Mikhail Gilmore's short narrative "My Brother, Gary Gilmore" portrays the life of Gary Gilmore and gives insight into the experiences that led to him committing murder. He was later convicted and sentenced to death by execution. Mikhail Gilmore stated, "You cannot solve murder without solving the human heart or the history that has rendered that heart so dark and desolate." In attempts to understand his brother's actions, Mikhail Gilmore examines how certain experiences in Gary's life led him to commit murder. Gary Gilmore suffered from parental neglect causing him to strive for individuality in a life of crime that eventually robbed him of his love and his life. .
As a child, Gary Gilmore was subjected to parental neglect causing him to distance himself from his family. An old picture of Gary and his father shows early signs of neglect from his father. In the picture, Gary is hugging his father with "a look of broken need on his face" as his father pulls away from Gary's cheek, showing a look of distaste. Mikhail believed that this distaste, along with his father's favoritism towards Gaylen, the new born brother, left Gary feeling neglected. In later photos, Gary showed signs of distancing himself from his family. He never appeared in family pictures thereafter. Gary was now taking on harder aspect in life and was in search for individuality due to his feeling of need.
In search for individuality, Gary Gilmore experienced a forbidden life of violence and crime. Gary experienced his first run-in's with the law when he was twelve. He was arrested for breaking windows and was sentenced to ten months in a juvenile detention home where he saw men raped and beaten. Two years later he was arrested again, this time for car theft. Gary was sentenced to eighteen months in jail. Mikhail believed his older brothers signified the teenage rebellion of the 1950's. "They looked for a forbidden life of crime and seemed destined to hurt the world around them," he recalls.
