Blog Post #3: QUOTES!!

In class, we have been practicing DED questions. In my blog, I will continue to ask these questions, only connecting them through interesting quotes throughout the text. In my previous blogs, I've informed readers I am reading the novel, Columbine, by Dave Cullen.

• ""The crosses ask an implicit question," Rocky Mountain News columnist Mike Littwin wrote. "Are you ready to forgive?"

In this quote, I see a question that I feel was asked numerous times among the community after the Columbine shooting. Cullen constantly explains the hurt, permanent physical damage, and trauma many of these students attending Columbine High School still feel. Because the community was so religiously based, many people depended on forgiveness to move on. Saying this, the quote written above asked just this. I find it a decision that had to be made by digging deep and finding it in your heart to forgive, because I don't know if I could've.

• ""There was this one couple, they just poured out their hearts," he recalled. "Their sons used to play with Dylan when the boys were little. They loved Dylan.""

I found this quote a bit disturbing and sort of upsetting. Dylan was one of the two shooters. Although he is described as the more calm killer, I still feel like signs of a killer should show early and nobody picked them up. I also find it strange that Dylan didn't show many signs at all when he was young. You would think that an adult would pick up on out of the ordinary actions from a young child.

• "Length of severity and exposure increased their odds of mental health trouble down the road, but long-term responses were highly varied, depending on each individual. Some kids who had been in the library during the shootings would turn out fine, while others who had been off to Wendy's would be traumatized for years."

This fact in the text was very interesting to me. Many psychiatrists studied the Columbine students over the years after the mass murder. Although this may seem bizaar, it's nothing less than the truth. I was extremely absorbed in this not just because the truth of it but because how strange people seem. You would think it would be the other way around, but respecting how people are different is so important in cases like these. It's good to see that the school is so understanding, especially with the severity of the situation.

On Calli's blog, she asked:
1. How would you deal with the pain of losing a family member?I would respond to this question with very few correct words to say. I feel like I would probably just take things day by day because there isn't an actual healing process that's the same for everyone. The question is kind of personal, which I understand because Columbine is written in a very personal view. I really don't know what I would do if I lost someone in my family. I can imagine I'd be angry at the person who took them away from me, but everyone's greiving process is different, and I couldn't tell you until I was actually put in that position. Devistated is probably the most accurate word to use to decribe how I'd feel.