4. Stephen King: Brief Biography
King was born in Portland, Maine, and except
for his elementary school years, he lived much
of the rest of his life there. He received a B.A.
in English from the University of Maine at
Orono in 1970, prepared to teach high school
English. A draft board examination
immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on
grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision,
flat feet, and punctured eardrums.
King ended his high-school teaching career
with the success of Carrie, Published in 1974.
5. Genre
King is best known for writing Horror, but he does
venture into a more mainstream genre with some
of his novels and stories. King himself compares
his writing to medieval morality plays [allegorical
drama popular in Europe especially during the
15th and 16th centuries, in which the characters
personify moral qualities (such as charity or vice)
or abstractions (as death or youth) and in which
moral lessons are taught.] The Green Mile, for
example, is often referred to as both a tragedy
and a morality play. I will leave you to figure out if
Shawshank fits the description of a morality play.
6. Historical Context
Alcatraz operated as a prison from 1934 to 1963. A little
over 1,500 men were housed there during its relatively
brief stint as one of America’s most notorious prisons.
One of the more famous prisoners was Robert
“Birdman” Stroud who got his nickname while in prison
at Leavenworth. Stroud became an ornithologist while
at Leavenworth and became very well-known in birding
circles, though few knew he was a prisoner for much of
the time. Stroud was an avid reader and lived much of
his life in solitary confinement. Books and birds were his
best friends.
Stroud may be the inspiration for King’s
character, Brooks Hatlen, the only other prisoner we
meet with a college degree.
7. Historical Context: The Great
Escape
One summer night in 1962, Frank Morris, John Anglin,
and Clarence Anglin escaped from Alcatraz. They
chiseled away sections of the wall around the air vent
in the rear of their cells with the handles of steel
spoons. While inmates played instruments loudly at a
concert, Morris and the Anglin brothers broke through
the backs of their cells and into the utility tunnel. They
climbed the pipes and made it to the roof of Alcatraz
prison. They launched into the San Francisco Bay in a
raft made of prison raincoats. Some think that one or
more of them escaped to Central or South America due
to their library records and attempts to learn Spanish.
More think they drowned.
8. Homework
Post #18
QHQ: Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption.
Post #19 Choose one
Discuss trauma as it applies to any one character in Rita
Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption. Use textual
support to make a case that the traumatic incident has long
term ramifications.
Using a psychoanalytic lens, do a character profile of any one
character in Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption.
