Boys Don't Cry

Please post your thoughts about Boys Don't Cry here.  

Part I: What are the causes of the violence that occurs at the end of Brandon Teena's story?  What are the contributing factors and who is responsible?  Think about all the characters: Brandon, Lana, Lana's mother, Candace, the disturbed young man (John) and his friend (Tom).  Even the setting, the world these people live in, is a kind of character that may contribute to what happens.  

Part II: As you read Plato's Allegory of the Cave, take your thinking one step further: applying Plato's allegory to Boys Don't Cry, which characters are stuck inside the cave and see only shadows?  Which characters are struggling to get out of the cave and see the light?  What does Plato tell us about the difficulty of communicating with those in the cave, once you have been able to adjust to the light?  

Note:  this will be a required post--if you don't do it over weekend, you will have a chance to do it in lab on Tuesday.