Loss In Andre Dubus's Killings

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 the varied reactions that they display each represent a different aspect of grief. The protagonist of the story, the grieving father, Matt, expresses his feelings

One example of how Ruth’s sorrow is shown to the reader is early in the story when the narrator introduces her, saying “Ruth’s arm, linked with Matt’s tightened, he looked at her. Beneath her eyes there was swelling from the three days she had suffered” (111). This introduction to Ruth’s character is able to display her feelings of misery because of the fact that one of the first traits the reader learns about Ruth is that she had cried for three days after the loss of Frank, which informs the reader that Ruth’s most prominent trait in the story is going to be her misery and that all of her other traits are just secondary when compared to her suffering. Another example of how Ruth is affected by loss and suffering is shown the night of Richard’s murder when Matt reflects on how “he believed Ruth knew...When Ruth said good night she looked at his face, and he felt she could see in his eyes the gun, and the night he was going to” (116-117). The significance of this memory is that it shows the reader that Ruth is fully aware of the fact that Matt is preparing to kill Richard that night and that she is willing to let him commit murder because she let Matt lead her to think that it was morally acceptable to kill Richard so that they both can have relief from their overwhelming sorrows. Overall, that is how Ruth appears to be suffering through the stage of depression as seen through her thoughts and