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Character Analysis: The Laramie Project

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The Laramie Project THEA100_02 A great number of the characters in The Laramie Project have their lives become deeply impacted by all the events occurring after the murder of Matthew Shepard, a young homosexual man, due to a hate crime committed in the outskirts of Laramie, Wyoming. However, I will focus on two characters that I think had their life severely impacted or had major revelations in their own life after experiencing all aftermath effects that happened after the cruel killing of a young man. Those two characters include Officer Reggie Fluty and Jedadiah Schultz. Officer Reggie Fluty’s life was definitely impacted by the events following Matthew Shepard’s merciless beating because, not only did she respond to the 911 call …show more content…

Officer Reggie put her life on the line by using faulty protective gloves when trying to save a blood soaked Matthew which in turn made her susceptible to the unknown HIV virus Matthew had in his blood. Not only did the threat of obtaining HIV scare Officer Reggie, it also scared and impacted her family. The impact that Officer Reggie could have potentially had the virus greatly scared Officer Reggie’s mother, Marge Murray. The threat that Marge Murray’s daughter could have a life endangering disease all because the daughter tried saving a man who was beaten to near death by two twisted men is shown in the quote by Murray; “I just hope she doesn’t go before me. I just couldn’t handle that” (The Laramie Project 53). This quote also reveals that no one was left untouched by the hate crime committed against Matthew Shepard. Luckily by the play’s ending, Officer Reggie reveals that after multiple tests and treatments she is negative for HIV. Officer Reggie’s happiness and relief is shown in her statement, “…and everybody [police force and family] hugged and cried and, you know, I kissed everybody who walked through the door…” (The Laramie Project 85). If the horrible hate crimes committed against Matthew Shepard because of his sexual orientation were never committed, Officer Reggie’s life could have gone on without having to worry if she contacted a deadly disease all because she was trying to her duty as a police

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