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Essay / Before Everything Goes Wrong: Thematic Analysis of “Shooter”
A Boy. A weapon. This was all it took to provoke the tragic events of April 22. Author Walter Dean Myers explains all the details that led to the shooting in the novel Shooter. The story is composed primarily of interviews with teenagers Cameron and Carla. Their former friend, Leonard (Len) Gray, shot and killed student Brad Williams (Len's school bully) and later himself. The dramatic story teaches readers that they need to say something about the feelings they care about before it's too late. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay From the beginning of the story, Cameron knew that Len was different. When Cameron didn't participate in basketball tryouts, he kept his head down on the way home. Len sensed what he felt and went home with him, teasing him the whole way and making Cameron smile. “He made fun of me a lot, but he had a way of almost belittling you while smiling” (16). Cameron wasn't sure if Len was joking or not when he asked him to vandalize a church. “I didn't think it was going to matter much, so I went with him…I didn't feel good, but I did it” (27-28). This was one of Cameron's first meetings without protesting Len. He remained silent, which gave Len the wrong idea of how he felt. Len had a misunderstanding about Cameron's views on the church vandalism since Cameron was too scared to say anything. However, many other controversial events arise in history. When Len drives Cameron to a place where he liked to hang out, the shooting happens. carried, Cameron immediately felt uncomfortable. He didn't feel very good holding such a powerful weapon in his hands, but he still accompanied Len regularly. But one day, the men there thought it would be funny to photograph a picture of Martin Luther King Jr. “I didn't like it… Maybe because I knew I was putting my black status aside. Only, I really couldn't, you know... (My father) said that's the way business was done. He said people were testing you to see if you could stay focused on your business…” (24-25). This passage shows that society is very biased. You want to fit in with what everyone else is doing. Most people don't have the courage to stand out, but if you do (just like Martin Luther King Jr.), it can really make a difference in your life or someone else's life. The more Cameron remained silent, the more serious the events became. Len's other friend, Carla, decided one day to go to the shooting range with Cameron and Len. Cameron and Carla had no idea what Len had prepared for them, but Len seemed very excited. They took down suspicious bags that Len had set up and later realized they had killed live turtles. Carla immediately became angry and left. Cameron's unstable feelings about what Len found "fun" began to grow. Cameron had many thoughts running through his head, but again he kept his own opinions. He didn't know what Len would do next. Cameron knew it didn't feel very good to hold a gun in the first place, but taking lives? This has been taken to a whole new level. If Cameron had said something at the shooting range, it could have taken a whole new direction in Len's life. Cameron had a huge influence on Len, and just saying something about his thoughts could have an impact on his life. THE.