Use of Song Lyrics in Christine by Stephen King - Essay Example

Use of song lyrics in ‘Christine’ by Stephen King Published in 1983, ‘Christine’ is a horror novel by the legendary author Stephen King. The novel tells the story of a vintage automobile, a 1958 Plymouth fury, which is visibly possessed by supernatural forces. The novel focuses on Arnie Cunningham’s chilling tale of obsession and possession of the 1958 Plymouth fury nicknamed ‘Christine’ (King 15). Upon buying ‘Christine’, Arnie sets out to restore the car to its past glorious state but this also takes a toll on his somewhat limited relationships with those he surrounds himself with. Arnie goes through a transformation similar to the car he has purchased. King employs the use of lyrics from different songs that involve cars with the start of each chapter in the novel. The use of lyrics from classic American rock and roll songs assist Kings to create a basis for every chapter and help the reader to identify with the plot of the story in the novel. The use of the lyrics in the novel serves as a story telling device that King employs to create the setting and plot of the novel for the reader to great effect. The Rock and roll movement signified more than just music. The musical style greatly influenced the attitudes, lifestyle, fashion, and language when it first evolved in the US during the period between 1940 and 1950. This period represented the golden age of rock and roll in America. It also represented the golden age of the American automobile. Rock and roll and cars got invented at almost the same time in history. The music dealt with a multitude of issues such as clothing, dating, school, and cars. The lyrics described events and issues that most people at the time could easily identify with or relate to. It is no coincidence that King employs the use of lyrics from classic American rock and roll car songs in the chapters of his novel. He employs the use of the lyrics to provide setting for the novel and create a further understanding of the characters. King employs the use of the lyrics to help the reader to further identify with the issues and themes he sets out to communicate in the novel. King employs the lyrics in the books to assist the reader to reflect with the attitudes held by the characters during the time setting of the novel. It helps the reader to acclimatize with the popular culture of the time setting of the novel and understand the actions of the characters. The novel’s themes of obsession and possession achieve more conviction with the use of the lyrics and thus this stylistic device used by King utterly helps him to communicate to his audience. King uses the lyrics of classical American rock and roll songs to enable the reader to identify with the feelings of the characters. The lyrics assist the reader to discern the characters within the novel. In the first chapter of the novel, King uses the lyrics “Hey, looky there! Across the street! Theres a car made just for me, to own that car would be a luxury” by Eddie Cochran from his song ‘something else’ (King 15). This enables the reader to identify with the feeling that Arnie first has when he sees Christine. To Arnie and the reader, the car is beautiful and owning it would require a large financial undertaking. Luxuries come at a cost too and this set ups the reader to understand that Arnie’s possession of the car will cost him something dear in his life. The use of the lyrics in the chapter sets the plot of the story for the reader to understand that Arnie will be undertaking the monumental task of owning the car which he closely identifies as her. It shows just how close a possession that Arnie intends to hold out of the car. When King starts the sixth chapter with the lyrics “I got me a car and I got me some gas, told everybody they could Kiss my ass” by Glenn Frey, the reader gets to see the transformation in the character of Arnie who intends to fix his car so he can brag and get one back over his bully schoolmates (King 90). He turns into a revengeful person because he wants to fix Christine just so he can show her off to them. The use of lyrics by King in every chapter of the novel assists in enabling the reader to understand the plot development of the story. The lyrics create suspense among the readers and push them to read on and find the intention of the particular lyrics to each of the chapters provide. The lyrics provide the reader with a clue of what to expect in each and every chapter. They symbolize a transition from one event to another in the story. In chapter 13 of the book, King uses Chuck Berry’s lyrics “As I was motorvating over the hill I saw Maybelline in a Coupe de Ville. Cadillac rollin down the open road. But nothin outrun my V8 Ford”. This enables the reader to make an assumption that probably Arnie is going to completely fix Christine and she will be as powerful on the road just as any other car or if not better (King 145). The reader is able to gain a sense of what is likely to happen and at the same time have a feeling of suspense. The use of lyrics to create suspense ensures that the reader keeps focus and wants to find out more on the subject within the chapter. Chapter 14 of the novel employs the lyrics by Elvis Costello “He said he heard about a couple living in the USA, He said they traded in their baby for a Chevrolet: Lets talk about the future now, we’ve put the past away” (King 203). A closer look at the lyrics at the beginning of the chapter can assist the reader to predict the impending strain that the Christine is going to have on Arnie’s relationship with his best friend Dennis. Christine is consuming Arnie’s time so much that he appears to give little time to his past relationships. The reader is able to follow closely on the development of the story by the lyrics provided at the start of every chapter. The lyrics provide the reader with a basis for further understanding of the storyline within each chapter. The use of the lyrics in the novel further helps to clearly distinguish the setting of the novel for the reader. During its golden age, Rock and roll music was identified with the growth of the youth culture in America. In the novel, the use of lyrics from classical American rock and roll car songs is totally in tandem with the youth subculture that he tries to portray of the novel’s time setting. The major characters in the novel; Arnie, Dennis, and Christine all portray the subculture of the time period that the author sets the novel in. the late 1940s and early 1950s saw a boom in the US economy. The period saw the end of the Second World War and teens during the time could now stay in school and take on part-time jobs. This allowed the youth to earn money which they could spend. The emergence of rock and roll music during this period allowed them to develop a youth culture that best portrayed their perceived American dream. The lyrics contend perfectly with the high school milieu in which the story is set to show the various day to day relationships among the American school going teens of the time. The storyline in ‘Christine’ closely resonates to that of ‘the natural’. In ‘the natural’ Bernard Malamud writes the story of Roy Hobbs who is also obsessed with a woman named Memo Paris. The difference is that Memo Paris is a real woman in person while ‘Christine’ is an automobile. Just like ‘Christine’, Memo Paris impact bad luck on Hobbs past relationships with those close to him. Memo Paris offers Hobbs with a dilemma between his career and relationships with another lady as she is costly. Hobbs contends that he will need money if he is to start a relationship with Paris. This resonates with the life of Arnie in ‘Christine’. Before Arnie gets to own Christine, he knows that he will need a good sum of money to acquire her. Both novels also show the main characters rebuff love advances from the girls who might be truly love with them. Arnie does not show enough love to Leigh who loves him because of his pre-occupation with Christine. In ‘the natural’, Hobbs also rebuffs the advances of Iris Lemon who loved and was pregnant with his child. Both novels end in tragedy for both the main characters. In ‘the natural’ Hobbs gets expelled from the game and his records brought down while in ‘Christine’, Arnie gets to die from a crash in his obsessed automobile. King’s use of lyrics in his novel ‘Christine’ forms an effective story telling device that impacts greatly on the plot development of the tale. The lyrics assist the reader to resonate with the time setting of the story and its themes. The lyrics help the reader to identify with the characters in the book and the reader further gets to grasp the popular culture of love for the automobile by teens during the time period the novel is set in. the use of the lyrics helps to draw the reader along with the evolution of the various characters in the story as the story progresses. The storyline in King’s novel also bear a somewhat similar resemblance to that of ‘the natural’ by Bernard Malamud. Works Cited King, Stephen. Christine. New York: Hodder & Stoughton, 2010. Read More