Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Theses and Dissertations 2012-03-06 Monsters and Mayhem: Physical and Moral Survival in Stephen King's Universe Jaime L. Davis Brigham Young University - Provo Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the Classics Commons, and the Comparative Literature Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Davis, Jaime L., "Monsters and Mayhem: Physical and Moral Survival in Stephen King's Universe" (2012). Theses and Dissertations. 2979. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/2979 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact
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[email protected]. Monsters and Mayhem: Physical and Moral Survival in Stephen King’s Universe Jaime L. Davis A thesis submitted to the faculty of Brigham Young University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Carl Sederholm, Chair Kerry Soper Charlotte Stanford Department of Humanities, Classics, and Comparative Literature Brigham Young University April 2012 Copyright © 2012 Jaime L. Davis All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT Monsters and Mayhem: Physical and Moral Survival in Stephen King’s Universe Jaime L. Davis Department of Humanities, Classics, and Comparative Literature, BYU Master of Arts The goal of my thesis is to analyze physical and moral survival in three novels from King’s oeuvre. Scholars have attributed survival in King’s universe to factors such as innocence, imaginative capacity, and career choice. Although their arguments are convincing, I believe that physical and moral survival ultimately depends on a character’s knowledge of the dark side of human nature and an understanding of moral agency.