June 24, 1941, Charles Joseph Whitman was born in Lake Worth, Florida, to Margaret and Charles A. Whitman. The eldest of three children, he became an Eagle Scout at 12 and graduated from St. Ann's High School in West Palm Beach in 1959. He is an all-around gifted child: intelligent, athletic and an exceptional pianist (Charles Whitman Chronology). Why then did this seemingly normal, albeit gifted, child grow into a man who would brutally kill 13 people and injure 31 others (The Madman In the Tower 20)? The simple answer is that Charles Whitman no longer existed. His brain had been altered, not by drugs or any other means he could control. Charles Whitman had a brain tumor. The person who was Charles Whitman fought and lost a battle he had no chance of winning. After being killed by the Austin police force, Whitman's autopsy revealed that he had a small tumor the size of a small marble "In the central part of the brain...in the white matter beneath the gray center of the thalamus" (McCoy 2) . This tumor not only affected the thalamus, which acts as a relay between various subcortical areas and the cerebral cortex, but also caused increased pressure on the amygdala, the portion of the brain that controls aggression and anger (Eagle Man). This increased pressure could have shifted Charles Whitman's mental abilities from his rational being towards a more savage representation of a human being. The tumor could very well have robbed Charles Whitman of one of the main things that defines what it means to be human, his rationality (Eagleman 523). Charles Whitman had a rather difficult childhood, which is often seen as the “trademark of the series” killer." His father was – and is – an authoritarian,...... middle of paper......gy .nd Web. 5 March 2012. .Charles Whitman: The Texas Tower Sniper. nd Web. 5 March 2012. .Eagleman, David. "Is Blameability the Right Question?" brain. Edinburgh, Great Britain: Canongate Books Ltd., 2011. 513-523 on the electronic reader. McCoy, H. Autopsy Protocol. Austin, Texas: Cook Funeral Home, 1966. web. " Time August 12, 1966: 20. web.Lavergne, Gary M. A Sniper in the Tower: The Charles Whitman Murders / Gary M. Lavergne. Denton: University of North Texas Press, 1997., 1997. UNIV OF LIBRARIES Catalog OKLAHOMA. March 7. 2012.