Columbine
Columbine Essay
Columbine is based upon years of research and hundreds of eyewitness accounts in an attempt to recreate the lives of the two perpetrators who carried out one of the worst school massacres in American history: Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. On April 20th, 1999, before turning their weapons on themselves, Eric and Dylan managed to kill 13 people and wound dozens of others in the horrific tragedy. Dave Cullen spent years of research and interviewing in a hope to shed light on the motives and perspectives of the killers. Often times the media will jump to conclusions and a consensus before there is sufficient evidence to make a factual stable claim. Cullen discredits almost all previous motives and causes to the shootout which were sugarcoated by the media and the press. He believes that although the two killers may have faced bullying, that was not the sole case. In fact, he claims that they may have in fact had psychological issues to begin with.
Eric Harris was described as a charming and impressionable young man. However, he was also conniving, arrogant, and often gloated about his ability to easily deceive other people. He was obsessed with fire, guns, and violent video games. He often acted out on his dark fantasies by drawing god like figures in war torn landscapes and writing all his frustration and anger into his personal journal. Cullen believed that Eric had a psychopathic tendency. Eric fully believed that he was superior to everyone else. He believed that his knowledge and intelligence was unattainable and unable to be understood by anyone but himself. He often wrote about genocide and the complete extinction of mankind within his journal. He was consumed by it.
Eric and Dylan’s relationship could easily be described as “a match made in hell.” Dylan was in no ways as psychotic as Eric was, he was simply extremely depressed. Whether he was always planning on killing himself is unknown. Dylan was extremely adept with computers and
Columbine is based upon years of research and hundreds of eyewitness accounts in an attempt to recreate the lives of the two perpetrators who carried out one of the worst school massacres in American history: Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. On April 20th, 1999, before turning their weapons on themselves, Eric and Dylan managed to kill 13 people and wound dozens of others in the horrific tragedy. Dave Cullen spent years of research and interviewing in a hope to shed light on the motives and perspectives of the killers. Often times the media will jump to conclusions and a consensus before there is sufficient evidence to make a factual stable claim. Cullen discredits almost all previous motives and causes to the shootout which were sugarcoated by the media and the press. He believes that although the two killers may have faced bullying, that was not the sole case. In fact, he claims that they may have in fact had psychological issues to begin with.
Eric Harris was described as a charming and impressionable young man. However, he was also conniving, arrogant, and often gloated about his ability to easily deceive other people. He was obsessed with fire, guns, and violent video games. He often acted out on his dark fantasies by drawing god like figures in war torn landscapes and writing all his frustration and anger into his personal journal. Cullen believed that Eric had a psychopathic tendency. Eric fully believed that he was superior to everyone else. He believed that his knowledge and intelligence was unattainable and unable to be understood by anyone but himself. He often wrote about genocide and the complete extinction of mankind within his journal. He was consumed by it.
Eric and Dylan’s relationship could easily be described as “a match made in hell.” Dylan was in no ways as psychotic as Eric was, he was simply extremely depressed. Whether he was always planning on killing himself is unknown. Dylan was extremely adept with computers and