Andre Dubus Techniques

While in neither the film nor short story does Ruth outwardly express her desire for the death of Richard, within the film, one is able to glimpse into the inner workings of Matt’s mind, understanding the emotional manipulation, brought on by his wife, he endures. Matt describes how Ruth has “concrete objections which he trie[s] to overcome” and “in his intent to do this[,] he neglect[s] his own objects” (1127); here, Dubus is indirectly telling readers this is the foundation Ruth has previously built in her marriage, allowing her to manipulate Matt into carrying out tasks, or specifically “it” (1136). Furthermore, several times in the short story, Matt convinces himself that “he [is] certain that [Ruth knows and] she [is] waiting for him” for “she knows” (Dubus 1125, 1134). In Field’s adaptation, one can see the change in behavior and demeanor both Matt and Ruth undergo, driving Matt to commit a seemingly inevitable killing. Several times in the film, the camera focuses on Matt and then quickly switches to a smash cut, implying disruption and cacophony follow Matt; however,

* The author creates suspense by starting with the slow beginning and then making the story faster and more attention-grabbing. The author cleverly manipulates readers sense of disbelief by eliminating the possibility of police help or parental understanding. The author reveals the serial killer to the reader at the end of the story. By that time Duncan keeps searching him. Author slowly reveals the clues out of the lost journal of serial killer to make readers focus in the story. Also with the slowly

In the story, Richard had mentioned about the loss of his identity, his speaks of language and his family. We can see that when he said, “I did not know that I had a family, a history, a culture, a source of spirituality, a cosmology, or a traditional way of living. I had no awareness that I belonged somewhere. I grew up ashamed of my Native identity and the fact that I knew nothing about it”. This shows he was angry that there was no one tell him about where he belonged and his culture.

This story is a tale of the unexpected and the main way it is achieved is by making the build up to the climax of the death seem so normal. I would not expect a happy married couple, in a warm, cozy house, to be the setting for such an evil, thrilling murder to take

There is no doubt in the readers minds that Strout is guilty of murdering Frank Fowler, but that does not change the overwhelming anguish and guilt that is felt by Matt after he shoots Strout. As Matt had led Strout through his house and into the bedroom, he could not help but notice the neatness of the house or the picture of Mary Ann and the boys on the wall down the hallway. Matt began to make a brief connection to the person who was standing before him; a connection that he had to dispose of quickly. After the murder, Matt is lying in bed thinking about Strout’s

After leaving Strout's car at an apartment building in Boston, they lead Strout to a pre-dug hole in a wooded area where Fowler kills him. “The gun kicked in Matt’s hand, and the explosion of the shot surrounded him…Richard Strout, squirming on his belly pushed himself towards the woods. Then Matt went to him and shot him once in the back of the head (106).”

Throughout the novel, the reader is conflicted between hating and sympathizing with the killers because each section in the novel reveals another new attribute about the two partners in crime. From the beginning of the book, the readers know that these two men are killers and immediately are inclined to dislike them. The description of the perfect Clutter family and the quaint town of Holcomb only serves to extrapolate this hatred toward the killers. Then, a shift happens. Readers begin to commiserate with Perry. This shift begins with the description of the grave accident Perry was in and readers learn that he still has pain “as though his old accident had happened five minutes

Richard then gloats over his success in a soliloquy stating how he has won her heart even though he is regarded by her as the devil with dissembling looks and he stabbed Edward her love just 3 months earlier. This highlights how he thinks of himself as the best as he brags about his misdeeds as though he is immortal.

Both men tend to work late nights; Trottier was a bartender, so Fowler meeting with him after hours was an easy alibi. The hardest part was getting Strout to a secluded place, which they were able to do by conning him at first, saying they had bought him a plane ticket and wanted him out of their lives so that everyone could move on. After leaving Strout's car at an apartment building in Boston, they lead Strout to a pre-dug hole in a wooded area where Fowler kills him. “The gun kicked in Matt’s hand, and the explosion of the shot surrounded him…Richard Strout, squirming on his belly pushed himself towards the woods. Then Matt went to him and shot him once in the back of the head (106).”

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.

Lester’s presence drags the rest of the characters down a dismal road of hostages, hatred, and suicide. Had Dubus omitted him from the novel, the conflict could have resolved itself in a non-violent manner. However, by adding Lester’s third-person point of view to the first-person perspectives of Kathy and Behrani, Dubus transforms the story into a three-dimensional

Over the years Richard mastered his skills when it came to killing. He used guns, knives, poison, strangulation, ice picks, screwdrivers, hand grenades and would even at times burn his victims if asked by his clients to do so to ensure that they suffered before they left this world. Within himself Richard developed a cold inner self for his victims. When asked how he felt when he killed someone he would reply “I feel nothing inside for any of the victims I’ve killed. They didn’t mean anything to me and they had it coming and I was the one to give them Just Deserts for what they did to my clients”. Nothing was personal for Mr. Kuklinski just business and he took pride in pleasing his clients. The only people that he truly cared for was his family and he was very regretful that he hurt them the way he hurt them because they found out what he did for a living in an unexpected way.

Just as the story begins to feel set in time, we realize that Jackson conveniently omits the year from the story’s setting, furthering her idea that this could occur at any time. The irony of June 27th comes with a closer look at the month – June – a month when midsummer occurs, associating this time with delight and gaiety (Griffin, Amy A. 43). June 27th provides detail for the story with the intention of creating a real time for this story to occur, in any reader’s life.

Firstly, our production’s primary theatrical aspect is our plot structure. We begin Woyzeck with scene twenty-nine. Not only does the stage directions describing Woyzeck’s character lend this scene to be the first, the policeman’s dialogue further supports this change. The policeman repeats the word “murder,” therefore, there is no mystery behind who was murdered (Marie) and who murdered her (Woyzeck). Rather, the mystery becomes why Woyzeck murders Marie. Our stasis includes scenes twenty-nine, two, three, one, four, five, and eight in that order. The stasis therefore sets up

Lucius returns with the light and a letter he found at Brutus' window. Brutus sends Lucius to confirm that it is the night of the 14th of March. He reads the letters which contain pleas for Brutus to act against Caesar. Lucius returns and confirms the date is the 14th, and says that Cassius and some disguised men are at the door.