She had then send poor Perry to a Catholic orphanage. There, Perry was mercilessly beat by nuns who punished him for small things like wetting his bed. After such an experience, Perry began to resent nuns, religion and God, altogether. He was kicked out of the Catholic orphanage and sent "somewhere worseA children's shelter operated by the Salvation Army."(Pg.132). The nurse at the shelter had no love for him either--for wetting the bed and for having a Native American mother. The "evil bastard" would fill a tub with ice-cold water and hold helpless Perry under the water "until he turned blue". He inevitably got sick with pneumonia (Pg.132). Perry's childhood was filled with abandonment, abuse and neglect. His horrible mother constantly "threw him away" from orphanage to shelter (the next one being worse than the previous) --trying to get rid of him somewhere so she wouldn't have his "burden". No one should be treated like that. He had grown up in a very dysfunctional world, with an almost non-existent sense of self-worth or self-respect. It led to an emotional imbalance in his life, leading to cause bigger problems for him as an adult. This ultimately led to affect his mental health, resulting in his loss of control during the murders. .
Throughout the novel, we read about Perry being a child trapped in a grown man's body. Perry dreams of "buried treasure" and adventures around the world. His ever active imagination even attracts Dick's attention. Even he seems to notice something strange about his partner in crime. "There was something wrong with Little Perry" said Dick, "always wetting his bed and crying in his sleepsit for hours just sucking his thumb and poring over them phony damn treasure guides". Dick also noticed his emotionally instability. He would describe Perry to be "spooky as hellready to kill you, but you'd never know it"(Pg. 108). Perry's childhood had indubitably led to concerning, questionable actions in his adult years.
