After I finished the book...
I remember that I promised to discuss about the four characters and the relationship between the Gordie and the author in the last reading journal. In addition to those, I want to discuss about the theme. Through the entire book, each boy has distinguishable characteristics and all of them served an important role for the plot in their own way.
Teddy is reckless, tempered, and quite eccentric kid. He laughs eerily with “EE-eeee-ee” sound like the sound of nail squeaking into a wooden plate in the book. His hobby is “Truck Dodging”. Behind his foolhardiness, Teddy has suffered from his violent father, who melted his ear to driving him to deafness. Teddy often explodes with uncontrolled aggression, but his nature is not so different from ordinary 12-year-old boys. The scene at the dump dramatically reveals the immature and naïve nature of Teddy. He loses his temper when the Teddy is still an ingenuous boy, who cares his father, who is in a hospital. Also, this event contrasts the bravery of Chris and Teddy. His bravery also turns out to be superficial when the boys encounter the gang. At first, he made fun of the gangs, but when Chris was in trouble he was the first one to run away. I think Teddy is the most ironic character. He is the most upright boy among the four, yet he has an obscure shadow behind the uprightness.
Vern is sometimes dull, coward. He is the one told the story about Ray Brower to his friends. He is not as mature as Gordie or Chris, so he usually goes along with Teddy. He is from a normal family background, except for his bully brother. During the in class discussion, one classmate mentioned that Vern is not just a negative character in the novel, but has own value to show the immaturity. I agree with that opinion: it was Vern, who emphasized the leadership of Chris by being contrasted. Also, the presence of Vern made the story more realistic and hilarious, as there are much more Vern-like children than Chris-like children in reality. I enjoyed the scenes when Vern appears, especially the train part, because all of his behavior and dialogues were so Vern-like.
Chris is a tough, clever boy who leads the group. He is the soul-mate of Gordie. He is the only one who understands the story that Gordie made, and he highly values Gordie’s capability. Chris is a brave child, but in a different sense from Teddy: Chris knows when he has to be brave and when he has to be warm. He comforts Teddy when he broke down from the insulting words for his dad, and he is very sincere when he talks with Gordie. Yet, he is brave enough to fight against the gangsters. I wondered if a 12 year olds boy can be so matured, to protect his brother who beaten the little brother. Though he has a great potential, his aim for success, at least normal life, is frustrated from a poor family background. Many adults, including the teachers, and Gordie’s father, only think that Chris is a ruined boy and will grow up to be a He realizes his reality at an early age and wants to sacrifice for his best friend, Gordie. Chris and Gordie remain as soul-mates even after the graduation, encouraging each other to achieve the dream. Chris finally becomes a lawyer, but unfortunately he dies at young age. His death actually matches with his justice, but it seemed too sudden to contrast the death of Chris and the lavish life of Ace at the very end.
Gordie is the protagonist who is an insightful boy wants to be a writer. He is the smartest and the most insightful child among the four, thus Chris believes that Gordie has to hang out with smarter children. Despite his capability, he is always under the shade of his dead brother, Denny. Gordie’s parents are so overwhelmed by the grief of losing the son that almost forget about Gordie. Gordie seems to consider the indifference as his fault, suffering from the thought that it should have been Gordie not Denny. Gordie finally gets out from the shade through the journey.
Gordie and Stephen both love a suspense novelist, John McDonald, and they are both successful writers. Gordie’s two short stories, The Stud City and the Revenge of Lard Ass, are actually King’s early published works. The leech episode was a true story according to the documentary of the author. Their family backgrounds are different, but similar in a way that the parents were rather indifferent. Maine was the place where Stephen King was born and grew up. In addition, their first careers are both high school teachers.
During the class discussion, we talked about the theme, friendship. The concept of friend seems to be different for children and the adults. Adults, such as Gordie’s father, do not want their kids to have friends from bad family background or bad behavior. Yet, children do not judge others before they meet face to face. As one of the classmates said, it is sometimes beneficial to follow the parents and “choose” the friends to hang out together. Yet, the true friends are not the things that we can choose artificially. I think the reason why we cannot have friends, like the ones at the age twelve, is that we make the socially appropriate criteria as we grow up.
Altogether, The Body was quite long with many episodes, but it also contains many beautiful yet straight-forward quotes. I appreciate King’s sincerity and the vivid description that made the fiction more "real" than a true story.
