A Comparison of the Literary Devices in Stephen Kings Book Misery - Essay Example

A Comparison of the Literary Devices in It and Misery to Create Horror Stephen King is America’s most successful contemporary novelist with over 40 best selling horror fiction and a few non-fictions to his credit. The common man’s perception of horror, in general, spins around fantastical creatures such as Dracula, wolfman or other similar monsters. However, Stephen King usually adds an extra dimension of psychological horror to most of his works which makes him savory to his fans, who like to stay on the edge of this chilling experience. King’s horror also focuses on creating different types of characters who are psychologically defected. This apart, he also shows mastery in turning ordinary animals around into beings that perpetuate blood-curdling terror in humans. The rabid bat and the dog in ‘Cujo’ are classic examples of this type. King also shows definite traits in creating horror through science fiction and possesses an uncanny ability to weave it into the fabric of everyday life, and to create suspense that leaves the readers begging for more. He also manages to blend into the tension felt by characters, into every day situations, like: when the hero or heroine goes into an attic the fear they feel becomes tangible to his readers. Such effectiveness is perhaps attributable to the talent he possesses in spinning a web of different elements of horror to trap his audience into its meshy threads. Literature which falls into the category of horror often explains the source of horror through supernatural events. Works of Stephen King are no exception to this. The writer also uses settings to evoke horror in the reader’s mind. For example, gurgling sounds issuing from the closet’s drainpipe and the monster springing out of it, in the novel ‘It’ is an excellent example of how king can employ settings to create horror. Similarly, writers present old houses, damp cellars, dungeons, forests and abandoned castles in horror fiction to evoke a sense of the primordial fear in the readers. Fictional horrors have a great effect on the minds of people because often readers are tempted to believe that the incidents portrayed can actually happen in their lives. Generally, the main theme of the horror literature is the struggle between good and evil forces which is true in the case of King also. However, a unique attribute of King’s writings is his skill, in explaining things rationally with the help of horror. A good number of horror novels deal with the thirst for knowledge and how it affects our society. Most of such novels fall into the category of science fiction. Sometimes, modern technology and science often turn to evil forces that could spell the doom of humans. Though traditional horror literature usually depicted the clash of good and evil, represented by religion and monsters, modern horror writers focus on substituting religion with science because they recognize the potential of science to cause disasters of greater proportion. Internal conflicts in society can also serve as additional source of horror. Thus it becomes evident that instead of diminishing belief in horror, new sources for horror are emerging frequently to symbolize the real evils in this world. Its influence also reflects in King’s novels as many of them rely on factors of science to create horror. His two works, It (1986) and Misery (1987), written simultaneously, contain all elements of mastery in horror fiction that the author possesses. However, they drastically differ from each other though they do retain many characteristics the writer uses in creating fear in the readers’ mind. ‘It’ is the story of seven children (six boys and a girl) who confront a child-murdering, shape changing monster that they call ‘It’. The monster appears in many forms, often as a balloon- wielding clown, known as ‘Bob Gray’. The monster is believed to return to earth once in every 27 years, and is considered responsible for the death of several children including George Denbrough, six year old brother of Bill Denbrough. Bill is the leader of the ‘Losers Club’, as the seven children are known. The children decide to destroy the monster, track it down and nearly kill it; but it just manages to escape. They reach an understanding that they would return to Derr to fight the monster when it will return after 27 years. Six of the children move out from Derr and completely forget about it. In 1985, the monster returns and begins its killing spree, and Mike Hanlon, who works as a town librarian informs the other members of the Losers Club about the monster’s return. All of them, except, Stanley Uris, who commits suicide, come back to the city. Meanwhile, Henry Bowers, the bully who torments the seven when they were kids, also returns to Derr to kill the remaining. Losers Club uses ancient magic rituals to fight the monster. Finally, Ben Denbrough kills the monster. Stephen king’s book Misery is a story that “underlines the perils of misery.” (Stephen King: Misery). In this story, the central character, Paul Sheldon, is the author of Harlequin-type historical romances featuring an English woman called Misery Chastain. Gradually becoming weary of his own creation, he kills off Misery Chastain to end this serial fiction and to write something serious. Subsequently, he gets involved in a car accident and Annie Wilkes, a former nurse and a self declared number one fan of Paul Sheldon, saves his life. But Annie is a troubled woman with murderous tendencies, and wants him not to end the story by the heroine’s death. She turns hostile when she learns that Paul is not going to revive Misery Chastain. Her rage soars when she realizes that Paul intends to write a serious novel. She imprisons Paul and leaves him with two options: either to write a new misery novel or die. The situation turns grim for Paul. An interesting element in the story is the comparison of Paul’s situation to Scheherazad, the woman in 1001 Arabian Nights, who used story telling to prolong her execution. “At first, Paul believes he is playing Scheherazade to Annie, telling her the tale to keep himself alive. Only gradually does he realize he is playing Scheherazade to himself, saving himself and his literary being in the process”. (A novel critique) The story lines of both these novels differ drastically. The happening in the book ‘IT’ is illustrated over a wide canvas, portraying a large number and variety of characters whereas ‘Misery’ is a story which deals with two characters and their inner conflicts. Though both these stories fall in the horror fiction category, ‘It’ slants towards fantasy genre in creating the horror elements whereas Misery is pitched on psychological horror. The monster in ‘IT’ is a concept, an evil that accumulates, and grows in to gigantic proportions, through what children observe or undergo in life. Of course, symbolically, the fictional monster may be epitomizing the evils that really exist in a society, and the group of children may be representing the good that overcomes the evils. But the elements of literary devices that the author uses to create horror are based on fantasy. The novel is littered with hordes of examples of horror but the primary focus can be seen in a fictional monster lurking within the dark recesses of a real storm drain that kills the protagonist’s younger brother. The way Bill, the hero, reminisces the events works like glue that compels the readers to stick to the author’s narrative. The audience wonders at the might of the demon that inhabits the void and, inspired by awe, feels the craving to experience more of the horror that Bill Denborough goes through. On the other hand, in Misery, the reader is slowly awaken to his sensibility towards realistic every day horror. Beginning with the outcome of a car accident, the horror mounts with the temporary incapacitation of the protagonist whom the antagonist imprisons when the former refuses to comply with the latter’s wishes. The horror escalates to unsustainable terror when Paul discovers that Annie is actually capable of killing him, on seeing the paper clippings that report her being accused of homicide. The reality of her actually killing a police officer in his presence becomes a gut-wrenching experience for Paul. The readers, throughout the culmination of the events, can feel the horror palpate within them. King’s talent as a teller of classic horror stories becomes evident in the different elements of horror he deploys in the narratives of both novels as discussed above. But his skill stands all the more pronounced also in how he uses the elements to create terror in the readers’ mind if one evaluates the similarities in these novels. Both stories begin with the protagonists brooding over the events that have generated the horrific experience in them. There readers are thus literally dragged through the labyrinthine alleyways to the characters’ mental trauma, making them suffer the confusion and sense of primeval fear the characters feel about the unknown. While for Bill it is a fantastical monster, for Paul it is a real life person; but the fear that dominates them both has the same raw nature that makes the readers tinge with feelings of anticipation. Another main similarity that runs through the plots of both stories as a common thread is the element of psychological horror. Both Annie and Henry Bowers are psychologically defected. They are deprived characters who possess the ability to wreak havoc in the society. These characters are made terrifying not just by the illustration of their psychological frameworks that motivate them but also by the detailed narration of their actions to create sense of horror in the readers’ mind. Both kill children, both find pleasure in tormenting them; both perpetrate the terrific experience of child abuse and retain the ability kill with pleasure. Both are cold, mean and calculating, to the extent of creating revulsion in the readers’ psyche. A more chilling fact that lies beneath the surface is Annie’s ardent passion for the character ‘Misery’. She idolizes the heroine perhaps feeling guilt over the fact that she herself cannot become a woman that Misery Chastane seems to epitomize, which explains her obsession for this character. Thus it looks like Annie is driven by an essential compulsion that she cannot lead a normal life, which is a horrifying and traumatizing reality for her. Perhaps King has chosen the name ‘Misery’ for the character as well as the novel, to underline how the antagonist’s obsession for the character ‘Misery’ forces her to perpetrate the ‘misery’ she metes out to the protagonist. Similarly beneath the layer of his bullying and foreboding figure, Henry Bowers is motivated by a sense of dread and feeling of regret. Like Annie, he also kills his father and the guilt he feels get layered over the images he sees on the moon from which he shrinks back every time. It is indeed an extremely challenging exercise to try to discuss how a writer of King’s caliber uses the elements of horror in two of his novels, within the gamut of such a short essay. A master of the craft of horror fiction, as prolific and versatile as Stephen King, being so adept in the genre, needs a wider canvas to make it possible for even a sketchy discussion of some of the elements. However, this essay sought to discuss a few instances of similarity and differences in styles that the author employs in the narration these stories, in an effort throw at least some light into the craftsmanship of this writer. Works cited King, Stephen. It. New York: Viking press, 1986. King, Stephen. Misery. New York: Viking press, 1986. King, Stephen. On Writing. New York: Penguin, 1986. Stephen King: Misery: Available From http://www.chrishigh.com/reviews/books/misery.htm. [Accessed on 5th Mar 2007] A novel critique: Available From: http://charnelhouse.tripod.com/misery.html [Accessed on 6th Mar 2007] Read More