Metaphor for opportunities
Education is extremely important for the people living in Laramie and they are proud to have a University in their city. Education is important because it offers those who receive it the opportunity to better themselves and to advance in life. Because of this, education is used as a metaphor to suggest opportunities and a better life.
Politics and religion
One of the religious leaders interviewed compared the religions that existed in Laramie with politics and even separated them and put them in a ‘’line’’ from left to right to suggest how radical one religious group was. The most radical religious groups were the Baptist and the Mormon ones and the least radical group was the Catholic one. This comparison also has the purpose of highlighting the idea that just like political groups have a certain goal in mind when acting in a certain way, religious groups have one as well and are willing to do everything to achieve their goals.
Like the Germans
Some people in Laramie claimed that they can’t be held accountable for what happened to Matthew because they were not involved directly. They claim that since they were not the ones who literally killed Matthew, they were good people. But one character points out that those who knew about the hate in Laramie and did nothing about it were just as responsible as the two men who killed Matthew. To prove his point, the character compared the people from Laramie who did not got involved with the Germans during the Second World War that were not involved in the military but saw the way the Nazis dealt with Jews and other minorities. Despite seeing the injustice, they did nothing and thus they are considered by some as being just as guilty as the soldiers who actually killed the Jews in the working camps or in the ghettos.
A cross
When the theater company visited the place where Matt was left to die, the person who took them there and the person who discovered Matt tied there compared the fence to the cross Jesus Christ was killed on. This comparison has the purpose of highlighting the idea that just like Jesus Christ died for something he believed in, Matt died for something similar as well.
Headscarf
In a chapter, a student who moved la Laramie is interview. The student is female and is also a Muslim and in order to express her religious faith, he chose to wear a headscarf in public. The student notes that the moment she started wearing the scarf, people began to look at her differently, with fear and suspicion. In a similar way, the same thing happened to Matt when he openly admitted of being homosexual. In a metaphorical sense, when he did that, he began wearing a scarf in public, letting everyone know about who he really is and about his sexual orientation.
