The novella, The Body, written by Stephen King is quintessential for portraying the overarching coming of age theme, however within this theme a more specific theme of innocence vs. experience is present. This theme can be seen within the book’s plot, symbols, and Chris Chamber’s character. Taking a look at the historical time period of when this novella was written, and taking a look at the biographical history of Stephen King himself helps the reader to understand why this particular approach to the theme was chosen. The novella itself travels with four young boys as they begin their journey in search of a dead body, and along the way they not only discover the cruelty of the real world, but they also face the cruelty that can be see within …show more content…
their own homes, their own lives and their own community. Stephen King has effectively used character, plot, and symbols within his work to give the reader a prominent feeling of the innocence vs. experience theme, and the historical content from the novella’s setting time period, as well as King’s background help to drive this theme home. King’s use of the element of character in his work, by far created the greatest emphasis on the innocence vs. experience theme. All of the boys within the story become of age along the way, and the greatest change is probably seen in Chris. Within Castle Rock Chris is seen as nothing more than “…one of those no good Chambers…” (King 9), but by the end of the novel we learn that Chris proves his community wrong becoming a lawyer. Prior to discovering this fact, we as readers can see how he has grown and learned from experience when he confesses to Gordie that he did take the milk money but, eventually returned it to a teacher after feeling guilty. Yet Chris was still “…wasn't allowed back at school for two weeks…because the money still never appeared…” (King 37). Here we can see the guilt he feels, and because of his innocence he tries to return the money to a teacher someone who he believed he could trust, but with experienced he learn that sometimes even the people you expect to be honest are not as Chris says “I never thought that a teacher…” (King 37). “Chris hated alcohol- he’d already seen too much of what it could do” …” (King 12). This helps show how Chris exemplifies the innocence vs. experience theme because during his childhood he has witnesses, and sometimes felt the effects of what alcohol can do to a person, and from that he has gained the experience to know that it isn’t something he wants anything to do with. Throughout the novella, Chris to me seems like the “father figure” of the group, “…he was also the guy who made the best peace…” (King 25), and he was good at comforting his fellow friends as can been seen in the scene where Teddy breaks down. At one point Chris even exclaims, “I wish I was your dad…” (King 36), as he tells Gordie that he has a lot of potential and that he has to use it, and Chris continues to say, “'It's foolish if your friends can drag you down” (King 35), because he knows that Gordie wants to stay with the other boys, but in order for him to reach his full potential, he must stray away from the boys who will just “…be on the shop courses, making bird houses and pots…” (King 35). The plot in itself exemplifies the innocence vs.
experience theme exquisitely. A plot that is about venturing off with four young boys on their journey to discover a dead body screams innocence vs. experience to me. In the beginning of the novella when the boys are deciding what to tell their parents they say, “We’ll just tell them we got bored in the field… everyone will be too excited about us finding the body to beat us” (King 8), which really does show the innocence the boys have in the beginning. They think that their parents will be happy that their children discovered a dead body, when actuality they will probably be worried sick that the same thing that happened to Ray Brower, could have happened to their child, while they decided to take that journey. The first subtle shift that occurs within the novel happens right after Teddy, Vern, Chris, and Gordie leave the dump, after their encounter with Milo and Chopper. Vern admits to the group, “I'm not sure I want it to be a good time…we're going to see a dead guy. That shouldn't be like going to a party…” (King 27). From this point on it seems as if the tone of the story changed slightly. The big shift within the plot and tone came right before Brower’s body was found as exemplified with, “Lightning flashed down again and this time there was no pause before the following thunder”(King 54) . The tone of the novella changed to that of poignant, and somber, whereas before this scene the tone could be seen as adventurous and …show more content…
joyful, not because they were seeing a dead body but because they were doing it together as a group. “The boys deciding to not bring in Ray Brower’s body to the police to become famous, showed the ultimate innocence vs. experience moment, because they realized that finding a dead body is not the time to try and gain fame, but that it was a sorrowful time meant for mourning. Symbols in the novel also help to portray the innocence vs. experience theme. The most obvious of these symbols is the gun that Chris decides to bring with him on the voyage. The gun itself is symbolic of an innocence vs. experience moment since it is generally seen as something that only adults use. “I [Gordie] finally took the gun… KA-BLAM” (King 12), this moment shows a moment where the boys test the innocence vs. experience theme, and show that they aren’t very experienced. Chris lies to Gordie about bullets being in the gun, and Gordie not checking (and possibly not even knowing how to check) the gun to ensure no bullets where in it shows the boys true innocence. This moment towards the beginning of the book helped to show that by the end of the novella the boys have gained experience as symbolized by Ray Brower’s dead body. The deer is symbolic of the last bit of innocence left within the story, yet also can be seen as the calm before the storm. The moment that Gordie and the deer have together shows the peacefulness that life has to offer, which is a complete contrast of the entire journey that the boys have ventured on. The journey was to discover the reality of death, which is something young children may not fully understand, since it isn’t something that they have had to deal with. Seeing Brower’s hand alone was enough for the boys as Gordie states, “That hand told us the truth of the whole matter. It made us know that death was real” (King 54). “The boys’ choice to leave the body behind for someone else to discover is symbolic of their growing up…” (Americastudies), and symbolizes the experience that the boys receive from their journey. Taking a historical look at the novella helps to explain why an innocence vs. experience theme was chosen for this story. The novella’s time period is written around the 1960’s, which is the same year that John F. Kennedy was elected president of the U.S., bringing childlike hope to America. This hope was crushed upon JFK’s assassination and America’s innocence was lost, once the realization that a savior could not change the opinion of all individuals worldwide. The era of Kennedy was a coming of age moment for America, thus may have aided in Stephen King’s theme choice for his novella because of the lost hope that may have been felt across the nation. King’s biographical history helps to explain why the coming of age, as well as the deeper meaning of innocence vs.
experience theme was chosen. In an interview King says, “It turned out that the kid I had been playing with had been run over by a freight train while playing on or crossing the tracks…” ("How Stephen King’s Childhood Inspired Stand by Me."). Although he does not recalled the event, witnessing this traumatic experience does take away an individual’s innocence, and allows them to grow true experience about how real death is. King could have unknowingly thought about this event later on in life, not remembering that it was something he actually lived through, and decided that it would make a great story.
The Body is a novella that bleeds the innocence vs. experience theme within the story’s characters, plot, symbols, historical and biographical context. The growth that can be seen in the characters of the novel show how one event can mature a group of children who were simply looking for adventure. The historical and biographical content of the novella gives the reader a deeper look into the reasons the theme for the novella was chosen. Stephen King successfully portrays the innocence vs. experience theme within his
work.
In this book, Dr. Bass takes us behing the scenes of the Body Farm. An engaging storyteller, he reveals his hardest and best cases. While this book tells about Bass’s life, it is centered around the Body Farm itself because it tells of how it was started. This book is very informative and it tells you that even though it is a dead body, it can still tell many tales and it can mean a lot to history, This book shows just how the dead can come to
In Dean Koontz’s book Odd Thomas a young man’s life is laid bare before us. The book’s protagonist is a 20 year old named Odd Thomas. Odd is fry cook at a diner, in a small town in California called Pico Mundo. His life is described as pretty normal except Odd has the ability to see dead people. More importantly he not only sees dead people but he is given this ability to seemingly help dead people right the wrongs in their lives. The book is written in first person and it gives Odd’s account of a major event that happened in August, in the sleepy town of Pico Mundo. Through his recount and back story, we see not only what happens but the protagonist’s thoughts and feelings. Koontz’s book, Odd Thomas, uses in story influences to provide convincing characterization for a well-rounded main character that has had an interesting life.
Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis is so strikingly absurd that it has engendered countless essays dissecting every possible rational and irrational aspect of the book. One such essay is entitled "Kafka's Obscurity" by Ralph Freedman in which he delves down into the pages of The Metamorphosis and ferrets out the esoteric aspects of Kafka's writing. Freedman postulates that Gregor Samsa progresses through several transformations: a transformation of spatial relations, a transformation of time, and a transformation of self consciousness, with his conscious mutation having an antithetical effect on the family opposite to that of Gregor. His conjectures are, for the most part, fairly accurate; Gregor devolves in both his spatial awareness and his consciousness. However, Freedman also asserts that after Gregor's father throws the wounding apple, Gregor loses his sense of time. While his hypothesis certainly appears erudite and insightful, there really is no evidence within the book itself to determine whether if Gregor has a deteriorating sense of time. If Freedman had only written about Gregor's spatial and conscious degradation, then his entire thesis would be accurate.
Mark Twain once stated, “You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus” (Brainy Quote). Despite the imaginative challenges children are faced with in reality, they are able to cope with the advantage of time and mental resilience. Stephen King in his essay, "My Creature from the Black Lagoon" from the Wake Tech English 111 Reader, compared the idea of imaginative strength in children and in that of adults to see who would better fit the horror genre audience. Stephen King recalls one particular time from his past that sends shivers down even the hardest of spines.
Body Paragraph #1: Within one incident in the story Andy transitions from thinking like an adolescent, to a realistic view by recognizing the seriousness of his situation and the world
Many people think that reading more can help them to think and develop before writing something. Others might think that they don’t need to read and or write that it can really help them to brainstorm things a lot quicker and to develop their own ideas immediately (right away). The author’s purpose of Stephen King’s essay, Reading to Write, is to understand the concepts, strategies and understandings of how to always read first and then start something. The importance of this essay is to understand and comprehend our reading and writing skills by brainstorming our ideas and thoughts a lot quicker. In other words, we must always try to read first before we can brainstorm some ideas and to think before we write something. There are many reasons why I chose Stephen King’s essay, Reading to Write, by many ways that reading can help you to comprehend, writing, can help you to evaluate and summarize things after reading a passage, if you read, it can help you to write things better and as you read, it can help you to think and evaluate of what to write about.
In the history of the United States, there have been many wars like Civil War. Civil War is a war in the United States between the North and the South. In “The Killer Angels” by Michael Shaara is explained of the fogginess that often accompanies warfare. This novel talks about the period of June 30th, 1863 through July 3rd, 1863 when civil war was happening. It is a story of the Battle of Gettysburg, three years into the Civil War. The Killer Angels is also a story that at times questions what the Civil War was about. The Civil War was a war fought over slavery and the North made their own way to South by imposing the South. Slavery was the main reason what got the Civil War started in the South and separation between South and North was stronger.
Overall, Stephen King is trying to make a point that death is acceptable and that people should not fear it as much as they do. Death should be treated as a part of life. This story goes from self-doubt and hesitation to the acceptance of the
Inevitably, there comes a point in everybody’s life at which they have an experience that completely alters their view of the world. This moment is when one loses his or her innocence, or comes of age, and he or she realizes that they do not live in a utopian Golden Age. Parents are charged with the monumental duty of protecting their children’s innocence, but everybody inescapably grows up. This experience can be anything from an embarrassing situation at school to coming within seconds of death. In the short story “Ambush” by Tim O’Brien, the author tells the true story of his daughter confronting him and asked him if he had ever killed anyone. In an effort to be a good parent and protect the nine-year-old’s innocence, the author does not share with her the story he goes on to tell to the reader. He explains how many years ago, he was serving in the army and was taking a shift guarding his troop’s campsite when all of a sudden, a young man from the opposing army came walking up the trail. Without a second thought, O’Brien killed the boy with a grenade, and he lost his innocence after realizing he had killed a defenseless man without hesitation. Tim O’Brien develops Ambush as a coming of age story through the use of literary devices.
Children are common group of people who are generally mislabeled by society. In the short story “Charles’’ by Shirley Jackson and ‘’The Open Window” by Saki showed examples of the labeling of children. In “Charles” the concept of parents labeling their children as being pure and sincere was shown. As in “The Open Window” by Saki “used the notion that girls were the most truthful sex and gives her a name that suggests truthfulness to make her tale less suspect.”(Wilson 178). According to Welsh “Because the fantasy is so bizarre and inventive and totally unexpected from a fifteen-year-old girl, the reader is momentarily duped.”(03). This showed that even we as the readers were a victim of misleading labels of society.
Throughout history the concept of innocence in literature has been a topic in which author’s have held an obsession with. According to Harold Bloom, the loss of innocence has played a large role in western literature since the Enlightenment when man was said to be initially good and then corrupted only by his institutions. (Bloom 6) The institution in which Bloom speaks of is nothing more then society. Society is what is believed to be the cause for the loss of innocence in children. Bloom has stated that a return to the childhood mindset would eliminate the social problems in which people suffer. This is unerringly why the cause of many physiological problems can be traced back to a problem or unsettlement in one’s childhood. (Bloom 7) The history of innocence continues further back in history as it is said that the first encounter of loss of innocence or “original sin” was from Adam and Eve when they ate the fruit of the forbidden tree. (Bloom 7) These historical events and ideas are what influence the works of authors from the 19th century to modern day.
The narratives that we find in this story are always set in the most everyday reality, in a daily routine that apparently has nothing special. Until everything changes. Although we do not find in these stories supernatural elements or the characteristics of horror stories. Perhaps because it is responsible for teaching us the terrible
Innocence is something always expected to be lost sooner or later in life, an inevitable event that comes of growing up and realizing the world for what it truly is. Alice Walker’s “The Flowers” portrays an event in which a ten year old girl’s loss of innocence after unveiling a relatively shocking towards the end of the story. Set in post-Civil War America, the literary piece holds very particular fragments of imagery and symbolism that describe the ultimate maturing of Myop, the young female protagonist of the story. In “The Flowers” by Alice Walker, the literary elements of imagery, symbolism, and setting “The Flowers” help to set up a reasonably surprising unveiling of the gruesome ending, as well as to convey the theme of how innocence disappears as a result of facing the harsh reality of this world.
‘Some idea of a child or childhood motivates writers and determines both the form and content of what they write.’ -- Hunt The above statement is incomplete, as Hunt not only states that the writer has an idea of a child but in the concluding part, he states that the reader also has their own assumptions and perceptions of a child and childhood. Therefore, in order to consider Hunt’s statement, this essay will look at the different ideologies surrounding the concept of a child and childhood, the form and content in which writers inform the reader about their ideas of childhood concluding with what the selected set books state about childhood in particular gender. The set books used are Voices In The Park by Browne, Mortal Engines by Reeve and Little Women by Alcott to illustrate different formats, authorial craft and concepts about childhood. For clarity, the page numbers used in Voices In The Park are ordinal (1-30) starting at Voice 1.
Divergent is set in a futuristic Chicago were everyone is separated into 5 sections of Chicago. Throughout the story the characters take trips to the Ferris Wheel of Navy Prier, the Hancock building, the Willis (formally Sears) Tower, and Millennium Park.