VA Tech Shootings: Poetic?
What I think. I like making up crazy theories too.
First of all you have to understand who Cho Seung-Hui was. A male Korean in an English major. I couldn't find the race and gender make-up of those taking an English major at Virginia Tech but I'm suspecting that Cho was close to alone. I also want to clarify something. Cho's religion had little to do with his actions! I'm just curious to know why, when something terrible occurs, its automatically assumed that the person is a Muslim? I'm not saying that Cho was a Muslim because the numbers would say otherwise. We all well know of the horrors Christianity has committed in the name of God.
From my perspective, Cho was almost a poetic genius, insane, but still poetic nonetheless. You can almost envision what went through Cho's mind by the tattoo on his arm, "Ishmail's Ax" or "Ishmael's Ax." I don't know how he had written it on his arm but it's somewhere along those lines. "Ishmael's Ax refers to either, an event in Islamic theological history, or an excerpt from Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth's Ishmael. Personally though, I think Cho's final actions reflect the event in Islamic theological history.
"Ibrahim Confronts his People and Rejects their Idols. He left his father after he lost hope to convert him to the right path, and directed his efforts towards the people of the town, but they rejected his call and threatened him. By Allah, he said, I shall plot a plan to destroy their idols. He knew that a big celebration was coming soon, where everybody would leave town for a big feast on the riverbank. After making sure that nobody was left in town, Ibrahim went towards the temple armed with an ax. Statues of all shapes and sizes were sitting there adorned with decorations. Plates of food were offered to them, but the food was untouched. "Well, why don’t you eat The food is getting cold." He said to the statues, joking; then with his axe he destroyed all the statues except one, the biggest of them. He hung the ax around its neck and left."
Here is some background information.
Ibrahim = Abraham, Ishmael is one of two of Abraham’s sons.
Ishmael has come to represent orphans, exiles, and social outcasts.
*I'm going to attempt to match Cho's actions to certain events in this bit, but bear in mind that I'm no professional and my reasoning is probably whimsical at best.*
"Ibrahim Confronts his People and Rejects their Idols."
It's obvious by Cho's writing the amount of hatred he had for the rich and privileged. In a way Cho had confronted our society within himself and he rejected their idols, money. We can argue how he confronted it but you can't argue that money isn't an idol. But what else constitutes an idol? We as a race idolize ourselves...
“...I shall plot a plan to destroy their idols.”
If I'm right in any way, then Cho definitely put a lot of planning into what he did. Assuming that his actions were modeled after this portion of Islamic history and how he was effective in executing his plans. But regardless of the relationship between Cho and the story, he did plan out what he was going to do. At the very least two months in advanced; he had bought the hand guns that he used, on Feb 9th I believe and March 13th, I’m too lazy at the moment to go and check.
“He knew that a big celebration was coming soon, where everybody would leave town for a big feast on the riverbank. After making sure that nobody was left in town, Ibrahim went towards the temple armed with an ax.”
I believe that Cho used the first shooting as a diversion, in order to draw security away from the Norris Hall thus delaying their response time, allowing Cho to chain the doors shut and begin his killing spree. Cho could also have known that knowledge of the shooting in the dorm wouldn’t have spread as far as it could have and he may even have been planning on the lockdown incident. Cho succeeded though; everyone was lost amidst the confusion.
“…with his axe he destroyed all the statues except one, the biggest of them. He hung the ax around its neck and left."
Regrettably, Cho proceeded to write his name in history with infamy. The video he mailed to NBC was his way of hanging the axe around the neck; letting the world know why he did it, and perhaps how. Cho destroyed what securities we had about ourselves and individuals around us, whether that was his intention or not.
I think Cho’s actions were poetic. I’m not justifying them; in fact, it’s horrendous, what he did. He rewrote this account in his own fashion. A form that he had been using in the poems he wrote in his English classes.
Who is to blame for this though? Was it Cho or society for goading him into his lifestyle? In this case, I blame both. Cho; for allowing the thoughts to manifest themselves into destructive conduits, and society; for being what it is, judgmental and ignorant.