Brief Summary Of Killings By Andre Dubus

“Killings”, Andre Dubus’ short story, revolves around a father who seeks vengeance against his son’s killer. The story is about the murders committed by Richard Strout and Matt Fowler in their attempt to get retribution and ease the pain in their hearts. The circle of killings is first caused by the murder of Matt Fowler’s son, Frank, by Richard, which leads to the retaliatory killing of Richard, by Matt. This infinite, unforgiving circle of killings and attempts at retribution is what Dubus portrays in a nonjudgmental view. The readers are left to see how the act of killing affects Richard and Matt and decide how much their retribution costs them. In trying to right a wrong, both characters end up losing more than they gain. They refuse to go through the law and they refuse to legally settle

With their ascent into their acts of vengeance, they lose themselves. Matt loses more by comparison because he is a good man who has a more significant fall than Richard and this can be seen through various examples.

The before-and-after-images of the two killers paint a stark picture. There is Richard, a seemingly ordinary young man, who does not seem apologetic about having shot and killed Frank in front of his own wife and two children. He does not make much of an apology to the Fowler family and continues living his life, guiltless, while he has just ended someone else’s. He is a regular young man, however disliked by the community, who did a bad thing; he accepts the fact that he will be punished for it. He does have bad qualities like fist fighting and drunken debauchery, but he is ordinary in all other senses. He has not committed any huge crimes before