In Stephen King's Under the Dome, a town’s power is completely cut off, resulting in the failure of most of their technological conveniences. Separated from the electrical grid and living off of generators as the result of the dropping of a massive, impenetrable dome of an unknown origin, the town quickly plunges into chaos and anarchy as its inhabitants scramble to hold on to the remnants of their past life. King provides a remarkable social commentary supporting the idea that mankind, as a society, has grown increasingly reliant on the convenience of technology to the point where breaking that dependency can be catastrophic. Corruption plays a central role in the development of both the plot and the characters in the book. James Rennie, …show more content…
However, suspicion eventually arose and an investigation conducted by a small group of misfits followed, determined to defame James Rennie and expose him for all of his wrongdoings. The situation complicated as the man left in charge of the propane stockpile grew increasingly paranoid, even going as far as to wire the compound he was protecting in plastic explosives, determined not to let it fall into the hands of anyone. Having caught wind of this, Mayor Rennie dispatched a unit of heavily armed militiamen to remove him from his post. When confronted by the small group hours before the assault on the compound Rennie defended his actions by saying, “ Without that propane we are nothing! Our town, as we know it, will plummet into the fucking Neolithic Era!” to which the group leader rebutted, “Your …show more content…
Whether or not the reader decided this to be an accurate assessment of how subject to collapse a modern community is, once deprived of their typical conveniences, is up to them, but reflection of one’s everyday life, and how reliant on technology it is, is all that is needed to prove King’s take on modern society after being depraved from something meant to be constructive, and having it turned into something destructive is not too far from