FAIRY TALES IN STEPHEN KING’S CARRIE
FAIRY TALES IN STEPHEN KING’S CARRIE

Summary/Abstract: "The name of Stephen King still has a not-too-positive ring to it for academics; he is not yet accorded the critical attention which his works warrant. His status as a bestselling writer seems to work against him, because being popular is seen to be mutually exclusive with the status of being a serious writer. King is well aware of this prejudice against him and he has already dedicated a novel, entitled Misery, to the examination of this phenomenon and how it affects a writer, and his conception of himself. To quote Joseph Citro, “to deny King’s worth, it seems to me, is to deny the society in which we live” (Magistrale, 1992:xiv). Even though his characters are small-town Americans, their problems are universal. In spite of the supernatural elements and the heroes with special abilities, it is easy to identify ourselves with this familiar world. The factors which enhance this reader identification are the average, middle-class heroes, the transparent, easy-to-understand prose and the use of brand-names. Though sometimes he is ridiculed by critics for this, Ben P. Indick points out that King is not the first to rely on this "[...]

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