My Friend Dahmer

Backderf, D. (2012). My friend Dallmer: A graphic novel. New York: Abrams

My Friend Dahmer is a graphic novel that follows the life of Jeffrey Dahmer when he was an adolescent.  Backderf was a classmate and a friend of Dahmer’s in high school.  The events that occurred in Jeffrey’s life during high school are documented and illustrated in this graphic novel.  There were tragic events that happened to him and could have guided him into the person that he became in 1991.  Dahmer did not fit into any groups. His usual behavior and reclusiveness tended to have many people to shun him as well.  He also have difficulty with his home life too.  His parents constantly fought which led to a divorce.  This caused Dahmer to act out in high school.  No one knew that his mother suffered from a mental illness.  Jeffrey did not have any real friends.  He was obsessed with death and destroying dead animals.  He had homosexual urges, heard voices in his head and eventually it led to heavy drinking.  It was almost as if he was medicating himself with the alcohol.  After high school, Dahmer was completely alone and it lead to his first murder of many murders.   

This is a nonfiction graphic novel that documents the life of Jeffrey Dahmer. The illustrations and the quick read that it provides will have readers see what can happen to an individual when they do not have a loving relationship with their parents, the support of friends, and the effects of bullying can do to a person over time. After reading this, one much wonder, what if things were different for Jeffrey Dahmer? Would he have turned out a serial killer?