Shooter

“I guess we don’t really talk that much. When we do talk—usually it’s about something—maybe about their jobs or something. They talk about their jobs a lot.”

This passage shows the lack of communication in Cameron’s family. His parents are too obsessed with their jobs and financial status to focus on Cameron’s well-being. In addition, Cameron mentions his parents traveling a lot for work and not being around. As a successful businessman, Cameron’s father also puts a lot of pressure on Cameron to measure up to him in everything. Myers shows how neglect is also a form of familial abuse.

“He was really mad—not like in his head, but in his body. His shoulders were shaking and his hands were trembling. There was a kid in school who was taking some drug., I think it was Librium or Prozac, something. […] That was what Len went back to school for.”

Len turns to drugs anytime something causes stress or anxiety in his life. Though Myers doesn’t say that drugs caused Len to become a killer, he implies that they are one factor among several.

“[Bullying] was pretty constant. Once you became a target, they kept zeroing in on you. Did you ever see that video game where the guy tries to run across the screen, hiding behind rocks and stuff? And every time you shoot him, he stops and changes direction? If you shoot him enough times, he goes back and forth like a real jerk. That’s what it was like sometimes at Madison.”

Cameron describes the relentlessness of the bullying that both he and Len faced. This passage shows Cameron’s vulnerability. Instead of being defensive or evasive, he opens up about the hurt and powerlessness of being a victim.