Eric Harris - an injured narcissist?

Started in LPorter's thread herE:
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LPorter probably didn't intend to make this a "Is Eric a psychopath or narcissist?" thread, but that is just what it came down to.

I think I several times explained what a psychopath is and I'll just mention here I'm usign the Robert Hare understanding of "psychopath" here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopathy_Checklist)

So who is a narcissist? Its someone who "idealizes himself to be the lead role of his movie and he relegates everyone else to supporting cast to bring out his invented character." Its someone who re-invents himself a grandiose "role", invests a lot of time and effot in sustaining it, doesn't care much about other peopel and tehir emotions.Its all obviously about him/her.

Sounds like Eric in many ways, ne?

So... what if Eric was "just" a narcissist? What if NBK is just one giant result of narcissistic injury (read the wikipedia entry if you don't know what narcissistic injury is) [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Well, let's look at DSM-IV Narcissistic PD criteria:

- An exaggerated sense of self-importance (aka grandiose about himself). Eric? Check!
- Preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love. Or being God and/or the greatest spre killer in US history. Check!
- Believes he is "special" and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people. Check!
- Requires excessive admiration. Well, we would need to ask Eric's friends about this, but its certainly plausible given what we know.
- Has a sense of entitlement. Eric a sense of entitlement? No shit!? Check!
- Selfishly takes advantage of others to achieve his own ends. "His name was Mark Manes" Check!
-  Lacks empathy. Some people may not agree, but I say its true of Eric. Just check his diversion-oriented rank in his journal. "How come if I'm free I can't deprive some dipshit..."
- Is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him. This one is debatable. Certainly we can interpret Eric this way, although I do not. Not-check.
- Shows arrogant, haughty, patronizing, or contemptuous behaviors or attitudes. Again debatable. Probably true.

So, what would this explain in Eric's case?

1. His angry rants about people "not inviting him to cool things" and "rich kids who think they are better than he is" and police who get to be his boss because he failed and is now in diversion. All of these people have power of some sort and are bursting his "I am God!" bubble. so this creates narcissistic injury and rage
2. This quote:

Eric Harris wrote:

Everyone is always making fun of me because of how I look, how fucking weak I am and shit, well I will get you all back: ultimate fucking revenge here. you people could have shown more respect, treated me better, asked for my knowledge or guidence more, treated me more like senior, and maybe I wouldn't have been as ready to tear your fucking heads off. then again, I have always hated how I looked, I make fun of people who look like me, sometimes without even thinking sometimes just because I want to rip on myself. Thats where a lot of my hate grows from, the fact that I have practically no selfesteem, especially concerning girls and looks and such. therefore people make fun of me... constantly... therefore I get no respect and therefore I get fucking PISSED.

3. Overall all of Eric's bombastic rants.
4. Eric saying it eels like a movie and wanting to make a lasting impact on the world.
5. Eric leaving all thsoe carvings at tables in the park, or his presenting his so called "dreams" to the psychology class. That's not him seking to be caught, taht's him staring in his own movie, with everyone else in supporting roles.
6. The "single tear" reported in the basement tapes. This is such an old tired narcissistic way to add drama.

So far so good. What it doesn't explain however is more important. It fails to account for:

1. Eric not being the more vocal guy during the killing. Eric not taunting and playing God as much as Dylan. Finally in NBK Eric has an ultimate "death-or-life" audience and all the attention he wants. He does go along with this in some ways, but why doesn't he make the most of it?
2. Doesn't account at all for all the "I hate routine shit" and "robots" who just "go down the steam of life" in a mindless manner. that's not what Eric-the-narcissist's movie is about.Eric wants to play the big bad killer, notplaying Che Guevara or the Catcher in the Rye. His anti-society rants don't make all that much sense in this context.
3. Suicide. Why not live on like Charlie Manson and get more spotlight? Fame was a big factor in Eric's actions, but it was not the ultimate and only goal. Eric was not Breivik.
4. Why not shoot Dylan in the back when he's not looking (like in Van Sants "Elephant")? Surely that'd be very fitting for a narcissist who wants to play the big bad killer?
5. Narcissism alone doesn't explain Eric beign impulsive. When Eric smashed Brook's windscreen, he didn't have a narcissistic injury reason to do so.
6. Narcissism doesn't explain the pyromania and other illegal activities in his life.
7. Narcissism explains why Eric was dissatisfied with how some people treat him. But it fails to explain Eric's dissatisfaction with normal, everyday, mundane, day-by-day life.


My own answer? Psychopathy explains all that a Narcissistic Pd diagnosis would explain and then some. All of the things narcissism explains are also explained by psychopathy, because narcissism is one facet or dimenion of psychopathy. It is Eric's juvenile delinquency, pyromania, impulsive agression, high need for stimualtion that set him apart from people who are "just narcissists".

Moreover there is the ever-extaverted Eric, who hates society and doesn't want to be a part of it at all. He doesn't want to do this, to the point of wanting to destroy everything in his reach and dying rather than adapting. This is what I see as Eric's core belief: People are mindless robots brainwashed by society, school, rules and laws.  Thy go down the stream of life enagaged in miserable, pointless routine shit. Eric doesn't want to be a part, he'd rather die than betray this belief.

Krabbe calls it "The Catcher in the rye" syndrome. whatever it is, its cetainly a core issue o who Eric is and what is he doing.

Overall, I do stick to my guns. Eric seems to be in more probability a psychopath, rather than "just a narcissist". Not taht a narcissist theory fails to explain much, but a psychopathy one explains even more.