Truman Capote Mental Illness Analysis

Truman Capote was a very talented writer, and he always knew the perfect ways to portray each character in all of his books. In his book In Cold Blood, Capote interviewed both of the killers, but he knew that there was something about Perry Smith. Throughout the whole book, he would be constantly trying to figure him out and why he did what he did. Throughout the book, Capote uses the technique sympathy to portray Perry.

The McNaughton rule was used, and it is “the ancient British importation which contends that if the accused knew the nature of his act, and knew it was wrong, then he is mentally competent and responsible for his actions” (Capote, 169-170). The opposition, those on the state’s side, supported its use as they believed it would prevent a “temporary insanity” (Capote, 169) ruling. It was upheld, largely as it was the custom in Kansas at that time. However, the doctor who came to evaluate Dick and Perry believes that Dick is most likely healthy, but that Perry was most likely mentally ill, “his present personality structure is very nearly that of a paranoid schizophrenic reaction,” (Capote, 189). Dr. Jones had a colleague of his evaluate Perry, and they both agree that Perry seems to be of a sort of murderer that is capable of logical thought, but is not always capable of logical action.

(Roach, 83). As previously mentioned, the mental element can’t be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, thus making Mr. Schoenborn a morally innocent person. Any other verdict would have violated this principle on which the legal administration is founded on

People often are guilty of letting things that are out of sight be out of their mind, but human rights should not be something overlooked. The imprisoned mentally ill has been often overlooked and there voices are not heard as they struggle everyday in inhumane conditions. The eight amendment states that no cruel and unusual punishments is to be inflicted upon the prisoners. Is the United Sates prison systems treating mentally ill prisoners according to the eight amendment? The largest prison rates belong to the United states and of those imprisoned, around the world, they are ten times more likely to be suffering from a mental illness (Mills, 2007).

Blumberg writes, "Several of the accused had close ties to one another and a long-standing grudge against the Putnams" (Blumberg, 1). This quote highlights the personal vendettas that drove the accusations and underscores how easily societal norms can be weaponized against individuals through manipulation and coercion. The trials resulted in significant harm to the accused and their families due to unchecked hostility. Harrison Bergeron portrays how poor leadership can lead to a loss of individuality and personal choice.

When on the topic of murder trials, one cannot help but imagine the poor moral values of the attorney defending the suspected evil doer, but we hardly ever wonder rather or not the attorneys are mentally effected themselves. More often than not, most attorneys can find themselves alone with the dark secrets of their wicked clients. This is due to a client’s right in the justice system known as the attorney-client privilege. The attorney-client privilege is the client’s right to refuse to disclose and to prevent any other person from disclosing confidential communications between the client and the attorney. One well known example of just how far this “privilege” can go is the murder case of Robert Garrow.

Texas holds the title for the state with most executions in the United States gaining heavy scrutiny for the use of death penalty. Many are concerned that the death penalty is in direct violation of the 8th amendment of the constitution which forbids the act of cruel and unusual punishment as well as being wrong on a moral level. This becomes a hot button issue when mental illness comes into play as 30% of Texas's incarcerated inmates, have been clients of the state’s mental health system (“Texas Death Penalty”). Andre Lee Thomas is one of those inmates, sentenced to death, but also deemed mentally unstable.

Although Capote acknowledges the atrocities committed by Perry, his utmost goal is to direct the blame on Perry’s insanity; therefore, Capote asserts that people with mental illness should not be put to death. On the contrary, Capote always has an excuse for Perry’s actions. Capote utilizes juxtaposition to deviate the attention of the comparison of normalcy and insanity. Perry creates an escape plan for him and accomplices when, “Eventually, he wondered if perhaps he had invented them (a notion that he ‘might not be normal, maybe insane’ had troubled him…”

Prosecutors and defense attorneys routinely use peremptory challenges to eliminate frim juries’ individuals who although they express no obvious bias, are thought to be capable of swaying the jury in an undesirable direction. The prosecution and the defense are also protected by the Equal Protection Clause

Mentally ill offenders comprise a huge segment of the country 's prison populace, bringing about various difficulties to correctional administrators who lack formal preparation or instruction on the best way to communicate, look after, and secure this specific populace (Pittaro, 2017). Correctional administrators confront a large group of difficulties with regards to mentally ill inmates. These particular inmates require more supervision and more care with respect to their prosperity in the correctional facility that they reside in. In most facility, the mentally ill prisoners are restricted to the minimum about of counseling services which may prompt troublesome practices. As indicated by an article written by Lloyd I. Sederer, M.D., "All patients have both a right to treatment and a right to refuse treatment (Sederer, n.d).”

In In Cold Blood, the issue over the death penalty is prominent. Did Perry and Dick deserve to die? Should the severity of one’s crime determine one’s fate? Although Truman Capote writes the novel in a straightforward, “from a distance” way, he conveys, through his characters, theme, and plot development, that the death penalty is an issue that should be looked at from all sides and that the legal system itself is the real issue at hand, and that the death penalty is used as a means to suppress the distress and indignation of the citizens surrounding the case, instead of suppressing the victim himself.

One in four people in the world will be affected by mental or neurological disorder at some point in their lives. 450 million people are currently suffering from a mental disorder according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The nature vs. nurture debate within psychology is worried with the extent of particular behavior, whether or not it is caused by the way you were raised, or if it was inherited through disease. In Cold Blood, they take us on a journey of how Dick and Perry made November 15th, 1959 the Clutters last day on earth. Dick and Perry are both troubled men.

This is because the 8th amendment states, “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” Giving someone who has mental disease the death penalty would be seen as a cruel and unusual punishment. Some may argue that even though the killer did murder the man, he did not show any empathy for what he did. This can be proven otherwise because of the fact that someone under the influence of mental disease may not always be able to control their actions. In similar cases such as the Walton vs. Virginia, and Eley vs. Ohio, the same practice was used.

Ken Kesey uses his novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, to describe the lives of patients in a mental institution, and their struggle to overcome the oppressive authority under which they are living. Told from the point of view of a supposedly mute schizophrenic, the novel also shines a light on the many disorders present in the patients, as well as how their illnesses affect their lives during a time when little known about these disorders, and when patients living with these illnesses were seen as an extreme threat. Chief Bromden, the narrator of the novel, has many mental illnesses, but he learns to accept himself and embrace his differences. Through the heroism introduced through Randle McMurphy, Chief becomes confident in himself, and is ultimately able to escape from the toxic environment Nurse Ratched has created on the ward. Chief has many disorders including schizophrenia, paranoia, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder, and, in addition to these illnesses, he pretends to be deaf and dumb.

In those lost years, one is kept in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day, locked away with no social interaction. According to the American Civil Liberties Union’s article entitled “The Case Against the Death Penalty”, “Confinement conditions have been demonstrated to provoke agitation, psychosis, delusions, paranoia, and self-destructive behavior. Although the terms are often used interchangeably, “Death Row Phenomenon” refers to the destructive consequences of long-term solitary confinement and the inevitable anxiety that results from awaiting one’s own death, while “Death Row Syndrome” refers to the severe psychological illness that often results from Death Row Phenomenon” (8). The agonizing pain of knowing death is coming, slowly but surely, will drive someone over the edge into the depths of