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Revisiting Stephen King: A Literary Analysis

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One of the most well-known modern writers, Stephen King has become a master of weaving minute details together to form intricate plots and settings. To the average reader Stephen Kings works of horror are the epitome of greatness and fear as far as books and writing is concerned. However to a literary critic the unorganized story lines and the overwritten plots become a hassle to read. Many critics are stunned to see how successful King has become based off his simple prose and messy writing. Kings success is directly related to his ability to paint pictures in the readers head. King is very descriptive in his scenarios and settings which draw the reader in.
Through the duration of Kings writing career he has been very critical of two main …show more content…

"The Green Mile (1997)." Revisiting Stephen King: A Critical Companion. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2002. 59-74. Print. In several interviews King has expressed his influences from several past writers. King has shown that he has taken much inspiration from the works of Charles Dickens. Dickens writings broken down in to volumes influenced king to write his own novel in a series of volumes, such as “The Green Mile.” Each volume consisted of two story lines, the main story and then what King calls a “front story.” The front story is a sub-plot that helps to take some of the focus off of the main plot. The two plots of each volume can be seen as a balancing act, the front story helps to balance the main plot throughout the volumes. Some critics such as
Although Kings technique of the front story to help balance the main plot throughout the novel works great within each individual volume King is still faced with the problem of having to bring up past events in order to refresh it to the reader. In order to solve this problem King used the method of shifting the narrator from past to present. Kings solution of shifting the narrator between past and present “adds complexity to the plot because the first-person narrator can reflect on the events and their causes both in the reliving and the retelling of

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