The Past In Stephen King's The Shining

Stephen King is a renowned 21st century author, best known for horror novels such as The Shining and It. However, King took much more of a science fiction approach with 11/23/63. In short, 11/23/63 is a novel about stereotypical time travel with the usual Stephen King plot twists. Although none of the ideas within the novel are necessarily new, specific additions to the plot of the novel made it feel fresh and original. Jake Epping is a newly divorced English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, who teaches a GED class in order to gain some extra money. He gives an assignment to his students, asking them to write about a day that changed their lives. One of his students, Harry Dunning, writes about a day in which he was eternally impaired due to the malevolence of his violent father. This story …show more content…
However, King’s addition of the “obdurate” past creating obstacles in order to prevent alteration in history adds a new dimension to the overused gimmick. The larger the alteration, the more intense the obstacle. For example, in Jake’s attempt to prevent the murder of John F. Kennedy, he is barely even able to complete his task due to the sheer amount of road blocks that popped up in his path. The idea of the past attempting to maintain balance after time travel is a unique idea that could only have come from the mind of Stephen King. 11/23/63 effectively exemplifies the power of choice and how every decision human beings make can have unimaginable outcomes. It also touches upon the sad truth that some decisions are not always the best decisions just because they appear to be. Although no one in the real world will be time traveling anytime soon, everyone makes choices daily, and 11/23/63 tries to persuade people to think about the consequences of their decisions before engaging in an