By seeking vengeance against Richard Strout for the murder of his son Frank, Matt’s choice of murder was to compensate for his son’s wrongful death, and also for the overall sanity and protection of his wife, Ruth. Frank Fowler was a genuine human who caught an eye for the wrong woman, Mary Ann Strout, Richard’s soon-to-be ex. Ruth had always believed that Frank was in the wrong relationship. Matt and Ruth both had mix feelings about Frank and Mary Ann’s relationship. Frank had treated Mary Ann better than Richard had ever during their tenure of being a couple. The jealously possessed by Richard enabled him to think of physically harming Frank. One day Richard had had enough, so he shot Frank in front of the two kids he shared with Mary Ann. …show more content…
The reason as to why Richard pulled the trigger was because he believed that since the divorce had not been fully settled, that he was still technically married to Mary Ann. Matt sought vengeance against Richard because of his thoughtless action of killing a man of innocence. Frank’s innocence would haunt Ruth to the point where if she had seen Richard in public, a blanket of sorrow would engulf her. This sadness finally overwhelmed her, leading her to tell Matt that she could not stand seeing Richard functioning on a daily basis. The analogy of an eye-for-an-eye can be used to explain the reason as to Matt put a bullet into Richard. Richard took Matt’s son away from him, and Matt decided that he was going to take Richard’s life away from him. Instead of letting the authorities handle the case, Matt went on ahead and chose to take a different path from what the police were going to do. Richard would be put away for a couple of years and then placed back on the streets, but Matt could not risk that. The murder of Richard was not as simple as Franks, because Matt fancied out a precise plan to enact his vengeance towards