Before It All Goes Wrong: Thematic Analysis of "Shooter" Katherine Li 8th Grade

One boy. One gun. That was all it took for the tragic events of April twenty- second. Author Walter Dean Myers explains all of the details leading up to the shooting incident in the novel Shooter. The story is made from mostly 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 should say something about their feelings they feel strongly about before it’s too late.

From the start of the story, Cameron knew Len was different. When Cameron didn’t make the basketball tryouts, he hung his head down as he walked home. Len sensed how he felt, and walked home with him, teasing him all the way and making Cameron smile. “He kidded me a lot, but he had a way of almost putting you down but smiling as he did it” (16). Cameron wasn’t sure if Len was joking or not though when he asked him to vandalize a church. “I didn’t think it was going to matter much, so I went in with him… I didn’t feel good about it, but I got through it” (27-28). This was one of the first encounters of Cameron not protesting against Len. He stayed mute, and as a result gave Len the wrong idea of how he felt. Len...