Killer Joe was written by Tracy Letts
The play was written in 1991, but deemed too violent to be produced
Its was first published and produced in 1993
The first production was in Evanston, Illinois by Next Lab
It was adapted for film in 2011
Letts' other works include Bug, August:Osage County, Superior Donuts, and an adaptation of Chekov's Three Sisters
Letts has received the Pulitzer and a Tony Award, both were for August: Osage County
Things to think about:
What is the significance, if you find any, of T-Bone's barking?
Explain Dottie and Chris's relationship, and what action, on-stage or otherwise, defines it the most?
Is Dottie really a somnambulist?
What is the significance of Dottie's line, "[His eyes hurt.]"?
What are some examples of foreshadowing in Killer Joe?
Why did Chris give up the money Act II Scene II?
Does Dottie shoot Chris out of love, hate, or something else?
Does Dottie shoot Joe after blackout?
If it happened, how do you think Joe killed Rex?
"Is Dottie really a somnambulist?"
ReplyDeleteThis is a pretty great question. I've never thought about that being an act.
Explain Dottie and Chris's relationship, and what action, on-stage or otherwise, defines it the most?...
ReplyDeleteIn the play, Chris claims that he cares about Dottie very much and without a doubt more than any of his other family members. He is very protective of her and says that he wants a better life for her since she is the only one who managed to turn out alright in the family. I believe that in many ways Chris does truly care about Dottie, but he still doesn't treat her that way because he is very selfish in nature.
He uses her by saying that he wants her to get her share of the money and have her own life but it seems to me that he really cares much more about himself. What kind of a person would sell his sister's virginity if he truly cared about her? Yes, he eventually tries to get rid of Killer Joe so that he will leave Dottie alone but it's long after what was left of Dottie's innocence has already been taken.
And as for the sleep walking,...
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if I believe that it's in Dottie's nature to lie so I can't really see her pretending to sleep walk. However, simply put, she is super strange. So I wouldn't completely rule the possibility out. I'd be very interested to see what the rest of the class says about it.
I posted this under the wrong thing the other day-Does Dottie shoot Chris out of love, hate, or something else?
ReplyDeleteI think that there was more than one reason for Dottie shooting Chris. Of course the obvious reason is because she became angry, but Im pretty sure she did it out of love too. As lost and confused as Dottie seemed through out, she may have been the only person who really knew what was going on. Although she apears to be an innocent child for the majority of the play, I think she may have saw everything that was coming. In fact, if you ask me, she's the most interesting person in the play; she's kind of labled as "the flunky" of the family, but all the "normal" people (everyone else) seem to have the problem of functioning correctly. They aren't dumb, they just make dumb decisions and what they think is right/wrong is really screwed up-but Dottie never made a decision, she was the decision at the beginning and end of the play. Dottie was the reciever and she was the reliever. It's funny, because as significant as her role is, she and her mother have alot in common; everyone know's she's there but she's sort of just taking up space, everyone thinks she's not that bright so they kind of ignore her and everyone wants to get something out of her. The only difference is that they all loved her, but I'm not sure how giving away someone as a retainer is love...maybe that's just me. Regardless, there's really no conflict until Joe wants Dottie (no offense Chris lol) because the rest of the play is built upon that idea that Dottie is Chris's last posession and he won't let her go. Now whether he molested her as a child or not is a whole nother discusion, but it brings me back to the question. Love...to Dottie, love was what her and a fat kid had once when she was young. In other words, I don't think Dottie knew how to love because she never experienced it before to know how it felt. She knew what love was and I think she had that love for Chris, which is why she shot him. He wanted to start over...again which there's nothing wrong with that, but everytime he started over he failed miserably again. In fact, even when he had something good, he still managed to mess up. So, she set him free from the mess he created, the only way she knew how...she may have been the only character who wasn't selfish at all. I said eralier that I think she killed Chris out of anger too, but it wasn't directed towards him as much as it was the situation. Everyone has a breaking point and I'm almost sure Dottie just got fed up with the bull too. When it happned, it was too much at once and Dottie saw it coming from miles away. For a "stupid" girl, ditzy Dottie was very observant; she knew about the plan, Rex, Joe, all of it. Maybe she thought that they all should've known it too. I think there was something else there too, but I can't explain it. Whatever happned between Chris and Dottie was special, not neccisarly in a good way, but it may have caused her to act like she did. I'm almost certain she shoots Joe at the end, but for a different reason-out of hate. He was manipulative like Chris, but Chris was her brother, he was always there for her and although he failed, he tried to do right. Dottie knew what Joe was doing and she knew what he was about; she didn't have to hear it, she saw it all the first day they met...it was all in his eyes. I'm sure she just wanted to tell Joe that she was having a baby and then that was it. So, I think everyone that tried to control her gets shot, which included her dad, Chris and when the lights go out, Joe.
I think that Dottie shot Chris out of love. Whenever Chris was talking about how he probably should've been born or how he wanted to get away from that place, I think Dottie saw that as a way of helping him do that so he wouldn't have to suffer anymore.
ReplyDeleteI think Joe killed Rex when he killed Chris' mom, and that Rex's body parts were also in the bag with his mom's.
Does Dottie shoot Chris out of love, hate, or something else?
ReplyDeleteI think Dottie had mixed emotions toward Chris. She loved him, as a brother, but nothing more. Dottie knew that Chris was passionately in love with her, so personally I think she killed Chris as a favor. He was most likely going to be killed by the drug dealers (he owed them money) or Joe, so I think Dottie killed him to simply get it over with.
She shot him to get him out of his miserable life and because she loved him and wanted to protect him.
I have mixed thoughts regarding Dottie's intelligence. Rather than quantifying it, I think it's better to qualify it:
ReplyDeletefor one, she's not smart. Smart, to me, implies a sort of cunningness and worldliness. What she is, then, is intuitive. Because she is so childlike, the lens with which she views the world is wide and non-discriminatory, allowing her to observe the world without bias. Also because she is so childlike, she idealizes love. She sees people without bias or even morals. When it comes to Chris, for example, she sees that he loves her despite the fact that he is fucked up and has done disturbing things to her. And Sharla may be cheating, but Dottie doesn't see it like that. She sees the fact that Sharla having a "cute" boyfriend as special. I also don't think she thinks that love is limited to one person — someone could have twelve boyfriends and that would be cool.
On some level, she just doesn't care what happens. Whatever happens, it is all the same to her (until she learns about the child, that is).
Chris' character is revealed at the beginning of the play when he can't tell the good shit from the bad shit. By that, I believe Letts means both the marijuana and pretty much everything else in life. I do think he loves Dottie, and in a warped way sees her both as his sister and as an object of desire. And, of course, as a bargaining tool, which he later comes to regret.
I think Dottie loves Chris, but only in that he loves her. Her love is a reflection of his, while his love is truly born out of passion.
Dottie shoots Chris at the end to relieve him of his pain. That doesn't mean she loves him... it just means that she can objectively tell that between pain and no pain, no pain is better. She probably hasn't given much thought to the afterlife outside of the traditional Christian concept of heaven. She has no reason to fear it.
Theme of Killer Joe: How good intentions don't really matter, possibly. I also think that Joe's level of education is significant, and that the play probably has some political undercurrent, possibly related to social immobility or the manipulation of the poor by the wealthy or educated class.