The Mentality of a Murderer
It's only the fifth week of school so far, and I'm already beginning to feel the stress of junior year creeping in on me. With afternoon marching band rehearsals, late night football games and early morning competitions, and six hours of AP Chem homework every Sunday, my hands are definitely pretty full right now. However, I am extremely grateful for the opportunity independent reading time has given me to keep up with my reading. Even with my busy schedule, I am still able to read in small increments throughout the day such as when I am on the bus to school or after school before marching band rehearsal. So far, I have read for about 400 minutes and have finished my first book this year, Columbine by Dave Cullen, and have started reading Lost in the Meritocracy by Walter Kirn. Both of these books are nonfiction books, which is outside the category of books I usually read, but I decided to start reading more nonfiction after the positive experience I had with my summer read, In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. Columbine in particular was a fairly difficult read due to its length(400+ pages with afterword and epilogue) as well as depth of analysis into the characters' psychology. It is a historical non-fiction book which describes the events that occurred in the school shooting in Columbine, Colorado in 1999 which would pave the way for later events such as Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook and establish the school shooting as a distinctly American phenomena. I was interested in reading the book because I wanted to understand the motivation behind school shootings and to see whether or not many of the popular theories regarding topics such as bullying and goths held any water. Needless to say, what I ended up discovering was vastly different from what I had expected.
In Columbine, Cullen weaves a tale of two troubled teenagers, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who incite one of the worst high-school shootings in American history. Right off the bat, Cullen quickly discredits the idea that Eric and Dylan were loners and rejects who wanted revenge against other students who were tormenting them. Cullen claims that "We remember Columbine as a pair of outcast Goths from the Trench Coat Mafia snapping and tearing through their high school hunting down jocks to settle a long-running feud. Almost none of that happened. No Goths, no outcasts, nobody snapping. No targets, no feud, and no Trench Coat Mafia. Most of those elements existed at Columbine--which is what gave them such currency. They just had nothing to do with the murders"(302). In fact, the book describes both Eric and Dylan as being popular among the other students and having many friends, which was slightly troubling to me. I guess it just goes to show that the stereotypes we typically make about school shooters are not entirely accurate and that each one is unique in his/her motives and goals. In fact, I believe that the stereotype is actually harmful in that it creates a preconceived notion of what a school shooter should look like, so people's guards are often left down when confronted by an actual school shooter who does not meet the stereotype yet still has a desire to harm others. Another problem illustrated by the situation in Columbine is the fact that people are often quick to make judgments about people or events without knowing the full scope of things. They mistakenly associate correlation with causation and jump to misguided conclusions, as seen by the fact that many people believed and still believe to this day that Columbine was caused by bullying or the Trench Coat Mafia or etc. The truth, however, as Cullen reveals throughout the story, has nothing to do with any of these theories. Ultimately, the motivation for the killers came from their own twisted mental states and had little to do with their experiences at school. Eric was a sadistic, cunning psychopath who believed that other humans were so inferior to him that they all deserved to die. Eric was the driving force behind Columbine, and it was his lack of empathy towards others which made him so destructive and manipulative. As Cullen puts it,"the fundamental nature of a psychopath is a failure to feel" (488). Eric's goal was to strike out against humanity as a whole by creating widespread terror throughout society. Dylan, on the other hand, was a suicidal depressant who was full of self-loathing and vengeance. His hot-temper and volatile nature made him the perfect partner for Eric to manipulate into committing murder. Together, their goal was to terrorize the society which they had developed a deep resentment towards by planning a event which they hoped would surpass the Oklahoma City Bombing in terms of the amount of casualties it would produce and the destruction it would cause. For both of the killers, the motivations for the shooting came from within. While other factors may have escalated their path towards violence, they both had their own grievances against humanity ingrained deep into their minds which made them genuinely believe that others deserved to die. They both had mental issues in that Eric was a classic example of a psychopath whereas Dylan suffered from severe depression and regularly had suicidal thoughts. This trend of mental illness is one we have seen time and time again among mass-shooters, from Adam Lanza to Seung-Hui Cho to James Holmes. Oftentimes, these killers do not even view the act of murder as being morally wrong but rather justify it as a means to advance their own interests. It is precisely this flawed thinking which makes these killers so unpredictable and dangerous and causes them to threaten the very safety of our own daily lives. And although one might argue that the vast majority of mentally ill people do not commit mass murder, the vast majority of those who do commit mass murder are to some degree mentally ill. In order to for us to provide treatment to people with mental disorders, we must first understand the symptoms and effects of their condition. Incidents such as Columbine can offer us greater insight into fully understanding the signs of mental disorder and treating it effectively in the future to prevent these tragic acts of violence.
Columbine Ted Talk
This video is a TED talk that Sue Klebold, the mother of Dylan Klebold, made many years after the events at Columbine. Sue discusses the steps she could have taken to try to help her son through his depression and to steer him away from violence. She has since become an advocate of mental health awareness and intervention and addresses the relationship between mental health and violence in her speech, which is one of the main factors that played into Dylan and Eric's role in the shooting. By sharing her experience as the mother of one of the shooters, she hopes to bring increased awareness to the subject of mental health and help prevent school shootings in the future.
Citations:
Cullen, Dave. Columbine. New York: Twelve, 2009. Print.(MLA)
Klebold, Sue. “My Son Was a Columbine Shooter. This Is My Story.” Sue Klebold: My Son Was a Columbine Shooter. This Is My Story | TED Talk, TED, Nov. 2016, www.ted.com/talks/sue_klebold_my_son_was_a_columbine_shooter_this_is_my_story(MLA)
In Columbine, Cullen weaves a tale of two troubled teenagers, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who incite one of the worst high-school shootings in American history. Right off the bat, Cullen quickly discredits the idea that Eric and Dylan were loners and rejects who wanted revenge against other students who were tormenting them. Cullen claims that "We remember Columbine as a pair of outcast Goths from the Trench Coat Mafia snapping and tearing through their high school hunting down jocks to settle a long-running feud. Almost none of that happened. No Goths, no outcasts, nobody snapping. No targets, no feud, and no Trench Coat Mafia. Most of those elements existed at Columbine--which is what gave them such currency. They just had nothing to do with the murders"(302). In fact, the book describes both Eric and Dylan as being popular among the other students and having many friends, which was slightly troubling to me. I guess it just goes to show that the stereotypes we typically make about school shooters are not entirely accurate and that each one is unique in his/her motives and goals. In fact, I believe that the stereotype is actually harmful in that it creates a preconceived notion of what a school shooter should look like, so people's guards are often left down when confronted by an actual school shooter who does not meet the stereotype yet still has a desire to harm others. Another problem illustrated by the situation in Columbine is the fact that people are often quick to make judgments about people or events without knowing the full scope of things. They mistakenly associate correlation with causation and jump to misguided conclusions, as seen by the fact that many people believed and still believe to this day that Columbine was caused by bullying or the Trench Coat Mafia or etc. The truth, however, as Cullen reveals throughout the story, has nothing to do with any of these theories. Ultimately, the motivation for the killers came from their own twisted mental states and had little to do with their experiences at school. Eric was a sadistic, cunning psychopath who believed that other humans were so inferior to him that they all deserved to die. Eric was the driving force behind Columbine, and it was his lack of empathy towards others which made him so destructive and manipulative. As Cullen puts it,"the fundamental nature of a psychopath is a failure to feel" (488). Eric's goal was to strike out against humanity as a whole by creating widespread terror throughout society. Dylan, on the other hand, was a suicidal depressant who was full of self-loathing and vengeance. His hot-temper and volatile nature made him the perfect partner for Eric to manipulate into committing murder. Together, their goal was to terrorize the society which they had developed a deep resentment towards by planning a event which they hoped would surpass the Oklahoma City Bombing in terms of the amount of casualties it would produce and the destruction it would cause. For both of the killers, the motivations for the shooting came from within. While other factors may have escalated their path towards violence, they both had their own grievances against humanity ingrained deep into their minds which made them genuinely believe that others deserved to die. They both had mental issues in that Eric was a classic example of a psychopath whereas Dylan suffered from severe depression and regularly had suicidal thoughts. This trend of mental illness is one we have seen time and time again among mass-shooters, from Adam Lanza to Seung-Hui Cho to James Holmes. Oftentimes, these killers do not even view the act of murder as being morally wrong but rather justify it as a means to advance their own interests. It is precisely this flawed thinking which makes these killers so unpredictable and dangerous and causes them to threaten the very safety of our own daily lives. And although one might argue that the vast majority of mentally ill people do not commit mass murder, the vast majority of those who do commit mass murder are to some degree mentally ill. In order to for us to provide treatment to people with mental disorders, we must first understand the symptoms and effects of their condition. Incidents such as Columbine can offer us greater insight into fully understanding the signs of mental disorder and treating it effectively in the future to prevent these tragic acts of violence.
Columbine Ted Talk
This video is a TED talk that Sue Klebold, the mother of Dylan Klebold, made many years after the events at Columbine. Sue discusses the steps she could have taken to try to help her son through his depression and to steer him away from violence. She has since become an advocate of mental health awareness and intervention and addresses the relationship between mental health and violence in her speech, which is one of the main factors that played into Dylan and Eric's role in the shooting. By sharing her experience as the mother of one of the shooters, she hopes to bring increased awareness to the subject of mental health and help prevent school shootings in the future.
Citations:
Cullen, Dave. Columbine. New York: Twelve, 2009. Print.(MLA)
Klebold, Sue. “My Son Was a Columbine Shooter. This Is My Story.” Sue Klebold: My Son Was a Columbine Shooter. This Is My Story | TED Talk, TED, Nov. 2016, www.ted.com/talks/sue_klebold_my_son_was_a_columbine_shooter_this_is_my_story(MLA)
I was impressed with how you blended both of the quotes in so well with each other to where there was a doubled sided opinion about the book. I am really curious about researching more on how normal human beings develop dangerous mental states that were not innate. The Ted talk was really interesting because the author took a perspective of fault but appeared to be making an impact on developing methods of preventing violent action among the depressed or mentally troubled.
ReplyDeleteNice analysis and connection to a current situation. It's very interesting how preconceived notions, which make us feel somewhat safer, can actually lead to our detriment. I'd like to know more about the ways that mental health can snowball into events like these.
ReplyDeleteI'm impressed with how much you have read given your busy life right now. I found the Ted talk interesting because it talked about how the tragedy gave the the mother panic attacks years afterwards. I'm curious to see what your next blog will talk about.
ReplyDeleteThis book really interests me based on your blog because it gives an inside perspective into a very famous event. One thing that impressed me was your ability to overcome struggles and extracurriculars to read some much. Your blog now made me very curious about the psychology involved in violence and what we need to do to prevent it.
ReplyDeleteGreat job Bruce. I was interested in the lives of the perpetrators of Columbine before they committed the crime. What impressed me the most was how you connected the event in the novel to a controversial issue: mental health awareness. I am curious to learn more about the event that took away numerous lives.
ReplyDeleteI'm impressed by the large amount of time you dedicated to reading despite your busy schedule. It was interesting how these killers didn't murder to get revenge or due to other motivations, but rather it was just their mental state. I'm curious to learn if these shooters without any real motives can actually be stopped.
ReplyDeleteYour comment about the role of mental illness in mass shootings is well-balanced. We don't want to assume the worst of all people with depression or other mental challenges, but we also must recognize that when people express violent tendencies, we should take them seriously. Dylan might have been helped in some healthy way instead of finding escape through Eric's destructive plan. Now Eric and other socio/psychopaths...I don't know if they can be helped. That's a much scarier question to address.
ReplyDeleteBefore I read your post I too was under the misconception that the events that happened at Columbine was an effect of the stereotypical story that society has fed to me, and I was genuinely intrigued by the new perspective you shined a light on. It never even considered to me that maybe it wasn’t as cut and dry as it seemed. I especially agreed with your statement that by neglecting to see other possibilities we let our guard down, and this thought raised new questions for me. If events such as these aren’t obviously spotted how can we even begin to prevent such situations. Sure psychologically, they were damaged but the outside world had no indication of this so how can we begin to combat this. Especially in the case of Eric, we can’t perceive the world the way he did so how do we stop this. Do I have the answer to this? No. But I believe opening up a conversation that has all the facts, as you did, is the best way to prevent future instances. Otherwise the minds of these shooters stay alien to us. ;)
ReplyDelete