Innocence vs. Experience Theme Analysis

Prior to the massacre of the Clutter family, Holcomb, Kansas (a small town adjacent to the county seat of Garden City) is portrayed as a kind of Eden before the fall – a quiet, innocent town where nothing of note happens. (Of course, it’s later revealed in the book that the region had its share of horrifying crimes long before the Clutters were murdered, but it’s a time that’s only remembered by the town’s elderly citizens.) Following the murder of the Clutters, the town becomes a hotbed for suspicion and fear – Holcomb – and, by extension, Garden City - has become a place where terrible things can happen.

Each character in the story goes through a fall from innocence. In Perry, for example, this is dealt with through a discussion of nature vs. nurture – how much of his murderous nature is natural, and how much of it was beaten into him through a lifetime of hard knocks, starvation, and sadness? Perry is ultimately a sympathetic character due to his natural (or seemingly natural) good qualities – he loves music and art, abhors sexual perversion, and loves animals. His fall from grace is essentially thrust upon him, via his abusive, alcoholic parents. This fall from grace is also characterized in his wilted, mangled lower body, which came about as a result of a crime-related motorcycle accident – something that could be seen as a literal fall from grace.