Let the armchair psychoanalysis begin. The Virginia Tech shooter has a name and factoids about Cho Seung-Hui are starting to filter in.
We're learning he was quiet and disturbed. Evidence of his disturbed nature comes from accusations he set fire to his dorm, stalked women on campus and wrote alarming one-act plays for his playwriting class. He quoted lyrics from my favourite Guns N' Roses song in one such story in which a group of teenagers plot to kill a teacher who is ruining their lives.
These acts are typically performed by angry young men. Cho Seung-Hui was quiet, disturbed, a loner and very, very angry. I remember teenage anger. I remember that burning rage within and the rush that seemed to thrive off it. If you've never been a young man, you can't know this anger. It festers, it swells, and in the case of Cho Seung-hui, it erupted.
Many years removed from such angst, I can honestly say I'm no longer angry. The fury dissipated long ago. Many of us can harness the rage, channel it elsewhere and maintain total control. Some, cannot.
Cho Seung-hui was 23 years old. The talk shows and infotainment outlets will debate why a student in the final year of an English degree would murder so many before taking his own life. He was angry, yes, but many angry young men survive their rage without touching a weapon. What made Cho Seung-hui different?
