Why Family Unity?

So far I’m interested in the Truman Capote´s In Cold Blood book. I do have to admit that he is very descriptive and I want for him to get faster to the points. He uses narration and exposition to present the all of the members that make up the Clutter family. The author takes all of the first fifteen pages of the book to describe his family, I don’t know about you but I think that the family unity is going to have a huge impact through out the book. Why else will he spend so much time describing every trait of every member of the family? I’m really curious on what role is going to play Bonnie, Kansas, and the rest of the characters described.

What I found interesting was that as he described each member he was able show us that they all lived as a one and that they were self-sufficient. He states, “Other than a housekeeper who came in on weekdays, the Clutters employed no household help…” (9). On the other hand we can see how Mrs. Cluster was a psychiatric patient but the rest of her family members were taking physical care of her, as well as helping her maintaining a clean reputation. Capote states, “She was nervous, she suffered little spells-- such were the sheltering expressions used by those close to her” (7).  It seems to me that they have all the characteristics for having the base of a strong family. But, I ask myself again, why so much importance on family unity?