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In The Bedroom And The Killings Comparison

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“The Killings” Film and Short Story Comparison Both the film “In The Bedroom” and the poem, “The Killings”, explore the themes of revenge, grief, and loss in a compelling manner. The short story by Andre Dubus and the film adaptation by Todd Field share many similarities but also have several notable differences. Firstly, both the short story and the film depict a man named Matt Fowler who is grieving the loss of his son, Frank, who was murdered by his ex-girlfriend's jealous husband. The death of Frank tears apart the Fowler family and causes them to spiral into a deep state of grief and anger. Matt is determined to seek revenge on the killer, Richard Strout, despite his wife's protests. In both the short story and the film, the character of Matt is portrayed as a conflicted man who struggles to reconcile his need for revenge with his desire …show more content…

In the short story, Strout is portrayed as a despicable and violent man who deserves to be punished for his crime. However, in the film adaptation, Strout is given more depth and complexity. His motivations and emotions are explored more thoroughly, and the audience is given a glimpse into the reasons behind his actions. This difference allows the audience to empathize with Strout in a way that is not possible in the poem. Another difference between the two works is the way they depict the violence and the revenge. The short story is more graphic in its portrayal of violence and revenge, whereas the film is more subtle and restrained. The short story describes the scene of Matt shooting Strout in gruesome detail, while the film shows the aftermath of the act without showing the actual violence. This difference in approach reflects the different mediums in which the works were created, with the poem relying on the reader's imagination to create the scene, while the film has the advantage of being able to show the scene

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Plot Killings, written by Andre Dubus, is an example of a short story that closely follows Freytag’s pyramid. The story is largely focused on love, murder, and revenge. The exposition gives some background information on the Fowler family. This section explores the minds of Matt and Ruth Fowler as they try to cope with the death of their youngest son, Frank Fowler. In addition, Matt meets with his friend, Willis Trottier, and they discuss the murder of Matt’s son.

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1233 Words | 5 Pages

The Worst Crime: Matt’s or Richard’s “Killings”, written by Andre Dubus, illustrates how the death of a loved one may lead to dire consequences for all the parties included. Matt Fowler’s son, Frank, was murdered in cold blood by a jealous soon-to-be ex-husband, Richard Strout. When the death of Frank sunk into the lives of the Fowler’s, Matt believed he had to retaliate in some sort of fashion. The sort of fashion he chose was to seek revenge and kill Richard for his wrongdoings, which he did. Some people believe that the murder committed by Richard Strout can be considered more serious because of his act of passion and his lackadaisical style of living without worrying about his future.

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547 Words | 3 Pages

Killing” the short story by Andre Dubis was interesting from the beginning to the end. Spoiler it is about to murders but if you look behind the murders it could also be a love story. The loving father Matt is at the funeral of his son. The entire story I was trying to put myself inside of Matt’s shoes and thinking about what I would want for my future children and if someone killed him and the potential I had dreamed of for years that he would achieve. Matt would envision the night his son was killed several times throughout the story and this is just a reminder that Matt wanted his son back in any form in this case it was in memory.

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163 Words | 1 Pages

Most people when rationalizing revenge do not have the mental capacity to think like Mattie does. Some youth have had a similar encounter where a bully has cornered them against a wall and inflicted pain but Mattie did not allow it to make her want to quit. This is a incredible feat due to Mattie appears

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790 Words | 4 Pages

Affairs affect people in different ways, but no one could imagine an affair destroying their ability to psychologically function. The “killings” by Andre Dubus is a shocking story about a killer named Richard who murders frank the man having an affair with his wife, who is his pride and joy. Riveted with murder and passion the author revels the characteristics of Richard Strout’s in the “killings” as a psychological obsessive and controlling person; these traits effect his emotions and behaviors throughout the story. Richards’s anger which evolves throughout the story, is what leads to his obsessive and controlling behaviors. The author explains Richards’s background as a young, striving man, who is overcome by failure, and this contributes

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1813 Words | 8 Pages

For hundreds of years, people have used art as a way of portraying strong emotions such as passion, lust and joy. One of the more powerful of these emotions is that of loss, which is often portrayed as a overwhelming and devastating feeling. Various forms of art have different ways of conveying emotions, whether it be through the use of melody in music, with colors in paintings or through the thoughts and actions of characters in literature. Several characters in Andre Dubus’ “Killings” clearly display their feelings of loss in the story through the way they are characterized and this highlights the devastating power that loss has on those who are forced to experience it. The protagonist of the story, the grieving father of Matt,

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706 Words | 3 Pages

There is, in fact, an abundance of differences between them regarding the plot, setting, and characters. The setting of the story is based on a farm in Great Britain, near the ocean whereas the setting of the movie was in San Francisco, California, although both San Francisco and the farm in Great Britain are near the ocean. The plot of the story consisted of a humble farmer who was, along with his family and everyone else in Great Britain, were attacked by gargantuan flocks of birds. The story followed the farmer and his journey with his family to try and survive this bird-pocalypse. The plot of the movie consisted of a wealthy city-slicker woman who was intrigued by a man and sought him out until she found him in his hometown two hours away, in a rural town named Bodega Bay.

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415 Words | 2 Pages

In the short story “The Landlady,” by Roald Dahl and the short film, “Tales of the Unexpected” series, Billy Weaver goes to Bath, England where he meets an old landlady. Screenwriters change an author's work because they want to expand their ideas from a book into a movie. In both the story and short film there are many similarities to be found. For example, the story and short film the characters motives are the same.

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834 Words | 4 Pages

Andre Dubus, short stories contain a common theme of revenge, morality, and justice. In “Killings” published in 1979, Andre displays the theme of revenge and justice through the development of characters, the title of the story, and the thrill of the suspense. Dubus neglects to take sides with the characters in the “Killings”, which leaves it upon the readers to make assumption whether the killings were justifiable. Dubus has a very unique style of writing, the main characters in “Killings” were given a choice that could’ve led them to a completely different outcome. Dubus keeps the readers on their toes because the opposite usually ends up happening.

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1661 Words | 7 Pages

Having no other option but to acclimate to his new life, Matt learned of his truths, all while others started catching up on who he truly was. But despite El Patron and the Alacran family’s efforts to eliminate

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802 Words | 4 Pages

Crime happens around the world each day. Whether rits murder, rape, theft its a crime and should be looked at as breaking the law. In the short story, “Killings” written by Andre Dubus a boy who goes by the name Frank is murdered. His murderers name is Richard Strout. While awaiting trial Frank 's father Matt Fowler decides to give Mr.Strout a punishment he felt was necessary.

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801 Words | 4 Pages

Drew refused to not wear his lifejacket. As the four friends resume canoeing down the river, Drew feels guilty about what had previously happened so he jumps off the canoe, which causes the other friends to freak out. So both canoes tip over and send the four men fighting to stay above the water. Both films have a traumatic event that causes the viewer on their suspenseful toes the whole time. A big difference distinguishes the two films even though both films represent very tragic things events.

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560 Words | 3 Pages

In this essay I will tell you how imagery, setting, theme are similar or difference in the short

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722 Words | 3 Pages

but it’s pace matched the story line and atmosphere of the story. Sarah Polley directed the movie in manner, in which the viewer believes the lives of these characters are real and this is the daily ordeals they encounter. The benefits of cinema are that the viewer can quickly grasp the atmosphere and plot. While in a story it is much harder to establish the plot and atmosphere. For instance, in the short story, I had to reread some excerpts to understand it’s significance to the story.

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1141 Words | 5 Pages

“Killings” written by Andre Dubus is focused on the main character and protagonist Matt Fowler. Matt is the father of three known children in the story, Cathleen, Steve, and his youngest, Frank. Matt had his children with his wife and business partner Ruth Fowler. In the beginning of the story Matt is laying his youngest son, Frank, to rest in the cemetery after he was brutally murdered by the story’s main antagonist, Richard Strout. At the time of his death, Frank was in school and majoring in economics (63) and had a very bright future ahead of him, after all, he was only twenty eight years old.

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