In each short story, the main characters all experience some kind of epiphany. There is at least one point during the stories in which a character encounters a moment of insight and revelation. In the story, “Cons” by Jess Walter, the two main characters are Kyle and his wife Lisa. They both undergo an epiphany as well as Matt Fowler, the main character in “Killings” by Andres Dubus. These characters also share the common ground of death and trauma which also has a correlation to their epiphanies. Their epiphanies that they experience change their views of themselves and affects the world around them. In “Cons,” eight years prior to the present, Kyle had been the cause of two, young deaths. He, along with another driver, had been drinking before getting behind the wheel of a vehicle. With the…show more content… He was sentenced to two years in prison and is presently haunted by an accident that took place eight years ago due to him being intoxicated. He is constantly reminded by the victim’s father of the accident, how life would have been for Shae-Lynn if she were still alive, and how terrible he is as a person. Ben Willard would send hateful, abhorrent letters to Kyle and his family every couple months, evoking the horrid incident. “‘Today would have been Shae-Lynn’s twenty-eighth birthday. I just wanted to remind you of all the birthdays she doesn’t get to have…whose life your thoughtless, selfish, stupid behavior affected, you arrogant horrible prick…’” (Walter 3). Kyle does not attempt to contact the father to explain himself or apologize. He believes he does not deserve it and refuses to make any effort to fix his wrongs.
