Dream On. . .
We already know that dreams play an important role in The Stand. They are initially used to draw people to either Mother or The Dark Man. Dreams continue to season the story. One in particular stood out to me -- it's from Larry Underwood.
Larry dreams that he is at a gig -- a big concert. Of course, it's the fulfillment of his dreams.
the audience began to clap rhythmically and call for Baby, Can You Dig Your Man? he looked down int he first row and felt a slapping dash of cold ice water fear. Charles Manson was there, the X on his forehead healed to a white twisted scar, clapping and chanting. And Richard Speck was there, looking up at Larry with cocky impudent eyes, and unfiltered cigarette jittering between his lips. They were flanking the dark man. Flagg was leading the chant.Freaky! I like those kind of cultural references.
The novel moves on without explaining the dream. On the surface, it could be simply nothing more than Larry's fears. He knows deep within himself that the dark man is the evil behind Manson and Speck and every other evil; he's the devil. Charlie Manson and Richard Speck were no one's servants! So for them to be flanking and serving someone else, that other person must be one bad dude!
I think the dream goes deeper than that. Why is Larry dreaming about the dark man? Because there are issues within himself that are unresolved. He's scared. Not so much of the dark man -- but of himself. The dream occurs after Stu has taken his tumble and Larry and the others are headed toward Vegas to take their stand. Will he? Or will he chicken out? He's scared to death that he might not have the courage to take his stand.
The Stand: God's Will?
There's a lot at the end of The Stand about the will of God. Why must they "stand"? In simple terms -- because that is God's will. It is a brilliant answer, since it requires no further answers. God has understanding we don't, and thus he can require of us what we do not understand. His will doesn't have to make sense to us. In the Bible -- that works quite well! Abraham, take your son up on the mountain. Makes no sense to us! God is testing Abraham. But does it work in a novel? "Larry, take your stand, let the enemy destroy you." And the reader asks. . . but why? Why must Larry and the others take a stand? The bad boys are going to implode, so why must some righteous die with them?
King gives an answers (beyond God's will). The reason for The Stand is the refinement of each man. It proves what they are made of. Or more importantly, it proves without a doubt who they serve. What would you die for? Just as Abraham's willingness showed who he really was -- so these servants will be tried by fire.
The test is not just a "proving" -- it's a "becoming." They are not sold out to God's will when they leave the Free Zone. It is only as they approach the dark man's lair that they begin to rely more wholly on God and take comfort in his will. It is only in the test that they become what they are really meant to be.
Consider this passage -- as a pastor I find this incredibly insightful!
(Thinking? Praying?)The merging to two Larry's into one is very nice. Most of us live with two people; the person we reveal and the person we really are.
It was all the same thing. Whichever it had been, the old wound in himself had finally closed, leaving him at peace. He had felt the two people that he had been all his life -- the real one and the ideal on -- merge into one living being. His mother would have liked this Larry. And Rita Blakemoor. It was a Larry that Wayne Stukey never would have had to tell the facts of life to. It was a Larry that even that long-ago oral hygienist might have liked.
I'm going to die. If there's a God -- and I now believe there must be -- that's His will. We're going to die and somehow all of this will end as a result of our dying. (p.753)
Also, note the idea that their dying is somehow directly related to the dark man's end. They must sacrifice in order to bring peace to the Free Zone (world).
It brings up the rather complicated question (again) of Why?
First question: Why must they die?
Answer: It is God's will.
Okay. . . but why is it God's will?
Answer: God doesn't have to explain himself.
But do you see -- the Author giving an answer beyond that frustrating response. Part of Larry's inner healing is his death. It is only when he faces head on his own death, and chooses not to bow down to the dark man -- that he becomes the man he so desperately wants to be.
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