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In Cold Blood vs. Columbine Essay examples

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The senseless murders of innocent people. Two males. Outcasts. Mentally ill.
Paranoid schizophrenics.
The deaths of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas on November 15, 1959 as portrayed by Truman Capote in his classic work “In Cold Blood?” Or the violent slaughter of classmates at Columbine High School nearly a half century later?
Two males? Check.
Outcasts? Check.
Mentally ill? Check.
Paranoid schizophrenics? Check.
If Richard Hickok and Perry Smith were somehow to travel in time to Columbine
High School as teenagers as the century was about to turn, they could have easily morphed into Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, taking innocent lives in a society that breeds contempt – if looking for it.
However, if Dylan Klebold and Eric…show more content…
Both slaughters were horrific. Both senseless. The murder described in “In Cold Blood” by Truman Capote shocked the world. Hardworking people – like the Clutter family – and in small towns – similar to Holcomb, Kansas – they were the simplest of people, and they just did not get slaughtered for no reason. The shooting at Columbine was similar to this in that there was no actual reason for the mass murder of fourteen innocent lives. The shooters were bullied, but can we say that is an excuse for the crime? No, of course not. The shooting at Columbine also stunned the world, it also ripped out the heart of every man, woman, and children. The world stopped. Things like this were not supposed to happen. Children – whether they be in elementary school or college – should never feel unsafe and unprotected as they did on the day of the shooting. Just as small town families that had little to do with anything of grave importance, they suddenly felt vulnerable. They began to imagine, “That murdered family could have been us, they were just like us.” People in colleges at the time of Columbine began to think, “Kids are bullied here too, what says that they won’t snap just like at Columbine? Are we safe?” No one can say for sure that if the murders of the Clutter family were sent into the time of Columbine that they could have potentially been the two boys at Columbine, or vice versa. However, it is far more likely that these two
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