Shawna’s Reviews > Columbine > Status Update

Summarize- Eric was categorized as a psychopath which makes a lot of sense of why he is the way he is. Eric was categorized as both a malevolent psychopath and tyrannical. I think something I learned is that Eric was born that way. His parents didn't do anything to make him a psychopath. He was born with less emotion and some of these traits that put him in that category.

Connection- "The six-month anniversary was unnerving. Surveillance video of the killers roaming the cafeteria had just been leaked to CBS."
I can't imagine coming back to school and still being reminded of what happened. I can't relate to this at all, but I am thankful of that. These students had to go through so much even six months after the shooting happened.

Ask- "Dylan expected to be dead soon." This is a very powerful statement. I wonder if Dylan ever doubted going through with the shooting or if he had even just a little bit of hope that he could make it without going through with the shooting???

Favorites- "Students had two hours to go back inside and retrieve their backpacks and cell phones and everything else they had abandoned when they ran for it." I can't image having the courage to do this. This inspires me because for these kids to do this it takes a lot of strength and they definitely seem like they have it.

Connection- "Eric took giddy pleasure in his deceptions. 'I lie a lot,' he wrote."
I am very different from Eric because he constantly lies about things and feels no remorse at all for his lies. He barely shows emotion and likes the thrill of lying and manipulating people. I don't like lying to people and if I do I would feel remorse especially if I told lies as bad as Eric's.

Favorites- Something I have learned from this book so far is that the media significantly played a huge role in these Columbine families lives because they had to deal with reporters and people twisting stories left and right. This is what makes their journey ten times more difficult. Seeing it on TV and in the newspaper makes it way harder to start moving on.

Summarize- Many investigators are saying how eyewitness testimony is very inaccurate in general. When students claimed they knew what the shooter looked like, it may have been mixed up with a person they even saw running. Their perception can be that distorted. This was interesting to me because I didn't know that the witnesses usually recalled less once the killers approached them, not more.

Prediction- The families at Columbine High School are going to want to blame someone for this tragedy. Since Eric and Dylan are gone, I predict their families are going to be the ones blamed and this is going to be very hard for them since they had no idea their sons had been planning this for over a year.

Connection- "Wayne did not appreciate that. He would do anything to protect his sons' futures." My parents definitely would do the same for me and my siblings but maybe this was why Wayne, Eric's father, was blind to Eric being extremely manipulative as well as blind to what Eric was capable of doing.