One of the fascinating aspects of school shooters is that they are often good students. Contrary to what we might expect, they are not kids who are on the low end of the academic spectrum. School shooters are not academic failures—they are bright, and sometimes even gifted. Dylan Klebold spent several years in a program for gifted children. Michael Carneal had an IQ in the superior range. Eric Harris was a good student who was an active participant in class and received consistent praise from his teachers.
Apart from the general intelligence of the school shooters I’ve studied, I was struck by the fact that several of them quoted Shakespeare or referred to his works in their writings. What can we learn about the shooters from their Shakespearean references?
Let’s start with Eric Harris. There are two Shakespearean references in his private writings (I’m not counting an essay on Macbeth that he wrote for class—there are no apparent revelations about Eric in his paper). The first reference is a quotation from The Tempest: “Good wombs have born bad sons.” Eric wrote this in his school planner on the day marked “Mother’s Day” (he also reportedly recited the line on a video he made about the upcoming attack). This is a fascinating quote for him to choose. It suggests that he saw himself as having been born “bad.” The implication is that nothing in his environment made him the way he was—not family problems or kids at school—he was simply born that way.
In The Tempest, the line is spoken by Miranda as she listens to Prospero (her father) tell her of his brother’s misconduct. Just as there are two brothers in the play—the noble Prospero and his evil brother—so there were two Harris brothers. Kevin Harris, by numerous accounts, was an outstanding young man. He reportedly was a good student, an excellent athlete, and a young man who was liked and respected. His brother became a mass murderer. Eric’s writing “Good wombs have born bad sons” in his planner on Mother’s Day implies that he viewed himself as the evil product of a good mother.
Eric also made another reference to The Tempest. He complained about people who “criticize anyone who isn’t one your social words, ‘normal’ or ‘civilized’ – see: Tempest and Caliban.” Common themes in Eric’s writing are the criticism of civilization and its values and the celebration of instinct and nature (I address this on my website in the article “Influences on the Ideology of Eric Harris,” which explores his interest in the ideas of Hobbes, Nietzsche, and others).
In The Tempest, Caliban is an uncivilized, primitive creature. He is tamed and controlled by Prospero, who has taught Caliban to speak and has tried to “civilize” him. Caliban, in pursuing his instinctual desire, tried to rape Miranda. This is interesting in light of the fact that Eric’s journal records his fantasies of raping girls he knew. Eric’s identification with Caliban is consistent with his rejection of morality and social values, and his celebration of instinct and the will to have power over others.
What Eric's Shakespearean quote and reference demonstrate is the significance of his reactions to literature. It is probably safe to say that few people would identify with Caliban. Eric's reference to him reveals something about his own values—or lack of them. Also, his quoting the line about bad sons is highly revealing. In the midst of all the focus on environmental factors that might have caused Columbine, Eric left us with evidence that he viewed himself as simply having been born bad.
