Patriarchy
A character referred to as Anxious Penelope proves that patriarchal misogyny is not limited to males. “You call the stallion. Calling the mare is your fallback position. Holly is used to being the mare in the Finders Keepers stable.” This metaphor is related to Penelope having looked up the Finders Keepers private investigation agency and finding two phone numbers. One number is for a male and the other for a female. Holly is very aware that the number of her male partner rings far more often than her own number. The metaphor works because a stallion is a male horse, and a mare is a female. This is a statement on the misogynistic view toward men being more capable private investigators than women.
Cult of Celebrity
A chapter titled “January 6, 2021” commences with characters watching the insurrectionists storming the U.S. Capitol at the direction of Donald J. Trump on that date. “Emily thinks Donald Trump is a boor, but he’s also a sorcerer; with some abracadabra magic she doesn’t understand (but in her deepest heart envies) he has turned America’s podgy, apathetic middle class into revolutionaries.” The metaphor here is a reference to the reality that for slightly more than half the population of America, the ability of Donald Trump to convince slightly less than half of the population to vote for him seems to be inexplicable except as a demonstration of some influence that is distinctly preternatural.
Quarantine
The novel is one of the highest-profile contributions to the ever-increasing supply of fiction constituting the new genre of Covid/quarantine literature. “It’s not just a Sunday in midsummer but a Sunday in Covid midsummer. Bell College of Arts and Sciences will be as dead as Abe Lincoln.” The reference to the inactive mortal state of Civil War-era President Abraham Lincoln is a metaphorical commentary on life during the quarantine period of life during the COVID-19 pandemic. The college is “dead” because it is devoid of normal lively activity.
Character Description
Stephen King demonstrates that his longstanding affection for using similes in describing characters is still alive and well in this late-career entry to his canon. “Imani McGuire is tall and thin, with an afro so white it makes the top of her head look like a dandelion puff.” The image of Imani’s hairstyle is immediately identifiable to all except those unfamiliar with the favorite interactive flower of children everywhere. This is a simple use of simile, but it is incredibly effective precisely because it is so universally recognizable. Thus, the visual portrait of Imani almost does not need any further additions.
Pop Culture
The author is famous for being one of the first best-selling novelists to take the risk of “dating” his books with the inclusion of multiple pop culture references rather than classical allusions. “They drag it out as if it were one of those television competitions like Dancing with the Stars instead of a poetry award that hardly anyone cares about.” The reference compares a literary award with a reality TV program pairing professional dancers with people who at one time attained a certain level of fame doing something other than dancing. King’s reliance upon such pop culture inclusions is still controversial among some critics who argue that the familiarity of such references does not have the lasting power of allusions to such things as Greek tragedies or classical music.
