Analysis of the Elements of Plot of Stephen King's Misery.
ABSTRACT
Dalam tugas akhir ini saya akan membahas sebuah novel karya Stephen
King berjudul Misery. Novel yang bergenre horror ini menceritakan pengalaman
tokoh utamanya, Paul Sheldon, yang disekap dan disiksa oleh salah seorang
penggemar beratnya untuk menulis novel sesuai keiinginannya. Seiring
berjalannya cerita terjadi banyak hambatan dan siksaan yang dialami Paul baik
dalam usahanya menyelesaikan novel maupun kabur dari penggemar beratnya itu.
Setelah membaca buku ini saya menemukan bahwa elemen yang penting
dalam novel ini adalah alur cerita yang terdiri dari unsur suspense, surprise dan
artistic unity. Ketegangan-ketegangan yang disusul dengan kejutan-kejutan
dibangun secara berkesinambungan sehingga membentuk artistic unity yang
masuk akal dan dapat dipercaya oleh pembaca.
Kesimpulan
saya
adalah
keberhasilan
novel
ini
terletak
pada
perkembangan alur cerita yang logis dan di luar ekspektasi pembaca. Semua
kejadian disajikan secara sistematis dan berkesinambungan sehingga pembaca
tertarik untuk tahu lebih banyak dan penasaran akan kelanjutan cerita tersebut.
ii
Maranatha Christian University
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS.............................................................................
i
ABSTRACT...................................................................................................
ii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study......................................................................
Statement of the Problem......................................................................
Purpose of the Study.............................................................................
Method of Research..............................................................................
Organization of the Thesis.....................................................................
CHAPTER TWO: ANALYSIS OF THE ELEMENTS OF PLOT IN
1
3
3
3
3
5
STEPHEN KING’S MISERY............................................................
5
CHAPTER THREE: CONCLUSION.........................................................
15
BIBLIOGRAPHY..........................................................................................
18
APPENDICES
Synopsis of Misery...............................................................................
Biography of Stephen King.................................................................
19
19
20
i
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Horror story is “a fictional narrative (usually in prose) of variable length
(but tending to be between 2,000 words and 100,000 words or more) which
shocks or even frightens the readers, and/or perhaps induces a feeling of repulsion
or loathing” (Cuddon 388). The story usually revolves around murder, suicide,
torture, fear and madness; or about supernatural occurences such as vampires,
ghost, demons, exorcism and similar topics (388). One certain writer who
explored the wide topics of horror story in his works is Stephen King.
Stephen King is a famous American writer who is known for his horror
stories, such as The Shining (1977),It (1986), and Misery (1987). King’s horror
stories put his readers into the world he creates, “He creates engaging characters
who you want to root for and puts them in situations where they have to fight to
stay alive” (“Stephen King Novels”). He is adept in making the reader curious
about what will happen in the story with his plot. (“Stephen King Biography”). He
often uses a what-if outline in the plot of his novels. The main character is
1
Maranatha Christian University
placed in a certain uncommon situation so that the readers will keep asking about
any possibilities as a result of the what-if
situation. “The most interesting
situations can usually be expressed as a what-if outline” (“Stephen King: How to
Write”).
Misery, the novel I have chosen to analyze in this thesis, revolves around
the fictional author Paul Sheldon, a best-selling writer who has an accident and
later is saved by Annie Wilkes, a self proclaimed number one fan of Paul. The
situation seems safe as Annie nurses Paul, but it gets worse when Paul finds that
she is psychologically unstable and over-affected by his best selling novel. The
suspense intensifies as she imprisons and demands him to write the novel that
suits her taste. In the process, she constantly tortures Paul to the point when she
cuts his leg.
As the most outstanding literary element in this novel is its plot, I choose
to analyze the elements of plot. Plot is “the sequence of incidents or events of
which a story is composed” (Perrine 43). Certain elements of plot are used to
trigger the reader’s curiosity and keep him wondering. The first element is
suspense, “the quality in a story that makes the readers ask ‘What’s going to
happen next?’ or ‘how will this turn out?’” (45). Suspense urges the readers to
read more in order to find out the answers to these questions. The second element
is surprise, “the quality that gives an unexpected result or answer for the
suspense” (49). Surprise occurs when the outcome of certain incidents is different
from the readers’ expectation. The third element is artistic unity,
. . . a condition of a successful literary work whereby all its elements work
together for the achievement of its central purpose. In an artistically
2
Maranatha Christian University
unified work nothing is included that is irrelevant to the central purpose,
nothing is omitted that is essential to it, and the parts are arranged in the
most effective order for the achievement of that purpose. (“Artistic
Unity”)
Statement of the Problem
The problems that are going to be analysed in this thesis are:
1.
Which parts of the story act as suspense in the novel?
2.
Which parts of the story act as surprise in the novel?
3.
How is the artistic unity in the novel constructed?
Purpose of the Study
Based on the above problems, the purposes of the study are:
1.
To show the suspenses in the novel.
2.
To show the surprises in the novel.
3.
To show how the artistic unity is presented in the novel.
Method of Research
I use the library research in writing my thesis. First I read Stephen King’s
Misery as the primary text. I also read some data from the library and the Internet
to support my analysis.Then I draw the conclusion of my analysis.
Organization of the Thesis
This thesis consists of three chapters preceded by the Acknowledgements,
the Table of Contents, and the Abstract. Chapter One is the Introduction, which
consists of the Background of the Study, the Statement of the Problem, the
Purpose of the Study, the Method of Research, and the Organization of the Thesis.
3
Maranatha Christian University
Chapter Two is the analysis of the elements of plot of Stephen King’s Misery.
Chapter Three is the Conclusion. Finally, the thesis ends with the Bibliography
and the Appendices, which consist of the synopsis of the novel and the biography
of the author.
4
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER THREE
CONCLUSION
Having analyzed the novel, I conclude that Stephen King has successfully
created such a horror story that comes out of an ordinary situation. He creates a
horrifying atmosphere from a seemingly normal and safe condition. He presents
the readers with a what-if outline to attract the readers and keep them reading the
novel. His main character, Paul Sheldon is placed in a what-if outline: “What will
happen if Paul Sheldon, a famous author, has an accident and is saved by his
number one fan?” This what-if outline is arranged skillfully through the elements
of plot.
After analyzing the elements of plot of this novel, I come to a conclusion
that there are ten suspenses and nine surprises. King creates the first suspense at
the very beginning of the novel when Paul has a car accident. When it is revealed
that he is saved by his number one fan, the readers are given a false sense of
safety. At this point the what-if outline starts rolling. He keeps the tension of the
story by creating one pair of suspense and surprise after another, making the
readers excited to find out whether Paul can survive the ordeal his number one fan
15
Maranatha Christian University
puts him in.
Stephen King uncovers every possible thing that will happen to the main
character, Paul Sheldon. The readers are constantly wondering about Paul’s fate
every time he does something to survive his number one fan’s mood and wrath, as
she holds Paul’s fate and life. The punishments that Annie inflicts to Paul range
from simply withholding his medicine to control him, to cruelly cutting his leg
with an axe, which shocks the readers.
King maintains the readers’ tension on each suspense by putting Paul in
difficult situations and clearly surprises the readers with the outcome. Such
situation can be seen in the third suspense, when Annie, being angry of the death
of her favorite character in Paul’s novel, gives Paul 2 difficult options. He has to
choose between his priceless original manuscript and his medicine to keep him
from the pain. To the readers’ surprise, he chooses the medicine over his
manuscript, and he burns it. Here, King puts Paul in a difficult situation through
Annie’s complete control over Paul with his medicine.
King creates totally unexpected situation to surprise the readers. For
example, when Paul, despite his trauma and horror, manages to alert the
policeman. The readers have already known that Paul is heavily traumatic because
of Annie’s torture, going so far as to cut Paul’s leg to make him obey her. Still he
can muster his courage and alert the policeman despite the following failure.
Moreover, in the second surprise, Paul chooses to burn his manuscript for his
medicine because he needs it to survive, yet in the ninth surprise, he burns his
newly finished novel that Annie demands him to write, Misery’s Return, because
he wants revenge. It is totally unexpected for the readers because the novel is the
16
Maranatha Christian University
main reason why Annie keeps Paul alive all this time.
In the artistic unity, I find that all the suspenses are answered logically by
the surprises. Each of them has plausibility that can be accepted by the readers.
One example is the seventh suspense and the sixth surprise. Annie is angry on
finding out that Paul has been sneaking out while she is away. Earlier in the sixth
suspense Paul finds out that Annie is a psychopath who kills everyone that makes
her angry or displeased. The readers are afraid that Paul will be the next victim.
Surprisingly she does not kill him, only cuts and burns his leg. Her action of
sparing Paul’s life is obviously related to the fact that she still needs Paul to finish
writing the novel she demands him to write.
In conclusion, I can say that Misery is worth reading. The readers can feel
the horror over a normal what-if outline and unexpectedly see the twisted surprise
here and there. There are no unnecessary events happen. The connection between
the suspenses and surprises are acceptable and believable in building the artistic
unity of the novel.
I am of the opinion that the characteristics of the antagonist, Annie, are
interesting. On one hand, she gives hope to Paul by saving him from the accident,
but later she manipulates him for her own sake. She turns out to be a cruel and
violent woman. Her unexpected actions support the suspense and surprise very
much, which makes the novel enjoyable to read.
17
Maranatha Christian University
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary Text:
King, Stephen Edwin. Misery. New York: Penguin Putnam Inc. 1988. Print
References:
“Artistic Unity”. Literary Terms. Humanitiesweb.org. Web 2 Oct. 2015
Cuddon, J.A. A Dictionary of Literary Terms. New York: Penguin Group (USA)
Inc. 1999. Print
DeFillipo, Marsha. “The Author” Stephen King Official Site. Web. 31 Mar. 2014
Perrine, Laurence. Story and Structure. Fort Worth: Hardcourt Brace College
Publisher. 2002. Print.
”Stephen King-Biography” Biography Channel. Web. 31 Mar. 2014.
“Stephen King: How to Write” The Guardian. Web. 1 February 2016
“Stephen King Novels” Why do people like to read Stephen King Novels. Web. 16
Sep. 2015
18
Maranatha Christian University
Dalam tugas akhir ini saya akan membahas sebuah novel karya Stephen
King berjudul Misery. Novel yang bergenre horror ini menceritakan pengalaman
tokoh utamanya, Paul Sheldon, yang disekap dan disiksa oleh salah seorang
penggemar beratnya untuk menulis novel sesuai keiinginannya. Seiring
berjalannya cerita terjadi banyak hambatan dan siksaan yang dialami Paul baik
dalam usahanya menyelesaikan novel maupun kabur dari penggemar beratnya itu.
Setelah membaca buku ini saya menemukan bahwa elemen yang penting
dalam novel ini adalah alur cerita yang terdiri dari unsur suspense, surprise dan
artistic unity. Ketegangan-ketegangan yang disusul dengan kejutan-kejutan
dibangun secara berkesinambungan sehingga membentuk artistic unity yang
masuk akal dan dapat dipercaya oleh pembaca.
Kesimpulan
saya
adalah
keberhasilan
novel
ini
terletak
pada
perkembangan alur cerita yang logis dan di luar ekspektasi pembaca. Semua
kejadian disajikan secara sistematis dan berkesinambungan sehingga pembaca
tertarik untuk tahu lebih banyak dan penasaran akan kelanjutan cerita tersebut.
ii
Maranatha Christian University
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS.............................................................................
i
ABSTRACT...................................................................................................
ii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study......................................................................
Statement of the Problem......................................................................
Purpose of the Study.............................................................................
Method of Research..............................................................................
Organization of the Thesis.....................................................................
CHAPTER TWO: ANALYSIS OF THE ELEMENTS OF PLOT IN
1
3
3
3
3
5
STEPHEN KING’S MISERY............................................................
5
CHAPTER THREE: CONCLUSION.........................................................
15
BIBLIOGRAPHY..........................................................................................
18
APPENDICES
Synopsis of Misery...............................................................................
Biography of Stephen King.................................................................
19
19
20
i
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Horror story is “a fictional narrative (usually in prose) of variable length
(but tending to be between 2,000 words and 100,000 words or more) which
shocks or even frightens the readers, and/or perhaps induces a feeling of repulsion
or loathing” (Cuddon 388). The story usually revolves around murder, suicide,
torture, fear and madness; or about supernatural occurences such as vampires,
ghost, demons, exorcism and similar topics (388). One certain writer who
explored the wide topics of horror story in his works is Stephen King.
Stephen King is a famous American writer who is known for his horror
stories, such as The Shining (1977),It (1986), and Misery (1987). King’s horror
stories put his readers into the world he creates, “He creates engaging characters
who you want to root for and puts them in situations where they have to fight to
stay alive” (“Stephen King Novels”). He is adept in making the reader curious
about what will happen in the story with his plot. (“Stephen King Biography”). He
often uses a what-if outline in the plot of his novels. The main character is
1
Maranatha Christian University
placed in a certain uncommon situation so that the readers will keep asking about
any possibilities as a result of the what-if
situation. “The most interesting
situations can usually be expressed as a what-if outline” (“Stephen King: How to
Write”).
Misery, the novel I have chosen to analyze in this thesis, revolves around
the fictional author Paul Sheldon, a best-selling writer who has an accident and
later is saved by Annie Wilkes, a self proclaimed number one fan of Paul. The
situation seems safe as Annie nurses Paul, but it gets worse when Paul finds that
she is psychologically unstable and over-affected by his best selling novel. The
suspense intensifies as she imprisons and demands him to write the novel that
suits her taste. In the process, she constantly tortures Paul to the point when she
cuts his leg.
As the most outstanding literary element in this novel is its plot, I choose
to analyze the elements of plot. Plot is “the sequence of incidents or events of
which a story is composed” (Perrine 43). Certain elements of plot are used to
trigger the reader’s curiosity and keep him wondering. The first element is
suspense, “the quality in a story that makes the readers ask ‘What’s going to
happen next?’ or ‘how will this turn out?’” (45). Suspense urges the readers to
read more in order to find out the answers to these questions. The second element
is surprise, “the quality that gives an unexpected result or answer for the
suspense” (49). Surprise occurs when the outcome of certain incidents is different
from the readers’ expectation. The third element is artistic unity,
. . . a condition of a successful literary work whereby all its elements work
together for the achievement of its central purpose. In an artistically
2
Maranatha Christian University
unified work nothing is included that is irrelevant to the central purpose,
nothing is omitted that is essential to it, and the parts are arranged in the
most effective order for the achievement of that purpose. (“Artistic
Unity”)
Statement of the Problem
The problems that are going to be analysed in this thesis are:
1.
Which parts of the story act as suspense in the novel?
2.
Which parts of the story act as surprise in the novel?
3.
How is the artistic unity in the novel constructed?
Purpose of the Study
Based on the above problems, the purposes of the study are:
1.
To show the suspenses in the novel.
2.
To show the surprises in the novel.
3.
To show how the artistic unity is presented in the novel.
Method of Research
I use the library research in writing my thesis. First I read Stephen King’s
Misery as the primary text. I also read some data from the library and the Internet
to support my analysis.Then I draw the conclusion of my analysis.
Organization of the Thesis
This thesis consists of three chapters preceded by the Acknowledgements,
the Table of Contents, and the Abstract. Chapter One is the Introduction, which
consists of the Background of the Study, the Statement of the Problem, the
Purpose of the Study, the Method of Research, and the Organization of the Thesis.
3
Maranatha Christian University
Chapter Two is the analysis of the elements of plot of Stephen King’s Misery.
Chapter Three is the Conclusion. Finally, the thesis ends with the Bibliography
and the Appendices, which consist of the synopsis of the novel and the biography
of the author.
4
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER THREE
CONCLUSION
Having analyzed the novel, I conclude that Stephen King has successfully
created such a horror story that comes out of an ordinary situation. He creates a
horrifying atmosphere from a seemingly normal and safe condition. He presents
the readers with a what-if outline to attract the readers and keep them reading the
novel. His main character, Paul Sheldon is placed in a what-if outline: “What will
happen if Paul Sheldon, a famous author, has an accident and is saved by his
number one fan?” This what-if outline is arranged skillfully through the elements
of plot.
After analyzing the elements of plot of this novel, I come to a conclusion
that there are ten suspenses and nine surprises. King creates the first suspense at
the very beginning of the novel when Paul has a car accident. When it is revealed
that he is saved by his number one fan, the readers are given a false sense of
safety. At this point the what-if outline starts rolling. He keeps the tension of the
story by creating one pair of suspense and surprise after another, making the
readers excited to find out whether Paul can survive the ordeal his number one fan
15
Maranatha Christian University
puts him in.
Stephen King uncovers every possible thing that will happen to the main
character, Paul Sheldon. The readers are constantly wondering about Paul’s fate
every time he does something to survive his number one fan’s mood and wrath, as
she holds Paul’s fate and life. The punishments that Annie inflicts to Paul range
from simply withholding his medicine to control him, to cruelly cutting his leg
with an axe, which shocks the readers.
King maintains the readers’ tension on each suspense by putting Paul in
difficult situations and clearly surprises the readers with the outcome. Such
situation can be seen in the third suspense, when Annie, being angry of the death
of her favorite character in Paul’s novel, gives Paul 2 difficult options. He has to
choose between his priceless original manuscript and his medicine to keep him
from the pain. To the readers’ surprise, he chooses the medicine over his
manuscript, and he burns it. Here, King puts Paul in a difficult situation through
Annie’s complete control over Paul with his medicine.
King creates totally unexpected situation to surprise the readers. For
example, when Paul, despite his trauma and horror, manages to alert the
policeman. The readers have already known that Paul is heavily traumatic because
of Annie’s torture, going so far as to cut Paul’s leg to make him obey her. Still he
can muster his courage and alert the policeman despite the following failure.
Moreover, in the second surprise, Paul chooses to burn his manuscript for his
medicine because he needs it to survive, yet in the ninth surprise, he burns his
newly finished novel that Annie demands him to write, Misery’s Return, because
he wants revenge. It is totally unexpected for the readers because the novel is the
16
Maranatha Christian University
main reason why Annie keeps Paul alive all this time.
In the artistic unity, I find that all the suspenses are answered logically by
the surprises. Each of them has plausibility that can be accepted by the readers.
One example is the seventh suspense and the sixth surprise. Annie is angry on
finding out that Paul has been sneaking out while she is away. Earlier in the sixth
suspense Paul finds out that Annie is a psychopath who kills everyone that makes
her angry or displeased. The readers are afraid that Paul will be the next victim.
Surprisingly she does not kill him, only cuts and burns his leg. Her action of
sparing Paul’s life is obviously related to the fact that she still needs Paul to finish
writing the novel she demands him to write.
In conclusion, I can say that Misery is worth reading. The readers can feel
the horror over a normal what-if outline and unexpectedly see the twisted surprise
here and there. There are no unnecessary events happen. The connection between
the suspenses and surprises are acceptable and believable in building the artistic
unity of the novel.
I am of the opinion that the characteristics of the antagonist, Annie, are
interesting. On one hand, she gives hope to Paul by saving him from the accident,
but later she manipulates him for her own sake. She turns out to be a cruel and
violent woman. Her unexpected actions support the suspense and surprise very
much, which makes the novel enjoyable to read.
17
Maranatha Christian University
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary Text:
King, Stephen Edwin. Misery. New York: Penguin Putnam Inc. 1988. Print
References:
“Artistic Unity”. Literary Terms. Humanitiesweb.org. Web 2 Oct. 2015
Cuddon, J.A. A Dictionary of Literary Terms. New York: Penguin Group (USA)
Inc. 1999. Print
DeFillipo, Marsha. “The Author” Stephen King Official Site. Web. 31 Mar. 2014
Perrine, Laurence. Story and Structure. Fort Worth: Hardcourt Brace College
Publisher. 2002. Print.
”Stephen King-Biography” Biography Channel. Web. 31 Mar. 2014.
“Stephen King: How to Write” The Guardian. Web. 1 February 2016
“Stephen King Novels” Why do people like to read Stephen King Novels. Web. 16
Sep. 2015
18
Maranatha Christian University