Relationship Between the Occult and Madness in Children of the Corn - Essay Example

15 April The Relationship between Occult and Madness in Stephen King’s “Children of the Corn” Children of the Corn, a short story written by Stephen King, expresses horror and demonic characteristics through the most significant symbol of innocence and holiness, ‘children.’ The story contains themes of occult, madness and vision that are illustrated through the plot of the story as well as the characters brought to life in it. The paper at hand aims to analyze the story and understand the relationship between the occult and madness portrayed in the story. It further focuses on ascertaining the difference between madness and vision. Moreover, the research paper is a means to find out if and how psychology explains the occult phenomenon in the story. Occult refers to possessing knowledge about some hidden element, not known to commoners. In the story, occult is seen to be the knowledge that the children have regarding the history of the town of Gatlin as well as the mysterious corn fields. Occult also relates to pagan rituals of sacrifices, and in the story it is portrayed through the sacrifice of those who reach the age of nineteen to satisfy “He Who Walks behind the Rows” (King 11). The occult is emphasized through the portrait Christ who is depicted as “pagan Christ that might slaughter his sheep for sacrifice,” rather than leading them in the Lord’s path (King 12). Madness is characteristically attributed to Vicky, the wife of the protagonist Burt, in Children of the Corn. The madness that Vicky goes through is emphasized through different phases in the story, when King says “Vicky was having hysterics,” “Another burst of hysterical laughter escaped her,” “her semi-hysterical giggles,” “she cried hysterically” “Vicky was going nuts” etc. The two main elements occult and madness have been explained and exemplified, thus, now the relationship between the two can be analyzed. On closer inspection, it stems that Vicky generally gets into hysterical fits and emotions resulting from hysterics only when she thinks she knows that something is wrong. Although she does not know completely what the problem is, or what the occult is, she is well aware of the fact that there is an occult in the first place. Her hysterics seem to surface when she gets hints of something hiding behind the subtlety of the town. Thus, it can be seen that there is a direct relationship between occult and madness as the latter occurs as a result of the former, or emerges due to some hints of the former. For instance, she keeps telling Burt that something about the town is not right as there are no people other than them and it is practically empty throughout. Burt does not heed to her and despite her having told him many times that “something's wrong here,” their argument knows no bounds and seems to take toll for the worst (King 10). Madness is seen in Vicky basically, whereas vision is attributed to Burt. Vicky does not seem to notice the significance or relation of the sermon on the radio to what just happened on their journey when Burt ran over a boy. However, Burt immediately recognizes a relation there, especially with the mention of corn, and he asks her “What did he (the person reciting the sermon) say about corn” (King 5). Vision also refers to connecting different situations and seeing beyond the subtlety of elements. Although Burt does not immediately realize what is going on, he connects the dots and ultimately reveals the haunting past of the town, that the children “killed of their parents” as “there was too much sinning” and “not enough sacrifice” (King 14). He also does not take the word of his wife until he sees for himself and then later on laments that “if he had only listened,” they would not be victims to such a situation in the first place (King 16). Therefore, madness and vision vary and differ to a large extent and both are represented through characters that are in stark contrast with each other. Madness is an impulse, it is not controlled, just as Vicky is uncontrollable, whereas vision comes through careful analysis and understanding, which represents Burt as he only takes decisions or passes judgment after gathering evidence on the particular situation. However, it can also be said that vision also comes with madness, as the former can come as a result of the latter. It can be seen in case of Vicky, when she cries “Don’t leave me out here alone” to Burt, she senses that there lies some danger in her being alone, and that something bad would happen if Burt goes inside the church (King 12). In this case, vision can be seen as a prediction of the future, of what may happen if certain conditions in the present are subject to some change. On a deeper analysis of Children of the Corn, it transpires that psychology does explain the occult phenomenon presented in the story. Firstly, it is a fact that “many occultists stress the psychological importance of the occult” and besides they also “interpret occult phenomena along psychological lines” (Ankerberg & Weldon 2011). In the same manner, King uses occult phenomena as a “means to self-insight and power” for the characters in the story (Ankerberg & Weldon 2011). In case of Burt, it is seen when he comes across the truth behind the reasons as to why there are no people in the town. It is through this new gained insight that he is able to fight the children and escape from them. Had he not realized the truth behind them, he would have thought them to be poor innocent children and tried to reason out with them. However, he knows that the children killed their own parents, thus he does not hesitate when he yells “Vicky, get the shotgun” (King 15). The paper at hand analyzes the story ‘Children of the Corn’ by Stephen King and arrives at the conclusion that the relationship between occult and madness is a direct one as is seen through the character of Vicky. The difference between vision and madness have been ascertained and brought to light by studying both Burt and Vicky in respective situations. Lastly, the paper also proves that psychological aspects have been used in the story to explain the occult phenomenon. Reference List Ankerberg, John & Weldon, John. The Facts on False Teaching in the Church. ATRI Publishing. 1998. Web. 19 Apr 2013. King, Stephen. Children of the Corn. 1977. Web. 16 April 2013. Read More