Cujo By Stephen King: A Literary Analysis

American literature, both fiction and non-fiction, is important for today’s modern student because it provides a frame of reference for the world we live in now and where we came from. Depending on the genre and the time period in which the story takes place, American literature helps us to understand the history of our country and the lives and lifestyle of the people who have lived in America. It often helps us to understand different cultural aspects that have influenced America, depending on the backgrounds of the characters. It also helps us to understand different geographic regions of the country and how life may be different for people depending on where they live. Stephen King’s book “Cujo” provides us with a view and perspective

His career and livelihood are in jeopardy. He discovers that his wife is having an affair. He arrives at the Camber home too late to save his son and finds him dead and his wife severely injured. He is a mostly likeable and sympathetic character. Unfortunately, he realizes too late that there are real life monsters after his family. The first one is in the form of Steve Kemp, the man who his wife, Donna, has an affair with. Steve first tries to rape Donna and later vandalizes the Vic and Donna’s home. Shortly before heading to the Camber place where he arrives too late to save his family from Cujo, he is in Tad’s room and thinking about the dog, when Tad’s closet door swings open. Vic finally sees the monster in the closet, “—and there were eyes in the closet, he saw eyes, red and sunken and terrible—“ (p. 282). During this encounter, he also hears his son’s voice and has a conversation with him. The voice is described as a “going away voice” (p. 282) and he hears Tad cry, “Coooooooo—“ (p. 282). While Vic is having this encounter with the monster in the closet, the real monster is in the process of killing his son Tad, who is still trapped in the car, and dying. After he finds his dead son and the sheet of paper with the “Monster Words For Tad” that he himself had written, he comes to terms with the reality that he was wrong about monsters not being real, “He could read no more. He crumpled the sheet of paper up and threw it at the dead dog’s body. The paper was a sentimental lie, its sentiments as inconstant as the color in that stupid runny-dyed cereal. It was all a lie. The world was full of monsters, and they were all allowed to bite the innocent and unwary.” (p.