Personal Journal Response 3:
Revenge in Dubus’s “The Killings”
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Option
1
Richard
Strout experiences instances of anger, heartache, and loneliness from his
separation with Mary Ann. He struggles with seeing Mary Ann with Frank, and
hearing from the children that Frank was also, spending more time with Mary
Anne compounded his anger. These conflicts form the basis of his violence and
eventual murder of Frank. But after killing Frank, Richard realizes that he
will spend at least twenty years in jail that denies him the reconciliation he
sought with his wife, and thus unable to get back his family, which also form
an excuse for the murder. So, the reader begins to wonder whether Richard is a
good person. Is Richard redeemable?
In
my opinion, Richard reacted to Mary Ann’s relationship with Frank with undue
violence. Winning back Mary Ann and the boys required tact, in which Richard
would have shown love, forgiveness and worked toward winning back their favor.
Killing Frank acted against his wishes of reconciliation. More so, when he
murders Frank it appears that Richard’s ultimate goal was to separate Mary Ann
from any form of company rather than bringing about a reconciliation.
The story outlines Richard as both
a perpetrator and a victim. For instance, he knew that his wife had been
unfaithful during their marriage and he did not react violently to it. However,
the relationship of Mary Ann and Frank seems to have an extra aspect that he
had not encountered in previous infidelities, which makes him consider murder.
While the reader is sympathetic that Richard had faced various instances of
infidelity during the six years of their marriage, one does not sympathize with
his killing Frank, especially in front of the children. The action seems extreme
considering he had dealt with such action from Mary Ann previously.
Richard further does not seem remorseful
of his action, thus irredeemable. For instance, he keeps repeating that Frank
was sleeping with his wife, and sometimes spent the night at her house, an
aspect that even the children knew. He seemed to expect that because Frank was
sleeping at the house with Mary Anne justified the murder. He felt that this
should also have been a sufficient reason for Matt to forgive the murder. In
conclusion, Richard was a victim of infidelity that caused an emotional
turmoil; however, this did not provide the justification he sought for murder.
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