Summary Of Killings By Andre Dubus

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,

Later on the story Mattie experiences her grandfather?s death, which taught her to stand up for herself. After all of the hardships that Mattie and Grandfather faced out on their own, they came back to a Philadelphia very unalike the one they had left, and their coffeehouse home was no different. It was completely robbed of almost everything and shards of glass were everywhere. Although this did not stop two thieves from coming in and killing grandfather when he tried to fight back. Mattie did not take this well however. After Grandfather fainted, she gashed the robber?s shoulder with her granddad?s sword which sent him running down the street with Mattie chasing him close behind. This event clearly shows that Mattie learned to stand up for herself against higher authority, which is a big part of adulthood.

The story also contains a full circle of emotion. It begins with the funeral, an obvious source of sadness. From there, the sadness seems to vacate the story until the very last paragraph. It ends with Matt crying into his wife’s breast. I think Dubus did this to make the disassociated feelings that surrounded the murders even more apparent.

Taking a glance through Matt’s childhood, his early years of his life were peaceful. He lived in a small house with his caretaker Celia, who works for the Alacrán family. Apparently, El Patrón is the head of the house so he treats Matt like a son. However, the rest of the family doesn’t treat, Matt like that. When Matt was forced to move into the

He developed a scheme; he tells Richard that he is helping him skip the trial when in reality he’s taking him out of town to murder him. Then the narrator asks, “…he wondered now if his lie would have worked, if sending Strout away would have been enough; but then he knew that just thinking of Strout in Montana or whatever… thinking of him walking the streets there, loving a girl there… would be enough to slowly rot the rest of his days…” (Dubus, 8). Hiding what you don’t want to see doesn’t necessarily make anything better. Actually dealing with the situation and putting the matter to rest is the only way one is able to get closure. Matt seems to feel guilty about the killing after returning home after shooting Robert, the text says, “…he shuddered with a sob that he kept silent in his heart” (Dubus, 10). Matt gives off the impression that he never wanted to kill Robert, but he new he needed to. He knew that without Richard gone, without the knowledge that he will never walk a free man is the only way Matt will be able to live in peace. His heart may be silently crying, but deep down he knows he did what needed to be

This shows Matt’s disbelief and sort of a sadness. He saw the emptiness in a used-to-be person, with feelings. Although Rosa didn’t show kindness to Matt, she was a human. She had a soul somewhere. Matt saw how horrible it was to become an eejit by seeing Rosa. A lifeless, brainless, and ‘empty’ eejit.

After Strout murders Frank, Willis starts carrying a gun to the store, in case he were to see Strout. “I’ve got a .38 I’ve had for years. I take it to the store now. I tell Ruth it’s for the night deposits. I tell her things have changed: we got junkies here now too. Lots of people without jobs. She knows though.”(Dubus 55) Even though Willis didn’t shoot Strout himself, he was still a part of the murdering Strout; if Matt goes to jail, so will Willis. Willis is not the only one affected by Matt’s actions, so is his wife Ruth. “We can’t tell the other kids,” she said. “It’ll hurt them, thinking he got away. But we mustn’t.”(Dubus 466) Ruth’s husband is now a killer, and now she must keep this secret. She is another casualty of her husband’s poor

Matt's birth is no secret to the reader, although many other characters in the novel never suspect him for what he truly is at first. His circumstances of birth, although unknown to him, provide a huge obstacle in the latter

Heading to the Florida southwest coast, he does not find himself instead becoming a destitute drunk. The events in the novels start a year later when he lands a legal injustice case that invigorates his desire to go back to the law. He finally gets his life back on track, gets sober and financially secure, and is on a path to become the man he is destined to be. However, his new quest for justice sees him deal with a variety of adventurous and dangerous cases. Nonetheless, given his previous experience with the Special Forces, Matt is a man who can more than take care of himself in such

reputation, her friends, and her pride to help out Matt, the other protagonist, who allegedly

In the story Frank is dating a woman named MaryAnn. MaryAnn had just recently split up with her husband Richard. Frank and MaryAnn had started seeing each other about a month after Richard and MaryAnn split. The reader learns early in the story that Richard kills Frank, more than likely because of jealousy. The main conflict of the story is how Matt, Frank’s father, reacts and deals with the death of his son. Multiple times throughout the story, Ruth, Frank’s mom, talks about seeing Richard in town while he is out on bail. During the story, Matt struggles with his anger and remorse that came with the death of his son, as any father would. The turning point of the story is when Matt decides to kill Richard. “She knows I started carrying it after the first time I saw him in town. She knows it’s in case I see him, and there is some kind of situation–” (Dubus). It is at this point in the story where Matt begins toying with the idea of killing Richard. It is obviously something that Matt would not do under any other circumstance, but Richard killed his son. Furthermore, Mat knows that Richard won’t get the time that he thinks Richard deserves. Knowing this kind of justifies his decision in his

After a while he brings Alexandra back from boarding school and has to tell his daughters that their mother is brain dead and is going to be pulled off life support. Matt also found out that the land which is held in trust will end in seven years. So either he has to sell the land or someone else will sell it. Matt King is so overwhelmed with all the decisions he has to make with his wife, to the land, and how to be the best to his kids. While dealing with all that he soon finds out that his wife has been having an affair and his daughters don't want him to sell the land. LIfe is really rough for Matt King and he’s doing his best. As he talks to his cousin Hugh about not selling the land, Hugh wants the opposite. He doesn’t want to listen to any of that nonsense about not selling the land. Matt King is going through alot and the way he finds out that his wife was cheating on him is from his oldest daughter Alexandra. He finds out that his daughters can forgive their mother for what she’s

The short story “Killings” starts off with the death of Frank and although at the beginning of the story most characters are showing sorrow in view of this event, the conflict is not Frank’s murder; instead the conflict revolves around Frank’s father Matt committing murder himself. “Killings” seems to have been written flat, as if to make the characters lack emotion, and instead show very descriptive actions. The characters show some sort of emotion but it is not love like it seems to be; Matt and Ruth’s suffering for their son’s death makes them blind to see right from wrong. Their only wish is to have revenge for their son’s murder; however at the same time they’re causing the sons of Strout to feel the same pain. Richard Strout is the man

att’s curiosity brings him to find many ways to entertain himself so he does not feel alone which helps him survive the tough times. 1.When Matt is alone in the small house surrounded by poppy fields he talks to stuffed animals and watches tv to stay pre occupied so he does not feel lonely. Pg 6-8 When he is locked up in the Big House he makes his own toys out of what he has, “The bones were his dolls. He could make them have adventures and talk to them”. (pg46) He has to amuse himself so he can take his mind off the situation he is in and get through it. 2. Matt entertains himself by playing pretend games, “He liked to pretend he was a superhero creeping up on his enemies” (pg127). He does not have anyone to play with in the Big House so he

In “Killings” by Andre Dubus, there is an obvious tension between Matt Fowler and Richard Strout. Following the murder of his son, Matt loses the “pleasurable days of fatherhood” and “had not been able to think about any of the small pleasures he believed he had earned,” (Dubus 1124). Matt struggles to recover from the loss of his son and is confined by Strout being placed on parole instead of behind bars. Throughout the story, Matt seeks freedom from his confinement by getting revenge