Jeffrey Dahmer is one of the most notorious serial killers in the history of the United States. The book My Friend Dahmer gives an account of the insidious murderer from his upbringing to his first murder. Dahmer’s murderous instincts developed over several years with specific events that mark a difference in his life and what he would become later on a cold blooded murderer. There are three specific scenes from the book My Friend Dahmer that change the reader’s perspective and impact the reading giving a greater insight into a serial killer’s mind. The three scenes that as a reader I find impactful were the jogger scene, the scene about his house problems, and the scene when he almost killed a dog. The scene opens up with a man. He is jogging
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He passes Dahmer’s house as the mailbox shows. Through the trees you can see the dark silhouette of Dahmer as he watches the jogger (Backderf 53). The caption warns about Dahmer’s emerging sexuality. This scene is when the reader learns that Dahmer is gay (Backderf 53). His hidden secret was far worse than just being gay and having to hide it. The story shows the corps of the jogger dead on Dahmer’s bed. His fantasies include man who are dead and he can have sex with them (Backderf 54). Dahmer has voracious perverse sexual hunger as skillfully described by the author (Backderf 55). This scene gives insight to his most dark thoughts and the inexplicable source of his latter crimes. The author also accounts how Dahmer himself did not know where those impulses came from. The scene cuts off showing how he did have some friends that were called his so-called fan club. However, in secret there was this look in Dahmer’s eyes as he waits by the side of the road with a baseball bat on his hand for the jogger (Backderf 58). The author considers this was his first step on the road to hell (Backderf 59). It seems that in that day the runner did not come by. He puts his urges to rest for a while but not for long. This scene made me …show more content…
Backderf is at his house with a friend watching the game, his father makes a remark and he responds to it (Backderf 92). The interaction in Dahmer’s house is different. The same game is playing on the TV but the atmosphere surrounding him is altered (Backderf 92). In the background Dahmer’s parents stuck in an unfulfilling marriage yell at each other off the top of their lungs (Backderf 93). Dahmer becomes increasingly worked up about it until he decides to get out of the house while he holds his head. He runs off putting on his jacket and walks down the road with the forest surrounding him (Backderf 93). He finds a dead cat by the side of the road and takes it with him like he used to do earlier as a kid (Backderf 94). This him he no longer has the club house in the middle of the trees but he still takes the cat to a tree. Once there, he then removes the skin and the bones from the cat (Backderf 94). Instead of using acid to strip the flesh from the bones he now had moved to do it manually (Backderf 94). The author notes how his parents thought he had given up on his strange hobby if collecting roadkill but instead he had gotten better at hiding it. The true effects of his parent’s relationship on his sadistic and murderous nature are not conclusive. This scene made me think of the great impact parents have on the personality and psyche of
He passes Dahmer’s house as the mailbox shows. Through the trees you can see the dark silhouette of Dahmer as he watches the jogger (Backderf 53). The caption warns about Dahmer’s emerging sexuality. This scene is when the reader learns that Dahmer is gay (Backderf 53). His hidden secret was far worse than just being gay and having to hide it. The story shows the corps of the jogger dead on Dahmer’s bed. His fantasies include man who are dead and he can have sex with them (Backderf 54). Dahmer has voracious perverse sexual hunger as skillfully described by the author (Backderf 55). This scene gives insight to his most dark thoughts and the inexplicable source of his latter crimes. The author also accounts how Dahmer himself did not know where those impulses came from. The scene cuts off showing how he did have some friends that were called his so-called fan club. However, in secret there was this look in Dahmer’s eyes as he waits by the side of the road with a baseball bat on his hand for the jogger (Backderf 58). The author considers this was his first step on the road to hell (Backderf 59). It seems that in that day the runner did not come by. He puts his urges to rest for a while but not for long. This scene made me …show more content…
Backderf is at his house with a friend watching the game, his father makes a remark and he responds to it (Backderf 92). The interaction in Dahmer’s house is different. The same game is playing on the TV but the atmosphere surrounding him is altered (Backderf 92). In the background Dahmer’s parents stuck in an unfulfilling marriage yell at each other off the top of their lungs (Backderf 93). Dahmer becomes increasingly worked up about it until he decides to get out of the house while he holds his head. He runs off putting on his jacket and walks down the road with the forest surrounding him (Backderf 93). He finds a dead cat by the side of the road and takes it with him like he used to do earlier as a kid (Backderf 94). This him he no longer has the club house in the middle of the trees but he still takes the cat to a tree. Once there, he then removes the skin and the bones from the cat (Backderf 94). Instead of using acid to strip the flesh from the bones he now had moved to do it manually (Backderf 94). The author notes how his parents thought he had given up on his strange hobby if collecting roadkill but instead he had gotten better at hiding it. The true effects of his parent’s relationship on his sadistic and murderous nature are not conclusive. This scene made me think of the great impact parents have on the personality and psyche of