Imagining the Apocalypse in Stephen King's The Stand

This thesis will study the representation of the apocalypse in Stephen King's The Stand through Lorenzo DiTommaso’s definition of the apocalyptic minimum as formed of a number of propositions that distinguish a work of fiction as apocalyptic: the existence of a transcendent reality, the binary opposition between two antagonistic forces, and the imminent conflict between these forces that is both redemptive and meaningful, in that it gives purpose to and orients life. The apocalyptic elements of The Stand will further be discussed through the opposition between biblical and secular understandings of transcendent reality and the suggestion that works of fiction can contain both at the same time. Furthermore, the idea that secular depictions of the apocalypse can be revealing even if they do not acknowledge the existence of a higher power will be explored through the analysis of various elements which showcase the generational sensibility of the Cold War generation, spanning the writing of the novel in the 1960s to its definitive publication in the early 1990s. Stephen King’s role as one of the eminent authors of the American Postmodern Gothic will be revealed through his desire to unearth the traumatic underside of prominent events and developments that were predominantly discussed in the media and the popular and theoretical literature of the times. These are: the development of technology and its implications in the sphere of nuclear power and bioweapons; the ascendancy of consumerist capitalism and the economic crisis caused by the shift in the system of production; and the Second Red Scare, the Vietnam War, and the Watergate Scandal. Furthermore, a more universal strain of American thought will be pinpointed through the study of various American myths and paradigms that reappear as apocalypse shifts society back to its sources. The thesis will explore whether Stephen King's apocalypse imagines the future of the United States as different from its pre-apocalyptic past, or whether it depicts a return to the established system as inevitable. The aim of the thesis is to present The Stand as a quintessentially American representation of the apocalypse