Abuse Of Power In The Novel Revival By Stephen King

The novel, Revival, was written by the best selling author, Stephen King. King is a writer who spins out twisted stories every year. In 2014, he published Revival, a tale told from the eyes of protagonist Jamie Morton about his former minister, Reverend Charles Jacobs, experiments with supernatural power known as “secret electricity”. Many literary critics have devoured this novel and have shared their views on the novel. Overall, the novel was very well received, but there were some criticisms.

Elizabeth Hand, an award winning author and critic, has written a review for this novel published by the well respected Washington Post. Hand claims that all of the novel’s themes are shown in the very beginning of the book. “The tug of war between

As the book nears its climax, the Reverend Jacobs explains how he intends to raise the dead, “Using lightning as a road to the secret electricity, and the secret electricity as a thoroughfare to potestas magnum universum, I intend to bring Mary Fay back to some form of life” (Revival 368). Charles Jacobs has reached the final moral breaking point. From the very beginning of the novel, Jacobs has been experimenting with “secret electricity” for a long time and he first incorporated it in his religious teachings. Then he cured people a range of diseases and injuries, though some of the cured faced devastating side effects. This darker side to Jacob’s healing leads Jamie to question the Reverend’s morals and abuse of power. Religious faith was questioned at the beginning of the novel when the Reverend gave his final sermon, and is questioned throughout the rest of the novel through his experiments. The theme of love is cyclical, where Jamie’s first love for Astrid Soderberg in the beginning of the novel comes back to him nearly 50 years later when he ends up helping Jacobs unethical experiments to save the life of his high school girlfriend. The beginning of the novel hints at all of these themes, explored in greater depth as

He is especially critical of the end of the novel. He wrote “After Revival’s finely judged first 5/6ths, the conclusion feels rushed and unbalanced”, which is untrue, in fact it is quite the opposite. The novel covers Jacob’s experiments extensively, almost to the point of being too long. Once Revival hits its climax and conclusion, the action the reader has been waiting for unfolds in an eerily disturbing and intense manner. Kidd also said “More space is devoted to the best way to dry dishes than the murder-suicide of Jamie’s close friends”. Though this is technically true, some things have more meaning when the wording is short and concise. “Astrid must have plunged the butcher knife into her partner’s throat as soon as Jenny walked in. Then she used it to cut her wrists. She did it crosswise, not the recommended technique…but she cut all the way to the bone” (Revival 392), shows the brutality of the murder by it’s