Killings By Andre Dubus Summary

“Killings” by Andre Dubus is a short story about a father who seeks out vengeance for the murder of his twenty-one year old son only to learn that revenge will only make things worse. The father, Matt Fowler, is haunted by the tragedy that has befallen his youngest son. Retribution is a common human desire because people feel that it offers the truest form of justice; however, this action is against the law of the land and is thought of as reckless to pursue. The author uses foreshadowing, imagery, and dialogue to illustrate a tone of prudence when thinking of taking vengeance into one’s own hand. In the story the literary element of foreshadowing is used. The desire to get even is an emotion that is felt by all people and is not
The author describes the scene with vivid detail when he writes, “…he stopped and aimed over the hood at Strout’s blue shirt ten feet away…They drove across the empty front lot and onto the road. Willis’s headlights shining into the car; then back through the town, the sea wall left hiding the beach, though far out Matt could see the ocean; he uncocked the revolver: on the right were the places, most with their neon signs off, that did so much business in summer…the street itself empty of traffic…” (1209). The description of the abduction of the killer creates a mental picture to the reader of how the father planned to obtain the murderer and exact his revenge. The use of imagery is also evident when the author describes the preparations taken for getting even when the author writes, “Beyond the marsh they drove through woods, Matt thinking now of the hole he and Willis dug last Sunday afternoon…as they dug into the soft earth on the knoll they had chosen because elms and maples sheltered it” (1210). The prose writer not only creates a picture of how the father obtains the murder to exact retaliation but also where the killer would be disposed of. The author uses imagery to show that the character had plenty of opportunities to have