One Thing in Common
From the very introductory part of this story, or the first thirty pages of the novel, the boys reveal their weaknesses. Unlike the average children of their age, they all bear wounds from their family. Their family members are all dysfunctional, and all of them seem to give bad influence towards the children, each and every one of them.
Gordie, who appears to be the main character of the novel, is a late born from his family. He has excessively old parents who don’t care for him, and a dead brother. His brother was a perfect son, who was tall, strong, smart, obedient, and warm. Because of his age and such characteristics, he overshadowed his brother. This is rather obviously portrayed when Gordie identifies himself with the Invisible Man.
Teddy is physically defected child with low intellectual abilities. The fact that his eyesight is bad is noticeable, but more important is that it is his father who fries Teddy’s ears and makes Teddy deaf. Teddy’s father is a respected social figure who “stormed the beach at Normandy”. Although he has such experiences, he shoots cats, lighting fire in mailboxes, and abuses his own son. The parental figure who should be a role model for his child not only is negligent, but is abusive towards his own child. Oddly, Teddy shows respect towards his father. This respect does not seem to be authentic. Although his intellectual capacity is limited, Teddy knows his life is miserable, and this can be proved by his habit. Teddy has a strange hobby of truck-dodging. It is facing a truck coming towards him and dodging it by few inches. He has bad eyesight, and Gordie narrates that it would be a matter of time of Teddy getting hit by the truck.
Chris is a typical result of a malfunctioning family. The description of his brother’s future shows what will become of Chris in the future as well. His father “beats the shit out of him”, and he is suspected for the theft of milk money. His arm and wrinkles are broken from his father’s violence.
It’s not yet clear what story Stephen King would make with these boys, but it seems clear that the peculiar similarity between the main characters would definitely relate to the plot of the story.
Good analysis of the characters thus far. I think Teddy's father suffers from "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder" caused by the things he had to do during the war. King is offering some comment on that, perhaps. Where will these boys go? There's a kind of Hero's Journey in this story, and they all mentor one another during the adventure. I look forward to reading what you think of it.
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