Perry's sister Fern, whom he'd loved dearly, jumped out of a hotel window after drinking a bottle of whiskey. His brother Jimmy, whom Perry had admired for graduating from high school and being top in his class, shot himself after accusing his wife of promiscuity to the point that she took her own life with a gunshot to the forehead. The trauma caused by suicide and death in his family, along with the strained relationship between him and his father, whom he'd once loved, is the main cause of Perry's schizophrenia. The pain that he endured during his adolescence, his hatred for Bobo, his older sister who wouldn't help him when he was in jail, the loss of half of his family, and his father is what causes him to break away from his kind-hearted appearance and occasionally snap. When Perry snaps, and the hatred and rejection within him surface, anything is liable to happen.Most people see him as kind and gentle, but only those who get truly close to Perry Smith can see his other side. Perry's deranged accomplice, Dick Hickock, saw something wrong with Perry. In my interview with Dick Hickock, he revealed to me that he saw several sides to Perry Smith. As a cellmate, Dick saw how Perry could be "such a kidwetting his bed and crying in his sleep." Dick also saw the side of Perry that was "spooky as hell." Part of this side of Perry was his temper. Perry could "slide into a fury 'quicker than ten drunken Indians,' and you wouldn't know it." Dick said that no matter how extreme Perry's inner rage was, he would remain "a cool young tough, with eyes serene and slightly sleepy." Dick felt he had reason to be afraid of Perry because Perry's inner emotions could not be brought under control by himself or others. Dick was once disturbed because Perry wore mirrored glasses, concealing his eyes. He found it "unpleasant having Perry's eyes hidden behind the privacy of those tinted, reflecting surfaces." Dick's hidden fear of Perry Smith came from his ...
