Eplication of Killings by Andre Dubus Essay

Within the argument, the cinematographer films the scene as a shot reverse shot, further implying that Matt and Ruth are in conflict. One can see the veil depression places Ruth after Frank’s death, enabling her to ask Matt for the literal unspeakable task of murder; in a short story, one cannot read silence, but the silence permeating the film speaks louder than the Dubus’s words.

Doug finds himself in a very difficult situation and he cant decide whether to do what he knows is right and not except this foolish trade, or what he wants to do because of his longing for Ralph’s friendship. When Doug begins to him reminisce about these memories we see he’s changed a little bit. He hated himself as if it was his fault back then and now as things have gone on that anger has built up substantially. The difference is now that anger has redirected almost completely at Ralph. He tries to solve this conflict within himself by blaming everything on Ralph. This only makes things worse by reversing that anger to Ralph causing Doug to decide to kill him.

The way the plot of Killings by Andre Dubus is arranged changes how the reader sees the characters in the story. This plot starts out in the present, then goes into the past, then back to the present. There are two main characters, and three secondary characters in this story. The way the reader views all of these characters is affected by the plot arrangement. The two primary characters who are most important to the plot, and also most affected by the plot arrangement, are Matt Fowler and Richard Strout. Because the first thing the reader reads in the exposition of the story is “On the August morning when Matt Fowler buried his youngest son, Frank, who had lived for twenty-one years, eight months, and four days…” pg 93, and not Richard Strout’s backstory and reasoning for his actions, they are immediately persuaded by the author to feel sympathy towards Matt. The author needs the reader to feel this sympathy so that when Matt kills Strout at the climax of the plot, Matt is not viewed as the antagonist of the story, but rather as the protagonist. The author needs the reader to view Strout as the antagonist so that the reader does not dislike Matt, and so that the story is one of justified revenge and not just another murder. If the reader had been presented with the plot in chronological order, with Strout’s backstory and reasoning for killing Frank first, then the reader might almost feel bad for Strout. If seen like this, one might conclude that, while he did not take

Strout may have been a killer, but he was still a human being, knowledge that Matt forced himself to forget. Matt begins to identify with the forces that took his son’s life – murder. He and Trottier planned and executed the murder of Strout not only to avenge Frank’s death, but also to protect his family. Dubus tells the readers how Ruth suffered every time she went into town and would see Strout on the streets or in a store. He wrote, “Ruth sees him… She can’t even go out for cigarettes and aspirin. It’s killing her.” (108) and “It’s the trial. We can’t go through that, my wife and me…” (116). Ruth’s suffering was Matt’s motivation to protect his family. Matt could no longer handle seeing Ruth’s life become shattered by Frank’s murder and her inability to deal with the loss. This was Matt’s final deciding factor to bring forth an end to their suffering by killing Strout.

Homicide always will be an aspect of life, whether it is in the 16th century, 21st century or in the future. At times of extreme stress, people may turn to murder as an outlet of a greater problem they cannot fix or control. Presently, homicide has a greater value in society due to popular culture references through the media such as television, film and writing; society constantly has homicide and murder in the subconscious. In David M. Buss’ findings in The Murderer Next Door: Why the Mind is Designed to Kill,

The major theme of Andre Dubus’ Killing,s is how far someone would go for the person they love. It is important to note the title of the story is killings and not killers, for the reasoning that the story does not just focus on two deaths or two murderers but rather the death of marriage, friendship, youth, and overall, trust.

Plot is defined as, "the authors arrangement of incidents in a story it is the organizing principle that controls the controls the order of events (Meyer,64)." The element of plot is heavily relied on in the short story, "The Killings" by Andre Dubus. The plot which is completely made inside the imagination of an author (Meyer,64), gives the audience important insight to people, places, and events in the story (Meyer,64) . "The Killings" provides a somewhat conventional plot pattern, where the character is confronted with a problem and is then led into a climax, which late leads to the resolution of the story (Meyer,65). The conventional plot is easy to follow and serves as a basis for movies and other

Throughout our time in literature we have read poetry, short stories, and watched plays. As we did this we were able to break down the key components of each literature piece, by getting deep into the stories and poems and plays and finding the real meaning and background of them. We were able to figure out all the themes, plots , more on the character’s personalities. As we read these literature pieces i have noticed a lot of the works themes are the same. About love or death and racism. But all those themes are a real reality to today’s world.

The major theme of Andre Dubus’ Killings is how far someone would go for the person they love. It is important to note the title of the story is killings and not killers, for the reasoning that the story does not just focus on two deaths or two murderers but rather the death of marriage, friendship, youth, and overall, trust.

By analyzing the conflicts of stories help readers understand why the specific characters act certain ways. We better comprehend the characters’ personality and why the flaws of other character affect the main character. Are main characters’ problems the result of other characters’ personality flaws? Characters endure arduous situations and it is because of another character’s flaw. Being possessiveness, overly critical, and controlling of others are the reason for main characters problems.

Matt is a middle class man who becomes obsessed with the need to get revenge on his son’s death. His son Frank is killed by a man named Richard. He is the husband and dads father of the women his son is in love with. This is what leads Matt into killing someone he wants pay back for his son death. Matt kills because he loves.

In the short story “Killings” the author, Andre Dubus writes about two different killings allowing the reader to determine the justification of each killing. Focusing on the main character Matt Fowler, the reader learns that Matt has good morals, which are overtaken by the death of his son. As the story progresses, Dubus shows the motivation behind Matt’s anger and revenge. Which leads Matt to a controversy over following his head or his heart. All of these aspects give the reader obvious conclusions that Matt will not follow through with his plan, making it even more surprising when he does.

The main character Matt, along with his wife and children, had to deal with the death of one of his sons Frank. At the beginning of the story, Matt seems to have an unbearable amount of grief, stress, and pressure. Most of this is caused by his wife who seems to not want her son's killer out walking the streets. By the end of the story, Matt had killed Strout, his son’s killer, and the last line was “he shuddered with a sob that he kept silent in his heart” (Dubus 74). This line alludes that Matt ended up worse than when he started, almost to the point where he has more guilt and regrets what he did. In addition to character development, Dubus uses imagery as well. The descriptive words in this short story allow the reader to get into the scenes with the characters, and to feel what the characters felt. In the midst of one of the flashbacks, Dubus sets up the scene very well, and makes the reader feel like they are there. For example, “They were sitting on the living room floor watching television, Frank sitting on the couch, and Mary Ann just returning from the kitchen with a tray of sandwiches” (Dubus 65). This set up the scene before Strout came in and shot Frank, and Dubus uses this continuously throughout the story. The imagery used allows you to have the possibility to understand why the killers

For many years, some people would say dealing with the death of a loved one can be hard. In today’s society, many people have dealt with that pain. Even though individuals can respond differently dealing with the murder of a loved one but taking justice into your own hands can relieve the pain that it has caused on the family. Why it is that death can cause so much pain to the ones we love? Using the biographical and psychological critical strategies to analyze “Killings”. Focusing on Andre Dubus past how is it connected with the story and psychological strategy of the mind of someone who is hurt by death.

Across America, certain states allow their governments to make use of the death penalty for a myriad of crimes. The methods through which it is attained is often as controversial as the act itself. In the tale of The Confession by John Grisham, the city of Slone, Texas comes to terms with the severe ramifications that come with taking someone's life, whether it be condoned by the law or not. In the case of Donté Drumm, a young football player is accused of killing Nicole Yerber, a popular cheerleader who was supposedly dating him at the time. He was forced into a confession by means of psychological torture. After nine years, Donté is killed for a crime he did not commit. The town unearths the reality that taking someone's life is a permanent action which cannot be undone when a mistake is made. The Confession takes a closer look at what the death penalty really means by not only looking at the statistics but the emotional toll it takes on the people connected to it too, explaining how the death penalty is fundamentally wrong and looking at ways to open people's eyes to the truth of it.