[Sample B: Approval/Signature Sheet] - George Mason University

zoo.’” 160 Surely, this childhood ditty cannot be taken as signs of Oswald’s “contempt
for others.” Holloway accepted the official view that Oswald was a believer in
Marxism from an early age and during his time in the Marine Corps. She quoted a letter
Oswald wrote three weeks before he joined the Marines in 1956 to the American Socialist
Party in which he declared “I am a Marxist” and would like information about the party’s
youth league. 161 In the military, Oswald displayed his resentment of authority, according
to Holloway, and began to plot his defection to the Soviet Union. “Dispirited with his
Marine service,” she wrote, “Lee became more insolent, less industrious, and openly read
and discussed Marxism, socialism, communism and pro-Castro sentiments with some
servicemen.” 162
Holloway accepted as valid Oswald’s diary and based much of her analysis of his
time in the Soviet Union on this document. The psychologist quoted Oswald’s
description of his suicide attempt when he apparently despaired that the Soviets would
not accept him: “I decide to end it…slash my left wrist…Somewhere, a violin plays, as I
wacth my life whirl away. I think to myself. ‘How easy to die’ and ‘a sweet death. (to
violins)” 163 According to Holloway, “This romanticized suicide attempt with violin
music showed the influence of Lee’s reading and his willingness to manipulate others,
160
Holloway, 5. Holloway reproduced Oswald’s words as he wrote them and without
corrections
161
Holloway, 7.
162
Holloway, 9.
163
Holloway, 18.
80