I was Ron De la Roche's best friend from first to seventh grade. By the time he was murdered in 1976 we had drifted apart but were still good friends. I have fond memories of Mrs. De la Roche supervising recess when I was in third grade. I also remember Harry and witnessed first hand some of the harrassment he endured at Pascack Hills. Yes it was wrong, and I felt for him then, he was a lonely guy who was desparately looking for love and apporval from someone, anyone.
I know from my conversations from Ron that his father put a lot of pressure on all the boys to be "real men", football jocks etc etc. That is not who any of them were and I suppose Harry bore the brunt of his father's disappointment and abuse. But Ron got his share of their father's torment himself, I know that for a fact.
Having said all this....the bottom line remains the same....None of this justifies murder. Harry had alternatives. He may have felt there was no alternative between returning to the Citadel and telling his father he was dropping out (ie failing again) but there were alternatives. There are always alternatives to murder. Murder is never the answer to anything. Lots of kids are abused, lots of kids have overbearing fathers, these are not excuses for mass murder. I lost a good friend in 1976 in a shocking and horrible way and while I felt for Harry because of the abuse he endured before that Sunday in 1976, all my sympathy for him evaporated after that date.
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