Killings By Andre Dubus Summary

Harry Dresden was going to dinner with Karrin Murphy. A relationship that remained platonic for 12 books even though the characters were in love, and then Dresden gets shot through the chest and falls dead into Lake Michigan (Butcher). 12 years of refusing to act led to inner pain for the pair even after the return of Dresden from the death-like state he was in. Andre Dubus’ Killings is a story of acting on ones feelings, and not waiting for everything to just fix itself. The story constantly is mentioning conflicting aspect of action and inaction, then the idea of acting when you can sets the scene for the resolution, which is shown by Matt, the main character, putting a bullet in the head of his son’s killer. This will be presented by showing one such paradox that is shown in the text, then by showing how action is
Andre Dubus writes, “’Whats to stop him from doing it again? Did you hit him at all? Enough so he won’t want to next time?’ ‘I don’t think I touched him.’”(39-40) This statement is a prime example of a paradox of activity. Frank, Matt’s son, was just beaten by the ex-husband of the girl he was dating yet did nothing to defend himself. Frank didn’t fight back, and he didn’t leave his girl either. Taking action could have changed how his murderer acted later possibly preventing his own death. Matt’s decision to kill his sons murderer, Richard Strout, shows the authors emphasis of action, albiet in an extreme way. “Matt had not told Willis he was afraid he could not be alone with Strout, smell his smells, feel the presence of his flesh, hear his voice, and then shoot him.” (Dubus, 86) Here Matt has committed to the decision even though he doesn’t know if he can do it. The solid stance makes a clear path into the resolution, resolving the lack of action shown throughout the story. Solid commitment begins leading Matt, rather than wavering