty?  How do you know?

4. What does the crime reveal about the town of Holcomb? How does the gossip surrounding the murders reflect underlying truths about the town?

5. Does In Cold Blood have a protagonist?  Is it Herb Clutter?  Dewey?  Perry?  Nobody at all?

6. Why did Capote leave out descriptions of the two older Clutter sisters? Did the narrative benefit from this exlusion?

7. What role does "dreaming" play in the novel, both figuratively and literally?  Think of Perry's dream of the parrot and of finding gold in Mexico, and of Dewey's nightmares.  How reliable is what Capote tells us about these dreams?

8. What effect does Capote create in shifting back and forth between the description of events in Holcomb and events surrounding Dick and Perry?

9. In what ways does Capote reveal the nature of his research through the construction of the book? Is it important that Capote himself is never named? Does his absence endanger the credibility of the narrative? 

10. Is In Cold Blood a creative work? Is merely journalism, or more than that?  Why or why not?