The Killings
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The Killings
Plot is defined as, “the authors arrangement of incidents in a story it is the organizing principle that controls the controls the order of events (Meyer,64).” The element of plot is heavily relied on in the short story, “The Killings” by Andre Dubus. The plot which is completely made inside the imagination of an author (Meyer,64), gives the audience important insight to people, places, and events in the story (Meyer,64) . “The Killings” provides a somewhat conventional plot pattern, where the character is confronted with a problem and is then led into a climax, which late leads to the resolution of the story (Meyer,65). The conventional plot is easy to follow and serves as a basis for movies and other forms of fictitious entertainment (Meyer,65). This simple, yet effective plot makes the story easier to follow and easier to understand. The plot in The Killings also includes usage of flashback as a tool for the audience to fully understand the backgrounds of the characters. This type of organization serves as a basis for the entire story and has the most significance in “The Killings”. .
The Killings is a story about a man named Matt Fowler, whose son Frank is violently killed by his girlfriends ex-husband. The story goes on to explain the tale of how Matt copes with his feelings of revenge, which result in the killing of Richard Strout, Franks killer. The story, written by Andre Dubus uses several key factors of plot in order to make the characters of Matt Fowler and Richard Strout appear to be more human. By focusing heavily on the plot the reader can easily grasp the humanity within both of the killers as well as sympathy for the victims.
Truly understanding the story relies on grasping the exposition. Exposition; ” background information that is needed to make sense of the situation in which characters are placed (Meyer,69),” is a crucial element to gaining information about exactly why Frank Fowler was killed in the first place. The story explains, ” One night he beat Frank. Frank was living at home and waiting for September, for graduate school in economics, and working as a lifeguard at Salisbury Beach, where he met Mary Ann Strout, in her first month of separation.”(Dubus,86). This small piece of information allows the audience to understand the possible relationship between Frank and his killer. The name of the killer, stated earlier in the story as, Richard Strout assumably has a relationship with Mary Ann Strout, the girl Frank meets on the beach. The passage also clarifies that Strout had previously beaten Frank before finally killing him. When the paragraph ends stating ” where he met Mary Ann Strout in her first month of separation (Dubus,86),” we are sure that Strout and Mary Ann were indeed married at one point and that Frank was somehow intruding on their marriage. A conversation between the Fowlers also confirms the relationship between Frank and Mary Ann. By understanding the relationships, subtlety stated in the paragraph, the reader forms a solid explanation for why Strout killed Frank Fowler. By “flashing back” into past knowledge and information the reader is able to fully understand the story.
The plot is enhanced by the rising action of the story. During this time, Richard Strout has been kidnapped by Matt Fowler. The scene explored how Matt Fowlers humanity almost allowed vindication for Richard Strout. The rising action is created in the story throughout the drive to Strouts home, but is increased when Matt gives Strout false hope; ” Its the trial, we cant go through that, my wife and me. So youre leaving. Weve got you a ticket, and a job.