Map of Miranda's Journey

This is a map of Miranda's journey in Miranda Over the Valley starting with her life before college until the end when she sleeps with Brian and ruins her relationship with Micahelis.

Miranda in depression

This picture represents miranda when she was alone before brian came over. miranda here is found smoking a ciggerette in her apartment. miranda does many thing to numb the pain her life. she does so by smoking cigarettes, dope, and the consumption of alcohol. these subsatnces are only to numb the pain, not get rid of it. in the world today, people do this everyday. they feel that pain can be put away by altering the state of mind. miranda does the same thing here. the window represents how everything outside is ok and calm. but, on the inside everything is a tad gloomy. the bags under her eyes represent stress. stress from the abortion and stress from "love". the picture was drawn lousy for two reasons, i'm not the best artist, but it also represents how disarranged miranda is at this time. she is lost in despair and seeks help. on the inside she does not feel good, so i represented her as ugly with icy blue eyes. the icy blue represents how cold she feels on the inside because she is "alone."

Creative Response C

Dear Miranda,

I have a few questions to ask you after reading Miranda Over the Valley. I cannot imagine getting pregnant at a young age, unmarried; you are very brave to endure that, however I do have some questions. Why did you let your parents influence your decision to keep or not keep your unborn child? You chose to act the way you did and you knew the consequences of these actions; why did they have a say? Didn't you question the fact that they found the same quality in a vacation to Acapulco and a human life? It could have been the way Dubus wrote it, but it seemed to me that you were apathetic about the entire situation. I also questioned your judgement and knowledge when you were smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol knowing you were pregnant. Were you just not educated enough to know these were damaging to your child, or were you subconsciously hoping this child would not be born? Was there ever a point when you experienced regret about your decisions? There was one point in the story that Dubus mentioned, "she wanted to be a virgin again" (13); was this because of the unborn child or because of the actual act of sex?
What about Brian attracted you to him in that moment of weakness? You knew he was with Holly and earlier it was mentioned that you wished you were a virgin again. What compelled you to engage in that act? I know that everyone has moments of weakness but it seems to me that you just don't seem to have strong feelings about anything toward the end of this story. Why is that? I hope you feel as though you have made the right decisions and do not regret any of them. There is nothing you can do now to change the past--only move forward and create the future.

Sincerely,
Marcey Hoffman

"Miranda Over the Valley" Analytical Response B

Create a list of ten interpretive questions to post about the story—useful for the next group’s group discussion. These must be interpretive (not have one right answer but allow for several possibilities—to enhance a discussion)

1. What is the parent’s motivation to have Miranda get an abortion since it is quite evident that they have the financial ability to help support Miranda and her would be child?
2. Throughout the story, Miranda is a confused character. She thinks she loves Michaelis and at one point debates whether to marry him. However, she cheats on him with Brian towards the end of the story. In your opinion, does Miranda truly love Michaelis? If not, why does she sleep with him and get pregnant?
3. Drug usage can be found throughout the novel. Is there a symbolic meaning behind it or is it just there to numb the pain and fear that Miranda feels?
4. Consider the moments of grace for Miranda. Do you think that they are Thomistic or Augustinian?
5. Trace the moments before and after Miranda had the abortion. How do you think she changed after she had it? Do you think she turned out better, worse, or the same immediately after the abortion?
6. On page 14, Dubus inserts a small bit on how Miranda went to Diane’s house on Thanksgiving. Diane is not a major character and really nothing much is known about her. Why does Dubus put this here since it doesn’t advance the narrative and seems sort of foreign to the rest of the story? Is there something more symbolic or deeper to it?
7. Miranda can be viewed as a very complicated and dynamic character. At some instances, the reader can only be left wondered why she does certain things. In your opinion, why does Miranda sleep with Brian at the end of the story?
8. In your opinion, who do you think contributed most to Miranda’s downfall throughout the novel? Was it her parents who bribed her to take a trip to Acapulco if she got an abortion? Or could it be Holly who constantly offered her drinks and other drugs even when she was pregnant?
9. At the end of the story Miranda leaves Michaelis after cheating on him. Would you consider this a moment of grace for Miranda as it enables her to start a new life with a clean slate or do you think that Miranda ends up worse at the end? Compare and contrast Miranda at the end of this story with characters from Dubus’s other short stories.
10. When Dubus was writing this story, what do you think his intentions were as to a possible message? Was his message to stay abstinent as a teen or was it to show the effects after an abortion or was it something completely different.

Interview

J: Hey, how are you doing today Andre?
A: I'm doing well today, how about you sir?
J: I am ecstatic to be interviewing the Andre Dubus. What inspired you to write the story "Killings"?
A: Well, funny story. Just kidding. Actually, my friend was shot not too long ago because he was in a gang. It got me writing about killings that deal with shooting.
J: I see, but why such a murder based story?
A: Well every action has a reaction. Strout killied Matt's son, Matt killed Strout. It is about revenge. WHen my friend got shot, i wanted revenge. Instead, i wrote about revenge.
J: Very interesting. Who was your friend?
A: He was my god son. He was an 18 year- old gangbanger. He was a good kid who got mixed up with a bad group. I told his father to move to the suburbs, but they weren't financially well off. I wish i could've helped.
J: I am sorry for your loss. Which character is the story best relates to your god son?
A: Matt's son.
J: I can see the relativeness. And i am assuming Matt represented you?
A: That is correct.
J: Well thank you for your time. I look forward to reading more of your work.
A: Thank you for giving me time. Good luck with high school.
J: Yes sir.

Analitical B

1. What makes the killing in this story permissible to those doing the killing?
2. If killing in this story is permitted what stops the rest of the community from retaliating with murder?
3. Why is Steve's first reaction/ instinct to kill Frank's killer?
4. Is there any significance to Frank's grave being on a hill? If so, what is it?
5. What is the significance of the Merrimack? Frank's gracesite overlooks it, and it is brought up again on page 49, when a story is told about a wman murdering her husband, Matt also throws Strout's keys in it after they murder him.
6. Why is this story centered so much around violence? What is Dubus trying to tell his audience? What lesson is he trying to get across?
7. Why do you think Strout said, "he was making it with my wife" when he did? Why then and not before Matt came after him.
8. In the moments that Matt is in the car with Strout makes Matt think and observe so much detail and experience so many feelings when before, he was in a daze, going through the motions of life?
9. Why did Matt's wife want to hear the morbid details of Strout's murder?
10. What aspect of this story made Matt shutter with a sob at the end of the story? Was it the death of his son? The fact that he murdered another man? THe fact that he could not make love to his wife? Why?

in this scene, Matt (the father of a murdered son) takes Strout (the murderer) hostage in Strout's car as they drive out to the middle of nowhere

"Killings" Letter to Matt

Dear Matt,

I am writing this letter because I have some comments that occurred to me as I read the story. First of all, I can’t imagine what it would be like to lose your own child. Secondly, to see the man who killed him walking around like nothing happened? That must be devastating and I understand that you feel completely uncomfortable by this and therefore feel the need to carry a gun with you. I sympathize with you when you say that you tried so hard to keep your children safe when they were growing up and that you didn’t worry about the future. However, I wish that you realized what you did at the end of the story earlier. At the end, you realized that you and Strout are similar because you both have families. You also realized that Strout and your son, Frank, are also similar because now they are both dead and they are the same person buried under the leaves and snow. If you realized this earlier, you could have prevented yourself from killing Strout and having to live with the reality of what you did. I realize that you thought that killing Strout would make everything better, but it probably hasn’t. Maybe your actions have made it easier for your wife because now she does not have to live with the fear of seeing Strout again. However, I don’t believe it has made your life any better. In my opinion, your murder of Strout has ruined the lives of many other people that you did not take into account. For example, just as you, your wife, and you children felt after your son was murdered, Strout’s wife, her children, and family will also feel this pain. Even though Mary Ann was not happy with Strout, she will still be sad at what happened and Strout’s two children will have to grow up without a father. I know that it is too late to take back what you have done, but you must ask yourself the question: was this the right thing to do? In my opinion, the answer is no. There were other options that you and your family could have taken to get away from this than murder and you should have taken the time to consider some of these options before murdering Strout. As I said, there is nothing you can do to turn back time, so you will just need to face what you did and do your best to overcome it. This process will be long and will require patience but you must pull through. You need to pull through for your family.

Sincerely, Martin Inch

Adam DeBortoli's Response to "Killings"

Analytical Response

c. Write a short story review (250 words--one page) as if you were writing this for the school newspaper. What was good/bad about it? What was its message? Compare it to other stories. Where was the moment(s) of grace?

Andre Dubus combines the aspects of violence, grace and anger with a masterful writing style by using powerful metaphors to enrich the characters lives as well as the message he is trying to get across. In his story, “Killings,” Matt, who is the main character, faces a difficult decision of seeking revenge on the man who killed his son Frank. The murderer of Frank, Strout, may be argued to have been justified in killing Frank, since Frank was seeing Strout’s wife, Mary- Ann, or he may not depending on your values and beliefs. Ultimately Matt, along with his friend Willis, plan a cold blooded revenge in trying to seek justice, in their eyes, for the wrongful murder of Frank.

However, Matt has several moments of grace where he could have thought out what he was about to do and maybe stop himself from killing Strout. For instance, there is a scene when Matt is in Strout’s apartment and sees a picture of Strout with his wife and kids smiling happily. He realizes while he is holding the revolver, that he would be destroying “the circles of love.” Instead of stopping to think about this some more, he continues on with his plan rejecting this moment of grace.

This story was effective at making one search more in life for moments of grace especially when one is about to do something evil. The main character in this story reminded me of another of Dubus’s characters by the name of Harry from “If They Knew Yvonne.” Towards the beginning of that story, Harry kept committing the serious sin of masturbation despite several moments of grace just like Matt. The message is clear in both of these stories and that is to keep an eye out for grace because it comes in many different forms.

Overall, “Killings” is an excellent story with a powerful plot that is simple yet full of deep meaning throughout. The only negative of it is that at certain points the story was a bit dense. I think that the story would have been better if it was all narrative in the events that happen between Matt and Strout.