The stereotypes of the all-American family in the 1950s were represented by the Clutter family in the novel. Capote made the family as ideal as they can get, such as Herbert being the “widely known citizen” and the dominant man of the house, Bonnie being the “nervous” and frail housewife, Nancy being the “town darling,” and Kenyon being the studious and industrious child (Capote 6-7). They symbolized the perfect family of the 1950s and were well-educated and financially stable. However, they were such an ideal family that most would never have imagined a massacre upon them. Moreover, Capote’s representation of them as the stereotypical family proved to show how back then most people were just as optimistic about the future like the Clutter
