Conflict in Dubus

The defining characteristic of a story is that it contains a conflict and a resolution--otherwise it would merely be a documentary of facts. This is a law Dubus observes in his writing. However resolution is not defined by closure. Dubus often plays with this little freedom in his short stories because they are meant to be thought provoking. The best way to incur thought in a person is to hide information. Curiosity does not occur out of thin air; it is something that happens when a piece of information is at our disposal but not yet in our grasp. Readers of Dubus want to believe that they have curiosity; we would love to believe that a final existence is in our grasp and that somehow conclusions and closure can be found in the ink and paper in front of us. We seek out details in the story that would somehow explain the future of his fictional (and all too real) world. This problem presents itself in only certain of his stories. In a story like If They Knew Yvonne, we know that Harry comes to terms with himself, his sin, and the reality of his existence. In The Fat Girl, happiness is finally reached despite it's being at the cost of a skin and bones figure. However Miranda Over the Valley, similar to Rose, has a sense of resolution without any closure about the story. We fully understand the conversion in Miranda even if we are not satisfied by it. The story of Rose is a similar one. If there is a moment of grace for her it is not between her and any other character, but between her and the reader. There is a realization of her strength in the author/narrator and reader... but not in Rose herself. This creates for an interesting dynamic in the ending of the story. Normally at "cliffhanger" endings one finds a big drop. But Rose's is the tip of an iceberg (one just needs to read it like twelve times and look over the ending about five more before they can formulate their thoughts on the subject... I mean common). Anyway, Rose is a perfect ending to understanding the reality of Andre Dubus and how he uses sin. Where, in turn, a complete understanding of this technique is rather required to fully articulate the ending of the story, in which not much happens... but a great amount is said.

Analytical Response C

This review is over Andre Dubes' "Rose." This short story was a very in depth and creative short story. The story was the author telling the story of a woman named Rose. Rose's story was one filled with heartache, happiness, and despair. The story began with an intro about the storytellers life and how he came to meet Rose in a bar by the name of "Timmy's." The author, who goes by no name, was an older man in his fifties who was very friendly and relaxed. He began seeing Rose all the time at the bar he frequented. Over the course of a few visits, the author and Rose talked and Rose told her story. Rose's story was based around her early marriage to a man named Jim and there three children. Rose's struggles were around married life, children, and being tormented by not being the wealthiest people in town. She raised her children in happiness until one single event set off the bad times in her life. When her husband stuck one of the children there marriage began going downhill. After months of the same instances happening it all came to a head one evening. Her husband Jim was very upset at his son for making noise and threw him across the room. When Rose heard the sound she was immediately on the scene and began getting her things together to take the children away. Jim showed further violence when hitting Rose. Rose began to take her son to the hospital and realized she must take the girls with her. She went back for the girls and walked in on Jim setting their apartment on fire. She ran for the children and was successful in getting them out. She returned to car and drove away and in the process ran over Jim and ended his life. She would never see her children after that night because of killing Jim.
The story was very entertaining and enjoyable. The struggles of one woman proved to be very heartwarming. I have to say I liked how Dubes revealed Rose's life over the course of the story. He made the author seem very mystic too. I enjoyed how the story was told, in a bar just the two of them talking and telling stories. I must say there wasn't a single thing I disliked about this story. Dubes is an incredible short story writer who has immense presence in the pages. Compared to Dubes' other stories, this story is very similar, with great characters and description I found this story to filled with great emotion just as "The Fat Girl" was. Both stories contained great stories of real lives filled with tragedy but ended in peace. Moments of grace that I recognized were at the end when Rose wholeheartedly walked out of the bar with her confidence and will. She is an incredibly strong person and that was shown throughout the story especially when she ran into the fire to save her children.

Sin in Dubus

A major theme in all of Dubus’ short stories is sin and its consequences. Each main character of each story has to deal with a unique set of emotional and psychological consequences, though many are paralleled throughout Dubus’ works. Being our first Dubus story, The Intruder did not elaborate much on the consequences of Kenneth’s actions. However, in this short story, Dubus shows us a way how people escape their guilt from sin, which he does in almost all his stories. In If They Knew Yvonne, Dubus shows us a quick but painful escape from sin, with Harry lying in bed with a knife, but then tells us that escaping your guilt and sin is not the way to move past it. You must deal with it head on, instead of cowarding in Fantasyland or completely stopping your temptations.
Back to the topic of consequences of sin, Dubus fills the pages with it. In Killings, the sin of coveting another man’s wife leads to the sin of murder, which leads to another sin of murder, which is magnified by an omissive sin from the Mrs. The consequences of all this sin is two men dead and the lasting heartache it will cause Mr. and Mrs. Fowler.
In Rose, Dubus again stuffs his pages with sin. This time however, his main goal is to highlight the difference between omissive and active sin. For an example displaying omissive sin, had Dubus used an example like Rose seeing Jim stealing from work and her not saying anything about it, he would not have made his point. He needed to show an example of omissive sin that could rival the sin of beating your kids, so that the reader asks the question: Which sin is worse?
He does this well, as you see that the omissive sin carries with it as much consequence as the active sin. The consequence of Rose’s omissive sin is her guilt, and also Jim throwing her kid, but mostly her guilt. This guilt drives her to commit another sin, which as Dubus shows us with the ending, is actually the worse sin. Dubus shows us this in the ending with Rose being completely baren of self-confidence, hope, or life, and why? Because of her active sin, not her omissive sin. Had she dealt with her guilt and anger in a reasonable manner, she would still have her kids. But she doesn’t, she chooses the path of wrath, and Dubus tells us decisevelly, you do not overcome or move past sin by committing more sin.

My letter to my friend Rose

12/2/07
Dear Rose,
I know you are older than I am, as you have children and I am still in high school, so maybe you will not be able to hear what I am saying or value my opinion. However, I feel the need to contact you.
You are special because every human being has good in them. I see the good in you especially your willingness to protect your children. You did this when you saved your dauthers from the fire. Your natural instinct is to protect them from your husband. You married him thinking he was a good man which he was and then something happens to people when they have children. This was not your fault. Yes, you are responsible for your children and from what I see, you are a good, caring mother. Sometimes, even in my life, things get confusing, friendships change, parental relationships shift, it becomes difficult to balance school work and my other work, and even I feel in certain circumstances like a failure. I have people around me that love me and do not allow me to feel these negatives thoughts for too long. I want to be that person for you.
Remember the good that you do. Do not hold on to the bad stuff for long. And also remember that everyday is a new day and can be a new beginning with a new way of looking at yourself and your life. Take real small steps. I will be there for you to talk to whenevery you want.
Your friend,
Sloane