-This was written in the nineties for my English 2 credit course, where I was introduced to the writer Stephen King and his works by our English teacher. The novella is included in Stephen King's book 'Different Seasons,' which is a collection of his novellas. 'Apt Pupil' also became a movie directed by Bryan Singer. -
In 'Apt Pupil,' Stephen King depicts a symbolic narrative involving American society, Nazis' atrocities, and human existence. 'Life is a tiger you have to grab by the tail, and if you don't know the nature of the beast, it will eat you up,' says Dick Bowden, Todd's father. This sentiment holds true in the novella, where King illustrates how Todd Bowden loses his grip on the tiger and transforms into a nightmare for American society. The author analyzes the ups and downs of American society, the profound human tragedy of the 20th century, and human existence through the symbolic characters Todd Bowden, Kurt Dussander, and Morris Heisel.Stephen King employs a two-way approach to critique America by creating Todd Bowden as a symbol, reflecting both the positive and negative aspects of society. Todd Bowden's personality mirrors the favorable qualities of his society—youthfulness, health, energy, hard work, and positivity. However, his affinity for violence exposes the darker side of America. When Todd reads war magazines, he does so with 'a mixture of revulsion and excitement' (King, 118). His interest in Dussander's stories isn't rooted in empathy for the victims' suffering but centers on the gruesome details: 'the firing squads, the guys who had to dig their own graves, German doctors trying to mate women with dogs, putting identical twins into refrigerators to see whether they would die at the same time' (King, 127, 128). He is fascinated by the macabre, and as he listens, 'his tongue came out and wetted his lips' (King, 127).
The second technique Stephen King uses to criticize America is through Dussander's remarks and his own narration. The following are Dussander's remarks about the 'American Lie,' and the author's remarks about American society prove this.
'...they speak of morality while they douse screaming children and old women in burning napalm. Your draft resisters are called cowards and 'peaceniks. For refusing to follow orders, they are either put in jails or scourged from the country... those who demonstrate against this country's unfortunate Asian adventure are clubbed down in the streets' (King, 128).
The dark side of American society contributes to Todd Bowden's monstrous ending. All of these elements demonstrate that 'Apt Pupil' is a critical novella about American society.
Stephen King
'Apt Pupil' is also a symbolic novella about the Nazi atrocities against innocent Jews. Stephen King criticizes the Germans' genocide against Jews through the two symbolic characters, Kurt Dussander and Morris Heisel. If Dussander reflects the Nazis' dangerous existence, on the other hand, Morris Heisel is the symbol of the victims of that great tragedy. Dussander murders Morris Heisel's wife and his two daughters. In fact, Dussander is a real monster. He murders millions of Jews.
A lot of information about Nazis' violence and the concentration camps came out from the war magazines, Dussander's stories to Todd Bowden, and Morris Heisel's own life. Dussander talks about '...gas ovens' (King, 131), about 'experimental gases' (King, 135) such as 'Yodeling' gas or 'Pegasus.'
Another important thing is Dussander's personality. Stephen King portrays Dussander as a mentally sick man. According to Dussander, 'the dream is the truth. .. the work must go on if we are to survive' (King, 129). He fails to differentiate the dreams from reality. That's why, even in America, he still continues to carry out his killings. '...what we did was motivated only by survival, and nothing about survival is pretty.' says Kurt Dussander. In fact, it is true. But Stephen King doesn't want to show the readers that the Nazis' actions are justifiable just by comparing their actions with the 'survival' concept.
He wants to show the readers that Dussander commits his atrocities not because of his survival but because of his own mental sickness. Thus, Stephen King blames the Nazis as sick people through the symbolic character of Dussander. Indirectly, he points out that the Nazis committed their atrocities not because their survival was in peril but because of their mental sickness. All these reasons point out that 'Apt Pupil' is a symbolic novella about Nazis' atrocities and the sufferings of Jews.
Apt Pupil,' in general, is a novella about human existence. The whole story talks about human life indirectly through the symbolic characters. The lives of Todd Bowden, Kurt Dussander, and even Rubber Ed show that 'life is a tiger we have to grab by the tail, and if we don't know the nature of the beast, it will eat us up' (King, 120). The healthy, energetic, hardworking, and positive kid Todd Bowden, in the end, becomes a little monster. He becomes a serial killer. Why does he become the nightmare of America?
He should have saved himself from the impact of his own society's negative dark side. Instead, he allows himself to be dragged by the flow of his society's violent tendencies. Life is not an easy thing. At each moment, we have to survive to be alive. We have to control our lives in a positive way to survive. The negative society, the negative people, and the negative mind make our lives so miserable.
In Todd Bowden's case, he is healthy, energetic, hardworking, and positive. But, the negative aspects of American society and the old monster Kurt Dussander's companionship have a more powerful influence on him than his own 'all-American,' positive personality. At one point, Todd accuses Dussander of being the reason for his academic failures. The following Todd's accusation proves this.
'It is your fault. All those stories. I have nightmares about, do you know that? I sit down and open my books, and I start thinking about whatever you told me that day, and the next thing I know, my mother's telling me it's time to go to bed. Well, that's not my fault' (King, 154).
If Todd had guarded himself from these negative aspects of life, he could have survived as a true, 'all-American kid.' Instead, he becomes a little monster. Life is a dangerous beast. We should know how to control our lives. Otherwise, this beast will eat us up. This is the concept behind this short piece of fiction, 'Apt Pupil.' 'Apt Pupil' is a story about human life.
In 'Apt Pupil,' Stephen King criticizes two American citizens: Todd Bowden and Kurt Dussander. Being an American citizen, Stephen King, in fact, indirectly criticizes all human beings by criticizing American citizens. He criticizes American society. He criticizes Nazis' atrocities. He criticizes human life. It is a wonderful novella about human life. Certainly, we don't want to become monsters like Dussander or Todd Bowden. But, we want to achieve success in our lives. If we understand Stephen King's warnings in the novella, if we learn from those warnings, certainly, each of us will become an 'Apt Pupil.
* Page numbers refer to 'Different Seasons,' a collection of novellas by Stephen King.
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