Killings By John Dubus Analysis

Upon the first line “Killings” was off to a somber and tragic start as we find out his youngest son, Frank fowler, was murdered without serious consequence. Dubus’ story chooses to follow the life of the father, Matt fowler, after this incident and how his life spirals downward to the unavoidable conflict of killing his son's murder, all while fundamentality damning himself to a life of hollow closure and becoming a ghost of his former being. Matt’s regression from his life presents itself as a few too many drinks,”He stopped, looked at willis, and finished his drink. Willis mixed him another,” (Dubus 64). Matt’s grief become increasingly eminent to the reader as described by the following,” He lost frank in a way no father expected to lose

But once having cornered Strout as he struggled on the ground to get away from Matt the audience is left with a unfulfilling,”Then Matt went to him and shot him once in the back of the head,” there was no description of what Matt felt during this or vivid description of Strouts brains getting blown out. Instead it was a simple overview of what happened. Dubus used this descriptive technique to give the audience an idea of what it feels to be in Matt’s shoes. Matt didn’t take gratification in his kill, he was indifferent to killing Strout, almost like it was a stranger. Once returning home he made a feasible attempt to return to his old life by making love to his wife, yet he couldn’t (Dubus 75). Matt’s effort to return to his old being is thwarted by his ownself, once he made the decision to kill strout he knew deep down he would never be ‘Matt’ again. Matt died with strout, and Frank’s death was the beginning of the decomposing of the character of Matt,“Holding Ruth, his cheek touching her breast, he shuddered with a sob that he kept silent in his heart,”(Dubus 76). He has lost himself in search of an invisible course that could never be found in the first