Kayla Flaherty
November 20, 2008
Poetry of Song; Period: A
Mini-Research paper.
John Lennon’s Assassination
John Lennon was the guitarist of the ever famous, and beloved band, The Beatles. Lennon was born on October 9, 1940 in his hometown of Liverpool, England. After a troubling childhood of moving from relative to relative’s care, Lennon finally back in Liverpool. His sister, Julia, first taught him how to play the banjo, and played Elvis Presley’s records for him. The Band ‘The Beatles’ officially kicked off their reign on May 9th, 1962 by signing a label with George Martin. And throughout the rest of the bands days it was; all Beatles all the time.

According to sources, the band allegedly began to break up in 1967, when their manager since 1961, Brian Epstein, died. Right after the death, the singer of the Beatles, Paul McCartney, tried to step up and become the leader of the group. Along with the numerous responsibilities that the role came with, McCartney’s first decision was to involve the group in an upcoming movie, “Magical Mystery Tour”, in which they would also have to produce an album for. Despite the fact that the album did well, the movie was a complete disaster. So led to John scoffing at McCartney’s failure.

Although indeed it was a factor that the fight between John & Paul led to the break-up, all the members began to move into different directions. John Lennon, for instance, became more interested in ‘avant-garde art scene’, which led him to meeting the one and only woman for him, Yoko Ono; they had their first child, Sean Ono Lennon, when Lennon was 35. The rest of the members stayed in the music business, and began to write his own song(s). Despite the fact that they were no longer together as a group, they peacefully led on their own lives, in occasional checking up with one another.

On the eighth of December, in 1980 it seemed to just be another day in the life of John Lennon. He and his wife Yoko Ono were walking out of their house in New York City, New York, where he was welcomed by hundreds of his fans awaiting his presence outside his home. When he was shot and killed. According to sources, he was not just shot once or twice; but six times! Right after the shooting Lennon was rushed by a police car to St Luke's Roosevelt Hospital Center, where soon after he died at the age of 40.

Along with many conspiracy theories, Lennon’s killer was identified as David Chapman. His weapon of choosing: Charter Arms .38 revolver which he killed Lennon with after shooting five-six times. Chapman was not found guilty because of a plea of “insanity”. But was charged with second degree murder, and according to sources he was taken to Bellevue Hospital for psychiatric examination. However, he was quickly moved to Riker’s Island jail in New York City, when police officers were tipped off that some of Lennon’s Fans were plotting to storm into Bellevue Hospital.

So how to punish a non-guilty insanitee that did commit second degree murder? Well, he was punished to 20 years to life in prison at Attica State Prison, in Attica, New York. Although, the Beatles did break up all of the band members did attend the memorial, wake, and burial of John Lennon. His wife Yoko Ono, still lives today, but never got remarried, and their son, Sean Ono Lennon, is now a guitarist in Indie Pop and Rock, and Folk Rock. He sure would make his father proud, not also being a musician but also a huge supporter of peace. So in some aspects, John Lennon, still lives on, and is to never be forgotten.



Reputable Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lennon
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2045/why-did-the-beatles-break-up
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/8/newsid_2536000/2536321.stm