The Tough Childhood In Stephen King's The Shining

Stephen King’s tough childhood is ultimately the reason for both his writing in horror fiction and his literary masterpiece The Shining. Nellie and Donald King gave birth to their second son, Stephen Edwin King, on September 21, 1947 in Portland, Maine. Just two short years after King was born, Mr. King disappeared and was never heard from, or seen again. After that, the Kings didn't stay in one place for long. They lived in Fort Wayne, IN for a few years, and then heading out to Stratford, Conneticut. Growing up and generally being a kid was tough for King due to many reasons. One the reasons is he had a widowed mother with no money. To just barely make ends meet, Ms. King relied on the donations of almost every one of her family members. Another reason is King was a sickly child growing up, and stayed home quite often. In fact, King “stayed out of school of school for

If he had not been able to make a career of it, “Oh; I’d be dead. I would have drunk myself to death or drugged myself to death or committed suicide or some goddamn thing.(Unknown, 1)” For King, “Writing is just this great big conduit; this outflow pipe that keeps the pressure nice and even… It just pours all this expletives out. All the insecurities come out, all the fears- and also, it’s a great way to pass the time.(Unknown, 1)” With over forty novels published since 1974, King’s novel output is remarkable. King alone fails to marvel at output. But why does King write so much? Why does King write the way he does? There are a number of reasons King writes like he does. “In several interviews Stephen King has indicated that the bible remains the single greatest influence on his writing. While King is not overly religious-his writing is highly critical of fundamentalist zealotry- he often employs biblical references to highlight his own story themes.(Sharp, 2)” Both The Green Mile and The Dead Zone employ biblical