Columbine is a nonfiction book about the mass shooting at Columbine High School in 1999 told through the investigation of former journalist Dave Cullen. Dave Cullen carefully analyzed and described the tragic events that took place at Columbine High School. Not only does Columbine describe the horrific moments of the shooting as it took place, but it explains the events leading up to the shooting and the aftermath. By explaining the minds of the shooters, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebod, as well as the general life of other students at Columbine High School, Dave Cullen is able to provide a unique insight into the minds of mass murderers to help people better understand why 2 high school boys would cause so much destruction and heartbreak. Eric Harris was a smart, rebellious, and charming young man who seemed reliable and headstrong. On the other hand, Dylan Klebod was a shy, self-conscious, and emotionally charged (unreliable) young man. Their differences were highlighted by an encounter Dylan had with Dean Peter Horvath after Dylan was caught vandalizing a freshman’s locker, “When Dean Peter Horvath called him down, Dylan went ballistic. He cussed the dean out, bounced off the walls, acted like a nutcase. Eric could have talked his way out with apologies, evasions, or claims of innocence – whatever that subject was susceptible to. He read people quickly and tailored his responses. Eric was unflappable; Dylan erupted. He had no clue what Dean Horvath would respond to, nor did he care. He was pure emotion. Logic was irrelevant” (Cullen 18). Both boys were intelligent, but often Dylan was too emotional to think things through whereas Eric analyzed everything he did. Despite their many differences, Eric and Dylan were best friends. They were both math wizards who adored technology, they both resented authority figures, and they were both frustrated with their classmates who they viewed as incompetent. Dylan and Eric continued on their daily life as well as planning their future as if they hadn’t been planning on dying for several weeks. Dylan had planned to go to University of Arizona to become a computer engineer and even picked out a dorm room. In contrast, Eric had told his parents he was not interested in college but responded to a Marine recruiter to appease them. Shortly before the shooting, Eric and Dylan had been described as different; skipping classes more classes than normal: missing homework assignments, and falling asleep in class. Eric was curiously unemotional as well as consistently frustrated for no given reason. Their behavioral changes were so subtle no one in their wildest dreams could have imagined what awful thing they were about to do. This rare look into the minds of serial killers provides a thorough psychoanalysis that accurately explains the reasoning behind the worst school shooting in American history.
|
BooksAll the Light We Cannot See Archives
February 2016
|