Literary Analysis #1

Murder by Family by Kent Whitaker 

Questions : http://drprestonrhs14exposcomp.blogspot.com/p/literature-analysis.html

• Topic(s) and / or Events

1) Murder By Family is a story about a family of four ; Kent ( the author and father ) , Tricia ( Kent's wife), Bart( the oldest son), and Kevin ( The youngest child). They are a nice, united, religious family that is very involved and well known in their small community.On December 10,2003, after going out to dinner to celebrate that Bart would be graduating from college,they come home and the unthinkable happens. three shots go off, and Kent runs inside to see what was going on and then was shot. Kent wakes up in the hospital to find out that Kevin and Tricia were murdered at the scene and only Bart and himself survived. while being questioned by the police Kent finds out that Bart had dropped out of college and wouldn't be graduating like he had said. After months of investigation the police made Bart the main suspect to the investigation. Kent hoped and prayed that Bart wasn't the murderer, but regardless Bart forgave the murderer and whoever was involved. Once the police focused more on Bart, he fled the country. In the end, Bart confessed to setting up the murders and paying someone to actually be the shooter. He also confessed to other attempts at murdering his family, but they failed. Through this terrible experience , Kent kept his faith in God and he knew that God would guide him through that experience and that God had that happen for a reason. For that I admire Kent because it takes a lot of faith and I, personally ,wouldn't of been able to forgive someone who murdered the most important people of my life. 

2) Kent Whitaker, I believe , chose to write about this event because he wanted people to know how God guided him through this terrible situation.He mentions that he chose to do an interview with the show 20/20 because not many people would understand how he managed to forgive the murderer of his son and wife, even if it was his own son. Also, because how many people can say that their son murdered or set up the murder of his family? Not many. So, he wanted people to know how he let God guide him and heal him . 

3) This book actually belongs to my little sister and i asked her if i could borrow it because the name of it just grabbed my attention. When i saw the book I knew I knew I was going to like it because its a murder story , but the fact that its a true story and that it was a family murder just made me want to keep reading. Once i began reading it my main motive to actually finish it was to see if my prediction of who the murderer was was correct(which it was) and to find out how Kent managed to forgive the murderer and God I guess for actually letting this happen. 

4) At first I didn't believe that the book was a nonfiction story because the thought that someone could actually murder their family was just unrealistic to me. Then, I thought to myself " why would someone want to make up such a horrid story about his wife and youngest son being murdered and his oldest child being the actual murderer?" I couldn't make any connections to people in my life because no one i know has gone to the extreme to kill or even think about killing their family. Yes, people are unhappy but they deal with it differently than Bart does because his unhappiness lead to the deaths of his mother and brother. I feel like if i was that religious I would lose my faith in God because he let my family die, meaning that I would probably blame Him for everything that went wrong and just be depressed. 

• People

1) I believe that the main characters are true because why would he fake a character where his son is the murderer?  To me it just makes sense that these characters aren't fiction. The situation that are talked about in this book happen through the authors point of view and his thoughts. I feel that if we were to meet the characters for the most part the would be the way they were described. I believe that the only character that would be different might be Bart, because I don't think That he  is as emotionless as he was first described. I
feel like he really did rebuild his relationship with God and that now, although its too late he is a better man.

2) Kent Whitaker: I would describe him as a good and caring husband and father. He has a very strong relationship with God and even through this tragedy managed to keep his faith. He was a family man who just wanted what was best for his family and was blinded at times by Barts actions. 

Bart Whitaker- he looks like any regular college student. When he was around family he seemed to be happy and normal, but that was only to cover up his evil plans. Deep inside he was troubled, confused, and unhappy which led to the tragic incident of December 10,2003. After being convicted, he rebuilt his relationship with God and "was a changed man".
Kevin Whitaker: I imagine him to be a good and educated college student. i feel like he would of been hardworking and successful if he were to still be alive. He was very involved in the community and at his college, he was a good kid and didn't deserve what happened to him that night.

3) In my opinion, Bart Whitaker is the most interesting character because he is the one that actually set everything up. I find him interesting because what could possibly lead you to want to kill your family? If you were that unhappy, why not just leave and live your life the way you wanted to. They didn't deserve to die. I find him interesting because I wanted to know his motives and how he didn't even feel guilty enough to confess from the start. If he would of confessed he would have saved his family so much time and heartbreak and the could have had some closure and they wouldn't of had to wait 4 long and painful years.

• Style 

1) I believe that the title of the book itself was a form of foreshadow because it let us know that a family member was the murderer. After reading the title I knew a family member would be the murderer, but who? Besides that the author did a lot of going back to remind us of what had happened that led to the specific situation, which at times mad me loose track and become confused .

2) Kent didn't have a main focus i don't think because he did a lot of describing people but also on actions. He describes a lot of the actions that Bart took as he planned the murders and even after. he also described the actions he took in order to be able to forgive the shooter and his accomplices and to be able to move on from that tragedy. He also does a lot of describing the characters so that we the readers could get a better understanding of the actions taken by the character. for example, he describes Bart the way he was before the shootings and before even going away to college and how things were after the shooting and even how Bart acted during his time in college. He must describe the characters so we can get a better understanding of the story and their lives.

4) Im not sure how his attitude is about the subject, I imagine it being painful because it must be hard talking about the death of your family and how your son was the reason of their deaths. But, in reality no one can really explain the way he feels because I don't think people who haven't gone through this situation, or something similar, would even understand his pain. Even though there is pain, I feel like the audience would be confused as to how he was able to forgive Bart and the rest of the people involved, even if God was on his side because I mean its such a devastating situation. i just cant imagine being as string as he is.

5) The main resource that Kent offers is a documentary on him and the situation on the show 20/20. Honestly, even if he wouldn't of mentioned that it wouldn't of changed my way of thinking because I feel like a story this tragic and heartbreaking is to realistic to actually make up. Really, who would write about the fake death of their son and wife and his other son being the murder?

• Enduring Memory

The memory that will stick the most with me is that Kent , even though it was a hard and tragic situation, managed to keep his faith. I feel like if I would of been in that situation I would of just gave up because it wold of been too much for one person to handle ; not only the murders, but also the situation with Bart. I basically learned that yes, you might be going through tough times, but it could always be way worse. So, be thankful for what you do have and work hard to get what you don't have but would like to have. People like Kent are the reason I wish I was religious, because he went through this tragic situation and through it all he turned to God. I think that that is the main message that actually stuck with me throughout the book and made me think about religion and things of that matter.