From The Murder and The Vigilante, by John Steinbeck, and Killings and Rose, by Andre Dubus, the theme of the individual vs. society is shown repeatedly. The common ground that is provided to us from these 4 different short stories by two separate authors, is that they all contain their view of society in the context of violence, justice, and the law. A major similarity that is seen throughout these short stories, is the context of violence, justice, and the law.
In all 4 short stories, violence is essentially introduced as a kick starter for all the situations that are presented, or the result of confrontation in these stories. In The Vigilante, by John Steinbeck, the protagonist Mike, is shown to have confrontation against a mob that has …show more content…
Noticing that the law was essentially corrupt, favoring those with money, and providing no justice for the murder of Frank, Matt takes justice into his own hands and kidnaps and kills Richard as revenge. These views of the individual vs. society in the context of justice are also shown in Rose, by Andre Dubus. The story is presented to the audience by a regular at the bar, whom talks to the locals about stories, one of which, is about another bar regular, Rose. He mentions the story of why Rose is currently drinking at the bar, drowning away her sorrows, despite being Catholic. Rose was previously a mother of several children, married to an abusive husband, Jim. One night, during an argument, Jim throws his youngest son against a wall, breaking his arm. Rose, whom reached her breaking point behind several years of tolerance from Jim’s abuse, leaves attempting to take her son to the hospital. Jim attempts to stop her by setting fire to the house, endangering their two daughters inside. Rose rushes back into the inferno and rescues her two daughters. After entering a car to leave, her husband tries to stop them, to which …show more content…
society in various contexts of violence, justice, and the law. In The Murder and The Vigilante, we are presented with how weak the individual’s standing against society is in the context of violence as in both stories, violence was treated casually to everyone except the protagonists; Mike the sole person attempting to prevent the lynching from a mob, to Jim forced to beat his wife despite how much he disliked the thought of it in the beginning. In Killings and we are shown the struggle of Matt, who is shown to go against the law as his son’s murderer, Richard, could walk around freely without bail, only due to his family’s connections and wealth. In Rose, our protagonist, Rose, kills her husband Jim, whom was the source of constant domestic violence and the person who attempted to harm her children. In both stories, these characters are dealt with injustice from society as Richard is essentially free only due to the corruption of the law, and Rose’s children are taken away despite how much she cares for them. Due to this, these characters were forced to take justice into their own hands, Matt killing of Richard himself, and Rose killing her husband. This is how the authors, John Steinbeck, and Andre Dubus, present their views on the individual vs. society in their short
In all 4 short stories, violence is essentially introduced as a kick starter for all the situations that are presented, or the result of confrontation in these stories. In The Vigilante, by John Steinbeck, the protagonist Mike, is shown to have confrontation against a mob that has …show more content…
Noticing that the law was essentially corrupt, favoring those with money, and providing no justice for the murder of Frank, Matt takes justice into his own hands and kidnaps and kills Richard as revenge. These views of the individual vs. society in the context of justice are also shown in Rose, by Andre Dubus. The story is presented to the audience by a regular at the bar, whom talks to the locals about stories, one of which, is about another bar regular, Rose. He mentions the story of why Rose is currently drinking at the bar, drowning away her sorrows, despite being Catholic. Rose was previously a mother of several children, married to an abusive husband, Jim. One night, during an argument, Jim throws his youngest son against a wall, breaking his arm. Rose, whom reached her breaking point behind several years of tolerance from Jim’s abuse, leaves attempting to take her son to the hospital. Jim attempts to stop her by setting fire to the house, endangering their two daughters inside. Rose rushes back into the inferno and rescues her two daughters. After entering a car to leave, her husband tries to stop them, to which …show more content…
society in various contexts of violence, justice, and the law. In The Murder and The Vigilante, we are presented with how weak the individual’s standing against society is in the context of violence as in both stories, violence was treated casually to everyone except the protagonists; Mike the sole person attempting to prevent the lynching from a mob, to Jim forced to beat his wife despite how much he disliked the thought of it in the beginning. In Killings and we are shown the struggle of Matt, who is shown to go against the law as his son’s murderer, Richard, could walk around freely without bail, only due to his family’s connections and wealth. In Rose, our protagonist, Rose, kills her husband Jim, whom was the source of constant domestic violence and the person who attempted to harm her children. In both stories, these characters are dealt with injustice from society as Richard is essentially free only due to the corruption of the law, and Rose’s children are taken away despite how much she cares for them. Due to this, these characters were forced to take justice into their own hands, Matt killing of Richard himself, and Rose killing her husband. This is how the authors, John Steinbeck, and Andre Dubus, present their views on the individual vs. society in their short