An Introduction to the Columbine Massacre

When I think of Columbine, right away I think of the two ruthless high school students who went on a shooting rampage and killed innocent teachers and students. The book "Columbine" brings a different perspective to the story, and provides more detail than I've ever seen on what happened on that fateful day. The book takes an in depth look at the people that went to the school and the two boys who were involved in the shooting, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. The book starts out with the dean of the school telling all of the students before their senior prom to be safe and make smart decisions. This made me feel very connected to the school because a lot of times people forget that Columbine was a normal, good, high school and very similar to ours. That is what makes this incident so much scarier. When looking at the two killers Eric was definitely the more destructive one. He had always fantasized of killing and destroying people. Always was a fan and admirer of Hitler and Nazis and felt the world would be a better place if he were just alone. The book does a good job of showing how Eric feels on the inside because on the outside he had a good group of friends and was not a loner. All of Eric's friends knew he was crazy, however they liked him. Dylan on the other hand was much shyer than Eric. He was a very bright kid who also had two very loving parents who treated him very well. Erica and Dylan were a tag team duo who enjoyed playing video games, watching and making movies, and occasionally getting into trouble. From the outside, these kids did not look like killers. They looked more like teenagers that liked to cause ruckus. The author was not trying to make you sympathize with these teenagers, however he was trying to shine a different light than how the media usually portrayed the killers.