The Unnecessary Death of Charlie Howard

October 7, 1998, 21-year-old Matthew Wayne Shepard was murdered in what is likely the most infamous anti-gay hate crimes in American History.

Charlie’s friendship with Jasper Jones, his parents, and witnessing the intolerance of Corrigan are the three biggest factors in Charlie's development from innocence to experience. Jasper Jones exposed him to fear and forced him to be brave and face his fears, the rampant intolerance in Corrigan, both racial and otherwise, exposed him to the injustices of the real world, and his relationship with his parents taught him to be diplomatic and control his

Charlie is very far from what most people call normal: he is shy, introverted, awkward, independent, paranoid, confused, respectable and kind; showing many examples of this throughout the book. He keeps to himself for the most part and is constantly in his own head. Aside from the many negative traits he also has many attributes: he is a loyal friend and listens to the people he talks to, he is a caring person and comforts those in need. However he has his flaws as well: Charlie can get very angry and upset at others which causes him to lash out with violence or sadness, he is extremely sensitive, crying frequently and constantly questioning himself. Several of his peers labeled him as nerd or a weirdo, which damaged

Before Charlie had the operation preformed on him, he had friends at the bakery he worked at. They were not really his friends because

Life for most homosexuals during the first half of the Twentieth century was one of hiding, being ever so careful to not give away their true feelings and predilections. Although the 1920s saw a brief moment of openness in American society, that was quickly destroyed with the progress of the Cold War, and by default, that of McCarthyism. The homosexuals of the 50s “felt the heavy weight of medical prejudice, police harassment and church condemnation … [and] were not able to challenge these authorities.” They were constantly battered, both physically and emotionally, by the society that surrounded them. The very mention or rumor of one’s homosexuality could lead to the loss of their family, their livelihood and, in some cases, their

Matthew Shepard was a 21-year- old homosexual college student who attended the University of Wyoming. He was brutally attacked to death

Having six siblings as a child, and being the youngest, not much attention was payed to him. His family was not very wealthy, and having five other siblings did not help. His father was in World War II,so he grew up most of the time with basically one other boy in the house, his older brother. Growing up, he was generally left to himself, so he was out of the house often, more and more as he grew up, with his friends. He did not play any organized sports, because their really was not enough time for it with so many children, although his brother was involved in Little League Baseball.

any positive influences in his early years of development and as a result he suffered to have an abnormal life (Perry 2013).

He grew up as the kid with the eagerness to learn and experience life along with the trait of intelligence which he used to his advantage. Sometimes he would give a random quote or fact out of the blue with no connection to the current topic. People would make fun of him out of jealousy to his knowledge

Had trouble connecting with children his age and as he entered school he was constantly bullied, often in front of girls.

The background of homosexuality in the 1940’s and 50’s was harsh, but people started to be opened toward the rights. There were criticisms toward homosexuality in the early days of Milk. Gay men carried the labels of mentally ill or

made him get bullied by his cousins.but as he got older he learned how to deal with his speech

make it to graduate High School they’ll either drop out, or just because it wasn’t for them. Even

Reading from when he dropped out, you would not think that much success would come to him. After he had gotten fired, he was lost for a while. He felt as if he let everyone down. It really dawned on him, but he knew he wanted to continue doing what he loved.

As high school begins, Charlie does not really have any friends. Although his sister is a senior, she is not interested in talking to him during school hours. Charlie attends a football game, where in middle school, he would go with his friend Michael. Unfortunately, Michael committed suicide, resulting in Charlie not having anyone to attend the game with.