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From the perspective of the city, the Clutter family was successful in achieving "The American Dream," according to the neighbors. Unfortunately, given the different problems in this household, this assertion is untrue. Mr. Clutter experiences a wonderful wife, four successful children, a wonderful career, a beautiful home, and a wonderful way of life in general. Nobody is aware that Mr. Clutter's wife, Bonnie, has depression and a mental illness. The continuous suffering of Bonnie, who is "heartbroken" (29), has a terrible impact on their daughter. Due to Bonnie's mental exhaustion, Nancy must assume the motherly position on her own. The audience learns about the family's shortcomings and Capotes' expose of their attempts to maintain harmony.

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The Clutter Family has achieved the American Dream. Nancy is the 'perfect daughter', she wants nothing more than to live up to her fathers expectations and as a result is overworking herself. She occasionally smokes, bites her nails, and has a packed schedule. The youngest and only son Keyon focuses mostly on school and has a hard time making friends. The mother is mentally ill, but it is not talked about. Her mental state is seen as 'controversial' and is covered up to make them seem as if they are the 'perfect family'. Capote wants to bring attention to the "cracks" in their family to show that it not always what it seems from the outside. He wants to let us peek into the "perfect" life they have and trivialize the American Dream.

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The Clutters are seen as the definition of the “American Dream”. They are a well known and respect family in the community with multiple ties. Although they seem to be the perfect family, they have “cracks” within themselves that is point out in the book. Capote choose to give Nancy anxiety and the stress of an over packed schedule to show that not everyone may be what they seem. Nancy bites her nails, struggles to arrange all of her activities into specific times, and sometimes smokes. Her brother, the Clutters son, Kenyon also indulges in smoking. They do this without their parents knowledge and in retaliation to their parents, and also for stress over their schedules. Kenyon has a hard time making friends is more lonely than Nancy seems to be. He is big into education. Capote does this to show that although he may seem like the perfect “American Dream” son, most people would not consider this to be part of their dream. The Clutters mother is mentally i’ll and is mostly disregarded in social settings. Capote uses this to show that not everything that can be known about someone is shown upon the surface; people may struggle with things we cannot see. He chooses to focus on these things to show to the readers that not everyone is always doing amazing all the time. He wants to put into the light the point that many people struggle or fake being “perfect”, and that we cannot always judge someone’s life based on what we see.

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As a outsider looking in on the Clutter family, they seem as if they have achieved the American dream. Although it may appear as if they have, there are some imperfections in the family behind closed doors. Starting with Nancy, the "town darling" and the perfect daughter. She tries to live up to her father's expectations, but at the same time she is overworking herself. Moving on the her father ,Mr. Clutter, he is seem as a family man, when in reality he is mainly away form home. He is also always working. Ending with Mrs. Clutter, she is on the edge. She has been battling postpartum depression since Keyon was born. She feels distanced form the family. Capote chose to uncover the family's flaws to show that the American dream is not always truly achieved and that not every family is perfect inside and out.
- TaNiya

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On the outside the Clutter family looks like they have achieved the American Dream. Herbert is a well-known leader of the community and very successful.  Nancy is the town’s “golden girl”. According to the book, In Cold Blood, it says Nancy is “always in a hurry, but she always has time. And that’s one definition of a lady” (page 25). The community always saw the Clutter family working hard to please others and wanting to help in any situation. Many people in Holcomb look up to the Clutter family. However, as you read further into the book it reveals the cracks in the foundation of their American dream. We begin to see the tension that has built up between the family. On page 28 and 29 of In Cold Blood, we see that Mrs. Clutter suffers from depression and has major anxiety when it comes to interacting with others. She is unsure that what she chooses to do will displease her husband, so she locks herself in her bedroom and hides from it all. This causes Nancy to have to step up and take on her mother’s responsibilities, as well as her own. Although she does all of this, Nancy does not have a grateful heart while doing it, she only does it to keep the family from falling apart. Nancy also has anxiety and tends to bite her nails and smoke when she feels stressed. Capote chooses to point out these cracks to show the audience that no matter how “perfect” the situation seems, nothing is ever as it seems beneath the surface.

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The Clutter’s are portrayed to be living the “American Dream.” From the outsider’s point of view, the family appears to happy and put together. However, this is not the case. Each family member has their own flaws. For example, Nancy is an anxious person who is always trying to live up to her father’s standards. Kenyon and Nancy smoke occasionally, even though their father highly opposes drinking and smoking. Even Mr. Clutter has his flaws, he is often away from home, and is not the family man he is portrayed to be. The book also talks about Mrs. Clutter’s postpartum depression, that has lingered since Kenyon was born. Capote chooses to point out these flaws in the book to reveal how not everyone is what they seem to be.

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The Clutter family on the outside has achieved the “American Dream.” Their outside image is much different than what goes on behind closed doors. This family is portrayed as a near perfect family but when we take a closer look at their individual lives we see how far from a dream life they’re living. We take in to account the smoking being done by Kenyon and Nancy along with Nancy’s nail buying and anxious tendencies. We then have Mrs. Clutter, she has severe depression after having her children. Last but not least Mr. Clutter, he is a very judgmental man, he has a problem with anyone who partakes in the drinking of alcohol and is so devoted to the community that he never takes time with his own family. I believe Capote showed us these cracks so we can have a back story on their life and to see that the American Dream isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

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The Clutter family on the outside has achieved the “American Dream.” Their outside image is much different than what goes on behind closed doors. This family is portrayed as a near perfect family but when we take a closer look at their individual lives we see how far from a dream life they’re living. We take in to account the smoking being done by Kenyon and Nancy along with Nancy’s nail buying and anxious tendencies. We then have Mrs. Clutter, she has severe depression after having her children. Last but not least Mr. Clutter, he is a very judgmental man, he has a problem with anyone who partakes in the drinking of alcohol and is so devoted to the community that he never takes time with his own family. I believe Capote showed us these cracks so we can have a back story on their life and to see that the American Dream isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

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-mary

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The clutter family has generally achieved the American dream but the issue with their family is Bonnie has post natal depression severely, Kenyon and Nancy both smoke, Nancy is secretly anxious shown by smoking and biting her fingernails. Kenyon is lanky and uncoordinated despite being an inventor and "genius"
Mr clutter despite being a great employer who pays good wages the bad thing about him is his disliking to drinking alcohol as he does not accept anyone who drinks and he seems to be more focused on his community rather than family and his business.
This leads to fissures in their image of the American dream family not quite true despite looking like it from the outside.
Capote chooses to point this out to show that even though the clutters seem like a perfect family on the outside they are not perfect in reality
-charlie baird

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To an outsider, the Clutter family is the definition of the American dream. Mr. Clutter is the most well-known, and well-respected man in Holcomb. He was a generous employer, who paid his employees well and was lenient in his employees' working schedule. Nancy is a role model in the community to the younger children, and she sets a wonderful example for them. She seems to have the world in her hands; everything going for her. However, there are indeed some cracks in the foundation. Nancy struggles with anxiety, due to her high expectations and anxiety. Mrs. Clutter has battled on and off depression for years. Mr. Clutter, may or may not, be becoming a smoker. Capote points these problems to show that what is seen from the outside is not always reality.

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To an outsider, the Clutter family is the definition of the American dream. Mr. Clutter is the most well-known, and well-respected man in Holcomb. He was a generous employer, who paid his employees well and was lenient in his employees' working schedule. Nancy is a role model in the community to the younger children, and she sets a wonderful example for them. She seems to have the world in her hands; everything going for her. However, there are indeed some cracks in the foundation. Nancy struggles with anxiety, due to her high expectations and anxiety. Mrs. Clutter has battled on and off depression for years. Mr. Clutter, may or may not, be becoming a smoker. Capote points these problems to show that what is seen from the outside is not always reality.

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Jay Kanazawa

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From the outside, the Clutter family seems to be the epitome of the American Dream. Mr. Clutter is a well-established man in Holcomb, and Nancy is popular in the community. In Cold Blood describes Mr. Clutter as, “…an educated man successful in his profession” and “an eminent Republican and church leader…” Earlier in the book Nancy is presented as “…a straight-A student, the president of her class, a leader in the 4-H program and the Young Methodists League, a skilled rider…” and more. This much success in one family would appear to fit the bill of the American Dream, but we find this family has problems within its foundation. On page 29 Mrs. Clutter attempts to keep a perfect image despite her anguish. She cries, “Please, Lord, don’t let anybody see me this way.” The family has these problems simply because they are human. It appears Capote exposes the faults of this family to coax readers into forming a deeper connection with the characters.

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The Clutter family has achieved the idea of the living "American Dream" from the view of the outside world of Holcomb. Although, unknowingly, they have many domestic issues throughout their household that makes this claim untrue. Mr. Clutter has four successful kids and a beloved wife, and he is renowned throughout the town. Excluding the fact that his beloved wife, Bonnie, is mentally ill and struggled with anxiety and depression. His wife is "heartbroken" and constantly suffering (29), which takes a toll on their daughter, Nancy, who has to take on her mother's responsibility undercover. Nancy Clutter's belief in keeping up her family's image causes her anxiety and additional stress when she on takes projects and commissions she doesn't necessarily want to do but does in efforts to keep the peace. Capote's exposure of the family's flaws gives the readers background information and what could've led up to the murder of this "innocent and happy" family.

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At first, the Clutter family seems to perfectly portray the American Dream. Herbert is successful and a leader in the community. Nancy is a perfect and over achieving student and is known throughout Holcomb as, "The definition of a lady"(Page 25). Bonnie is a stay at home mom in a large house on "a pretty good spread" of land. You would look at this family and think that they have it all figured out, that they have truly achieved the American Dream. As we read further, we understand that this is not the case. There are several cracks in the families foundation but the main one is Bonnie and her depression. On page 29 the author states that Susan's mother heard "the sound of weeping, heartbroken, heartbreaking," coming from Bonnie. This illustrates the agony and pain that Bonnie is going through and proves that this family is not all joy and delight. I think that Capote chooses to point out these flaws to add another layer to the characters and to make the reader feel more personal with the characters. When this book was written, Americans idolized and strived for the American Dream and I think Capote knew that some of the readers might relate with the Clutters circumstances. Not the circumstances that they all got murdered but rather the circumstances of the family wanting to look like they have achieved the American Dream but in reality they have problems just like every other family.

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Due to Mr. Clutters hard work, and his daughters Nancy being the "town darling", it didn't take much for it to seem like the Clutters achieved the American Dream. Mr. Clutter was able to eventually afford his own farm, from several years of working for others, and he made a success of it. Him and his daughter are both active members in the community, and everyone views them as good people. Some cracks in their perfection is Nancy's rebellion, it is so much so that people can't tell but she does do things that you wouldn't expect a perfect girl to do. Such as missing her curfew, and dating a boy from a different church. And the mother, Mrs. Clutters, is very out of touch from her family, and their reality. She and Mr. Clutters are portrayed as this great husband/wife relationship when this isn't true. She is in this state where she almost seems depressed and the life around her isn't anything more than just her being "Mrs. Clutters". It states on page 28, . "Mrs. Clutters despaired of surviving another project. Both involved the necessity of making decisions-a process she had always disliked-" then goes on to say, "What if she made a mistake? What if Herb should be displeased? Better to lock the bedroom door and pretend not to hear, or say, as she sometimes did." When Capote points out these cracks it's to make it seem more real for the readers, because nobody is perfect.

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The Clutter Family are the typical example of a family that has achieved the American Dream, as each member of the family has their own aspirations and talents that they strive for. Nancy is a beautiful girl with a multitude of talents and has “never been ill” (Page 40), Kenyon is a talented carpenter, and Mr. Clutter is a self-made farmer, ranch owner, and 4-H club chairman who is described as, “entitled to rank among local patricians” (Page 34). The Clutter Family house is said to even have a hall that, “could accommodate twenty guests during the Thanksgiving holidays” (Page 38). The Clutter Family's’ privileges and successes show them to be a perfect model of the American Dream. However, Mrs. Clutter is the crack in the foundation of this idea. While everyone within the Clutter Family is healthy and successful, Mrs. Clutter is terribly ill and devoid of any successes in her personal life. This is characterized by her guilt and regret of not becoming a nurse (Page 26) and feeling like she is missing the lives of her youngest children. On pages 39-40, Mrs. Clutter cries, “I’m missing out on everything. The best years, the children-everything. A little while, and even Kenyon will be grown up-a man. And how will he remember me? As a kind of ghost, Wilma?” Capote chooses to emphasize Mrs. Clutters’ grief and illness to contrast the rest of the family and highlight that no matter how perfect they seem, the Clutter Family is not immune to illness or sadness in their lives.

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The Cuttlers: a family that portrays the American Dream, a poster family. The father is a hardworking man and a born leader active in the community, and the daughter is an intelligent and beautiful young lady taking after her father in that she is well-known across their little town. Everything is going swimmingly for the Cuttlers they are a perfect family, or are things so great? Mrs.Cuttler is unknown in the community and often referred to as strange, she was a crack in the perfect family. She was separated from the rest of the family mentally and most times physically, page 27 says "his a public route, a march of satisfying conquests, and hers a private one that eventually wound through hospital corridors." She is what makes this nuclear family real if she was "normal" then they would just be propaganda on a poster but she makes them tangible and relatable. The killers are introduced early in the reading and Capote makes the family more human as the reading continues, the story is developing more emotion in a way. The beginning of the novel, it was a description of a family who died but it is evolving into the story of a group of loved ones whose chances at life were taken away.

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Having the perfect, All-American teenage girl as their daughter, and a (what seems to be) perfect marriage. Mrs. Clutter states that her husband remembers to bring her small memorabilia from trips he goes on. However, the family, much like every other family, has it's own flaws. During the explanation of their family aura, it is claimed that Mrs. Clutter felt as if she could not be a leader due to her husband's natural and admirable leadership abilities. "He was a “joiner,” a “born leader”; she was not and stopped attempting to be." Capote writes to explain this power-dynamic. It is also stated that Mrs. Clutter is odd, likes to spend her time in solitude. Capote chooses to highlight these cracks because it makes them seem more real. At the beginning, they are portrayed as your picture perfect, envious, 1950s family. Now, Capote paints them to seem as if there is more to them, that maybe no one else saw except the people behind closed doors.

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Both Mr. Clutter's flourishing leadership within his community and Nancy's astounding achievements help the Clutter family uphold the "American Dream." A hard working, powerful husband, with the stay at home wife, and brilliant children, along with wealth and local fame give them that title. However, there are flaws in the Clutter family. "In Cold Blood" describes Mrs. Clutter to be of a strange persona. She lives her life solemnly, with spells of illness which gives her her peculiar reputation. Page 29 gives detail on how Mrs. Clutter tends to watch gatherings from afar, rather than partake in them. Because of this, she is subject to "a kind of a ghost," as the book suggests. Capote emphasizes these points to maybe lead up to the motives of Clutter family murderer's or to simply portray that there are two sides to every coin.