1. Galloway 1
Morgan Galloway
Mr. McNeil
ENG 1101
20 October 2012
Gun Crazy
I will prove that Bart is a good man who is changed by the evils of guns and women.
Bart finds his dream woman and will do anything to keep her. The couple both
displays great skill with guns but this only produces danger and pain. Money is the
driving force in their endeavors due to Laurie’s lust for money and the luxury life.
They both turn to crime to the get money that she needs. Laurie influences Bart’s
decisions and makes most of the decisions involving bank robberies and small side
jobs. Bart cannot say no when it comes to Laurie’s wants. He doesn’t want commit
these crimes and ultimately she is the cause of their capture and death.
Bart meets the women of his dreams in a circus tent who can shoot almost as
best as he can. He is immediately attracted to this skill and has to know more about
her. He tries to meet with her but their boss Packett says he owns her but the two
will have nothing to do with it and they run away together. They get married and go
on their honeymoon and spend all their money. Laurie is forced to sell her wedding
ring, which is where the Laurie realizes that she wants a good life. She gives Bart an
ultimatum. He mustbe willing to steal or rob to get what she wants or she will leave
him. She uses her charm to entice Bart to do the deed and is the beginning of their
immediate end. Laurie knows that Bart doesn’t want to do this but doesn’t care
because of her need for the finer things in life. Laurie becomes the leader when it

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comes to the robberies she also shows her capability to kill as she almost shoots a
cop. There is one incident where Bart has to shoot at a cop car but feels like can’t, as
he cannot kill anything after the incident in his youth. He killed a chick by shooting it
when he was young and since then he has never able to shoot anything at a living
being. When Bart says he wants to stop Laurie convinces him to do one last job to
set them up for life. As the job progresses Laurie shows her homicidal streak once
again killing her office manager and a security guard. Bart asks her about but she
lies and Bart is deceived until he sees a newspaper saying they are killers. He takes
the blame for this showing Laurie’s dominance over him. Bart and Laurie are
discovered once again and they are forced to retreat his sister’s house. In the end
they are running in the swamps and surrounded. Laurie fearful shooting comes out
again and she begins to shoot at Bart’s friends. It is then that Bart is forced to decide
to keep his friends alive or Laurie. He finally makes the decision to shoot Laurie who
causes the cops surrounding them to shoot and Bart is killed. In the Bart could not
shoot a single living thing until the very person he loves most threatens his friends.
Guns are a comforting presence from the beginning of his life to the end. He
has to have one on him all times, which he feels is his most prized possession. He
even steals one in his teens because he wants it so badly. Bart never has much a
father figure in his life, which brings up the question of why he so desperately needs
to have gun. He feels that the gun is sort of authoritative figure which boy needs.
This progresses into his future as he goes into the army teaching men to shoot. He
even extends this into his occupation by selling Remington guns and ammo. When
he meets Laurie he knows that she feels this same love and is instantly attracted.

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Even through the robberies he constantly uses guns to get what he wants. Guns
aren’t always an evil influence on Bart’s life they are beneficial to his mental health
and what keeps him going. Whatever the direction that guns are taking him Bart will
always follow it wherever it takes him good or bad. His lifelong fixation on guns in
turn is his demise as he is gunned down while killing the love of his life ironically
with a gun. Guns are what rules over his life; he knows how to shoot very well and
uses this skill everywhere he goes.
Laurie’s influence on Bart is definitely not in his best interest as all the things
that they get in trouble is because of Laurie. Laurie hasn’t always been a negative
influence on Bart. They both have similar interests primarily surrounding guns and
their love for one another. When money becomes an issue is when Laurie begins to
exhibit her dangerous ways. She will steal and kill to get what she wants which is
nothing that Bart wants to have a part of. But she uses her charm to persuade him to
do these things. Laurie definitely uses Bart as a way to get the money she most
desperately covets. Laurie will risk anything to get the money she wants like when
they had to get away on their last robbery she kills two people unnecessarily. She
even decides to flaunt her ill-gotten gains in public. Even when they are on the brink
of getting away her want for the finer things in life is the cause of their discovery
and the loss of their money. When they are out of her element and running through
the woods Laurie lets Bart takeover and lead where Bart finally shows some
dominance.
Bart’s obsession with guns is the chief influence on his life with his wife
Laurie being the second. When Laurie presents Bart with the ultimatum he initially

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pulls away but due to his love for her and guns he cannot stop himself from
committing these crimes. It is this combination of the things he holds close to his
heart that is the cause compromise with Laurie. As the complexity of the robberies
continues Bart becomes increasingly torn by these decisions. He is never able to kill
until the very woman he loves threatens the well being of his friends. Bart has an
unhealthy fixation on guns that leads to this. Even with training in reform school
and some time in the army he still is able to commit these crimes. Which is very
unsettling to know that all this training did nothing to stop what the judge
sentenced him to stop from happening. Even when he realizes that what he is doing
is wrong he cannot help himself from being persuaded by Laurie. At one point when
the couple has a plan to split for a while to help from not being caught they cannot
help but stay together because of their love for one another. Their love reaches
dangerous levels as they able to kill to protect from one another.
Before meeting Laurie Bart showed real promise. He had just finished the
army and reform school and was on pace to have a steady job. But when he meet her
he did get a job but this was temporary because he got fired because of his love her.
Also when they got married and went on their honeymoon they spent all their
money causing the situation that started all of it. Bart meeting Laurie was a blessing
and a curse where he meets the love of his life and the cause of his life crime. Laurie
is the definition of a manipulative femme fataleof the most dangerous kind. Their
relationship is at best self-destructive with Laurie being the cause of it all. Bart’s
obsession with guns tends to reach dangerous levels when unchecked.For example
as Bart aged this fixation with guns reached a point where he was able steal from a

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hardware store. He also brought another a gun he carried to school and when asked
to give it up refused. Afterwards it was off to reform school and the army where
nothing like this ever happened again until when he was released into society where
the influences took him over the edge. As time went by he eventually fell into armed
robbery, fleeing the police, and murder leading to the thought of if he is stable
enough to be admitted into society. With this Bartdestructive personality is most
certain tied to his love of guns.
Money is often a problem that many people but with Bart and Laurie it is
more it’s an unhealthy want that consumes their life. When Bart and Laurie in the
beginning they have no problems but when they use all of it is a major turn around
that begins their journey into a life of crime. Some say that money is the root of all
evil which is very true when it comes to Laurie’s true wants. She is willing to use her
husband the man who she loves into robbing small stores for money. Money is
something that Bart never really has a problem with until he marriesLaurie and is
something that is a continuing theme throughout his time with her. Throughout
their time together Laurie makes questionable decisions concerning how they spend
their money and Bart goes along with it. After the last robbery they buy some nice
clothes and go out for dancing and the fair. To their surprise which they’reshouldn’t
have been they are found out and are forced to leave without the money they just
risked everything for.
Bart was a good man on the start of a great life before guns; money and a
very manipulative woman influence him to perform armed robbery and other
crimes for money. When Bart first sees Laurie he is in love with her style and her

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skill with guns, which is a great interest to Bart. When she gives him an ultimatum to
rob stores for money or she will leave him, he agrees halfheartedly but cannot help
himself but do it. The couple both has great skill with guns but this only produces
danger and pain. Laurie is influences all of Bart’s decisions, which is the cause of the
bank robberies and the murders. Bart doesn’t want to commit these crimes but due
to his unyielding love for Laurie he cannot help himself. In all the couple have a
dangerous level of love that causes their own self-destruction.