Columbine By Eric Harris Personal Response

One possible theme of the novel, Columbine, would be two-faced. Eric and Dylan tricked

everyone. Everyone who knew them or had a class with them thought they were just quiet,

smart kids who had a different taste of style, music, and fun. Eric and Dylan pulled the wool over

everyone’s eyes, until that day they showed their true inner self at Columbine.

B. Eric Harris was a chick-magnet, fun, smart guy. He was a smooth talker which in turn could get

him out of something or get him privileges to something. Eric loved Nazi ideas and German rock

music. He wore cargo pants and combat boots to complement his military home and attitude.

Eric was mentally psychopathic, but never showed outside his journal and website.

C. This book was

very hard to read because of the dark and vivid material. The author included the

anger of parents and arguments that broke out over the shooting which made it harder to read.

It was harder to read because from this side of the book they hardly paid tribute the thirteen

and the many injured besides from Cassie and Patrick. They were so focused on the media and

the crosses for the shooters that they didn’t pay attention to the victims and the students that

were involved. The most memorable passage to me was when Patrick Ireland was crawling over

bodies, blood, and glass towards the window to get out. Thankfully the swat team was there to

get him over and bring him to safety. On the other hand, the most difficult to read was the

description of how Eric and Dylan killed themselves. It was extremely vivid and heartbreaking all

at the same time.

D. I don’t think the book glorifies Eric and Dylan as these incredible mass murders. It shows them

as puck kids who were just angry at the world. Eric believed he was the fittest and deserved to

lived, but was willing to give himself up to kill who he thought was weak. Dylan just thought that

the only way out was suicide. I don’t think it will encourage copycats to this scale, but there is a

possibility that in someone’s anger this will erupt because it’s already in their

head.

E. The author effectively characterized Eric and Dylan as normal teenage boys. Most boys this age

work, have nicknames from each other with an inside joke underneath, and most go or will go to

prom in the near future. This made them more frightening because they were so typical. This

makes you think what other “typical” people are really thinking, and this made their actions

harder to understand.

They were smart and possibly had a good shot at college and career, and

could have made their lives a lot better if they had tried.

F. Dylan changed the most in the last two years of his life. He never really had the idea of mass

murder until he met and grew closer to Eric, who wanted to top the number count at Waco.

Dylan slowly progressed into the mass murder under the leadership of Eric. Dylan went from

just suicide as a way to get out to revenge based anger like Eric’s. Eric always had hate and

didn’t care who he hurt, but Dylan changed dramatically over the course of two years.

G. Only Eric and Dylan are responsible for the killing at Columbine, but their parents and friends

have a reason to fell guilty. Their parents and friends fell guilty because Eric and Dylan accidently

gave hints of their idea that should have been handled, but in their defense they couldn’t have

known because Eric and Dylan were “typical” and played everything off so well. I think Eric’s and

Dylan’s parents still feel guilty. They’re probably guilty that all this was taking place in their

home down the hall, but at the time didn’t think anything about it. Plus they might feel guilty

for

letting their children get to that point of anger and hate.

H. I consider Patrick Ireland a hero in the book. He had been through so much pain- physically and

mentally- and hardship to get to the point where he is today. Everything was going against him

physically with his brain and trying to move his legs and talk again, but pulled through and

defeated all the doubts and probabilities. This gave me a new perspective on determination. He

could have stayed in a wheelchair for the rest of his life, but he chose to make it work. He stood

on his wedding day without crutches or support, and that’s inspiring to see the amazing miracle

that happened in his life.