Gilligan's Violence Analysis

To the healthy human mind, the devilish act of committing any form of terrorism seems unimaginable. However, to Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, these ideas were nothing short of everyday thoughts. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold had an uneasy past, both having experienced run-ins with law enforcement, occasional bullying in school, and frequent lack of parental assistance at home. Ultimately, these three key factors resulted in built up rage, violent outbursts, and eventual threatening outcomes. In Gilligan’s Violence: Reflections On A National Epidemic, these factors are recommended to be “discharged periodically or they will build up to the point where they explode spontaneously and uncontrollably” (Gilligan 211). In Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold’s case, however, these factors

Their plan, told so by History.com, was “originally to bomb their school, potentially killing hundreds of people” (History.com Staff 1). The bombs, placed in unmarked duffle bags across the cafeteria floor, were set to explode at the busiest time of lunch. Although this attempt failed, the original plan was to kill as many students as possible in the explosions, and to execute any remaining survivors. In the three years before the Columbine massacre, there have been ten occurrences of American teenagers carrying out gun attacks on their schools. None of these did more than five individuals die, but Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold sent out to kill hundreds. Every aspect of the students’ lives has been examined in the search for the main cause of how they could carry out violence with such premeditation and cold ruthlessness. However, throughout the course of the examination, no one figured that the inhumane attack would result from the hidden shame haunting both Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris that dreadful Tuesday