"The Body" written by Stephen King may be about a boy's dead body, BUT it isn't the decaying flesh that is the focal point of this story. Instead the characters mature and grow in this story, creating the theme, plot, point of view, characterization (duh) and setting of this story.
There are two huge themes in this story, the first being how a death can affect the humans surrounding it. The other theme is how the opinions of others can effect one person. Starting with the main character Gordon. Early on in the story the reader learns that Gordon had a dead older brother that many people loved. His parents don't really seem to care for him, and Gordon feels unwanted. In fact after several dinners of being ignored he says "Please pass those goodam spuds" just to see if he can get a rise out of his family, but even his small swearing doesn't affect his parents. After Dennis died, Gordon's parents really just stop caring, and the sad thing is that Gordon accepts their lack of concern for him. He's mature enough to realize that his parents won't be able to carry on for their lives for a while after the death. Another death that haunts the storyline is the death of Ray Brower. This boy got lost while picking berries with a pail, and the gang of boys hear about this death through Vern's older brother. This dead body is a sort of calling to action for the boys as they start their quest, as they walk off towards this dead body.
The other part of the theme is the affects of other opinions. This is seen when Gordon feels like "The Invisible Man" to his parents, when Chris is just another troublemaker boy in his family, and when deformed Teddy almost kills himself in a junkyard for the honor of his father.
The plot of this story branches off the journey of Gordon and his gang towards the body of Ray Brower. I was reminded of "The Princess and The Bride" when Miracle Max heals Westley from being dead to being half-dead. Westley wasn't actually dead, and could be saved. I honestly think the boys didn't realize that they were looking for a dead body until they were staring at the corpse with their own eyes. The scene (chapter 27) is the climax of the story as the boys face off the other boys over the body. In this part of the story the story shifts from a pleasant camping trip to a tiring, fright filled trip. The boys make it home but their joy is gone, and their so tired they don't plan on seeing each other until after school starts (3 days later). The work spends a lot of time building up the appearance of the body by the couple of bumps in the trips like the junk year rumble, the crossing of the tracks, the weird sounds at night and the two stories that Gordon writes. It's a typical story where the action peaks at once and the action rises and falls due to that point.
Gordon, our card shuffling hero is the narrator of this first point of view story. One interesting jump in this story is when the story "Stud City" pops in. The point of view changes from 1st person to 3rd person, and then Gordon (from the "present time") ridicules this type of story telling, explaining that its a novice college story. The narrator of the story isn't 12 year old Gordon, rather it's a Gordon from "present time" who is remembering this story. Due to this style of story telling the reader can see the points of the story that really mattered to Gordon. For example the story of crossing the tracks scared the pants off of Gordon, and the reader gets to read several paragraphs on the matter. However the strange noise in the night hardly gets half of the attention.
Characterization in this story is a strong point as it sometimes lost in all of the action. By the end of the story two of the boys (Vern and Teddy) remain pretty flat, living up to their town/family's expectations of them. Chris however surprises his world as he takes college classes (with the help of Gordon). Gordon himself also lives up to Chris' expectation of going to college however it isn't until Chris joins him in college that he really pursues writing (his lifestyle). The sad part of this story is that all of the boys die except Gordon in either accidents or freak events. These deaths add to the grief of Gordon. Also who knows where Vern or Teddy would of ended up if the oppressing opinions of the people around them hadn't of held them back. Or if Chris would of achieved higher things if everyone hadn't of discounted him just because he was part of his family.
The setting of this story is either in a series of transitions or at the tree house. The lawsuit-waiting-to-happen masterpiece that every kid dreams to have in their tree. It is in this tree that the boys learn about the dead body, and it's this house that they plan to return to after their journey and three days sleep. What the reader doesn't see as a setting is the boy's homes. Sure they're mentioned, but hardly any of the story takes place in these houses. The boys don't grow at home, they don't discover at home and they sure don't look for dead bodies at home. It's important to notice that none of the boys want to be at home, due to their family's situations. Other than the tree house the story's setting is in a sense of movement as the boys travel to the body, and the ditch thing that the body is found in is also an important setting due to the way it add's to the climax. The boys only know their tree house, dysfunctional homes, their journey and the ditch that holds a dead body. Yet this story is a great example of death and growing up.
Gotta love Stephan King
check (for Kahle?)
ReplyDelete