What Is The Theme Of The Body By Stephen King

Stephen King is one of the most respected novelists in America. Aside from his horrifying novels King has a vast variety of short stories, which has inspired countless films. There is a certain selection of short stories that has revealed Stephen King’s view of Americans as a whole, a reoccurring theme that represents his view of Americans is that each individual has certain difficulties that causes great impact on their lives. For example, in King’s novella, The Body, each character, which are all young boys, have different issues in their lives, whether it’s their parents or siblings. Their life problems are reflected in each boy’s personality and actions. So, many of King’s stories have this reoccurring plot structure which leads into the …show more content…
King’s view of America is that there is conflict in all of us is masterfully shown in this story. “The Body” takes place in Maine and tells the story of four teenage boys and their travel to find a dead boy’s body. Stephen King goes in depth in each character by, describing all the drama that surrounds their lives, and shows the adventures that can occur in an American summer with the trouble that is sure to ensue. In a way “The Body” is a coming of age story as the boys are on the verge of leaving early childhood and heading into becoming young men, and learning the struggles associated with growing up. Therefore, this story reflects part of Stephen King’s view of Americans because each character in the story has issues that have occurred in the past or present. For example, the main boy, Gordie, talks about his past where his brother just recently passed away and how his parents wished he never existed. Nevertheless, King uses rhetorical elements to create the character’s theme, and show his view of …show more content…
After a dispute between Wilfred and his wife he plans to murder her with the help of his son, Henry. Henry, who also has harsh feeling for his mother after she told him how much she hated Henry’s girlfriend, is manipulated into helping Wilfred kill his mother. After the murder takes place Henry becomes mentally unstable and leaves his father and goes off with his lover and continues a life of crime. Wilfred ended up placing his wife’s body in a well and filled it with concrete, this burial leads to infestation of rats, which seem to resemble the wife’s spirit. This supernatural occurrence eventually causes Wilfred to abandon his farm. Wilfred tries to find help in a hospital in Omaha but soon believes the rats have followed, after being deeply bothered Henry commits suicide. This short story by Stephen King supports the claim of Stephen King’s view on Americans, because of all the pain Henry inflected on himself and his