No Easy Answers: The Truth Behind Death At Columbine By Brooks Brown
Cheyenne Crook
Sociology 220
08 November 2014
Book Review
No Easy Answers: The Truth behind Death at Columbine is a non-fiction novel, written by Brooks Brown, which provides insight to the behind-the-scenes factor to the Columbine High School shooting in Littleton, Colorado. On April 20th of 1999, two high school boys, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, entered their local high school by storm with shot guns and homemade pipe bombs. Before turning their weapons on themselves, Harris and Klebold killed twelve of their fellow classmates, one teacher, and left twenty-four others injured and wounded. In this novel, author Brooks Brown who once befriended the two distressed, teenage gunmen, goes into detail of his encounter with the shootings and …show more content…
Harris and Klebold were often the victims of irrational bully behavior, crude comments, and mindless insults. They were often referred to as the “trench coat mafia outcasts,” just because they differed slightly from their classmates. When taking a look at Harris’ journal, he constantly referred back to the idiocy and moronic habits of peers. Brown suggested that it was almost a disgust that resided within Harris that fueled his hate and rage for his classmates. Now, while there is a large sliver of psychopathy behind Harris’ actions and reactions, intense bullying could also have planted the seed for that insipid contempt that he kept within himself. Since the shooting, many authorities have completely written off the possibility of bullying as a motive, as so many people have referred to the boys as “nice” and “well spoken,” as well as the fact that they both came from relatively well-off families. Unfortunately, the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control disagrees. In their latest publication, The Relationship Between Bullying and Suicide, specialists have proven a strong correlation between students who are bullied and turn around in turn to become bullies. It is said to instill a strong sense of empowerment, and that empowerment often goes straight to their head (Division of Violence Prevention, 2014). In this case, Harris and Klebold turned around and provided themselves with an extreme sense of empowerment, then turned their guns on themselves so that no one could ever take it from
Sociology 220
08 November 2014
Book Review
No Easy Answers: The Truth behind Death at Columbine is a non-fiction novel, written by Brooks Brown, which provides insight to the behind-the-scenes factor to the Columbine High School shooting in Littleton, Colorado. On April 20th of 1999, two high school boys, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, entered their local high school by storm with shot guns and homemade pipe bombs. Before turning their weapons on themselves, Harris and Klebold killed twelve of their fellow classmates, one teacher, and left twenty-four others injured and wounded. In this novel, author Brooks Brown who once befriended the two distressed, teenage gunmen, goes into detail of his encounter with the shootings and …show more content…
Harris and Klebold were often the victims of irrational bully behavior, crude comments, and mindless insults. They were often referred to as the “trench coat mafia outcasts,” just because they differed slightly from their classmates. When taking a look at Harris’ journal, he constantly referred back to the idiocy and moronic habits of peers. Brown suggested that it was almost a disgust that resided within Harris that fueled his hate and rage for his classmates. Now, while there is a large sliver of psychopathy behind Harris’ actions and reactions, intense bullying could also have planted the seed for that insipid contempt that he kept within himself. Since the shooting, many authorities have completely written off the possibility of bullying as a motive, as so many people have referred to the boys as “nice” and “well spoken,” as well as the fact that they both came from relatively well-off families. Unfortunately, the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control disagrees. In their latest publication, The Relationship Between Bullying and Suicide, specialists have proven a strong correlation between students who are bullied and turn around in turn to become bullies. It is said to instill a strong sense of empowerment, and that empowerment often goes straight to their head (Division of Violence Prevention, 2014). In this case, Harris and Klebold turned around and provided themselves with an extreme sense of empowerment, then turned their guns on themselves so that no one could ever take it from