Revenge: Not Always Sweet
Frank Fowler was a young man of twenty-one when Richard Strout fatally shot
him. Some may consider it a crime of passion while others may just see it as cold
blooded murder. In “Killings,” Dubus addresses the emotional impact of losing a child,
the lack of remorse from the killer, thoughts of revenge, and living with the
consequences. Rosenbaum and Orth tackle some reasons why and to what extent
victims will go to satisfy the need to take revenge in “Eye for an Eye” and “Does
Perpetrator Punishment Satisfy Victims’ Feelings of Revenge”?
Dubus starts in the middle of his story with the burial of Frank Fowler, and then
proceeds with the chain of events which lead up to that point. The story is told from Matt
Fowler’s point–of-view, Franks father. The use of formalism is evident as it focuses on
the structure, language, and tone of the story. Reader response is a great application as
each reader will determine if any of the events which take place are justified.
Richard Strout was twenty six years and although he did many things in his life,
he never succeeded in completing any of them. Whether it was lack of motivation or
shear laziness, he did not have the initiative to finish anything he had started. He
married MaryAnn at the young age of twenty and the marriage lasted only six years.
They had been separated only one month when she met Frank Fowler.
They met at the beach where Frank was a lifeguard and MaryAnn spent her days
with her two children. They began seeing each other more frequently and sometimes
Frank would even spend the night. They loved each other. Richard became more and
more angry with the situation and one evening as MaryAnn and Frank were together,
Richard showed up. He roughed Frank up enough to send him to the hospital. Frank did
not fight back. According to the Africa News Service, if a woman leaves a man, then
that man needs to take a good look at himself. She probably didn’t leave to find a new
relationship, but to get out of the one she was in (Crime of Passion NP). Frank did not
break up the marriage, it was already broken.
Frank was living at home with his parents and when he returned from the
hospital, stitches, bruises and all, his mother Ruth was shocked and concerned by his
appearance. She was against the relationship from the beginning. She did not like the
fact MaryAnn was still a married woman. There was rumor she had cheated on Richard.
MaryAnn was also four years older than Frank and had two children who she still had
not brought by to meet them. Ruth thought she was “embarrassed” to bring the kids
around. Matt on the other hand liked her.
