Do I Need to Read Needful Things

By Eric L.

                Needful Things is a novel written by Stephen King which describes the events that occur when a charming antique store owner with malevolent intentions sets up shop in a sleepy, New England town

In Needful Things, King provides an excellent description of a small town New England town, allowing the reader to hop right into the town gossip by introducing you as a new resident. In the story I also felt I learned something. I obtained the idea that people are naturally pinned against each other and how greed can easily rule humans. King helps demonstrate this by giving greed the character of the malevolent shop owner. In the story the shop owner Leland Gaunt even brags about his manipulation over people.

In the novel Needful Things, King compared people's wants versus their care for human life, and I saw this was very evident. However when a character obtained the possession of their dreams, I did not observe details that would allow the reader to share that same want for the item. Then, when that character would fight to the death or do nefarious deeds to keep in order to covet their prized possessions I did not recognize a solid reason behind it. Which led to various points of detachment for me, from the story.

  I chose this novel because not only did I grow up in antique store with the very same name, but because Stephen King novels acquire my interest. I am not particularly fond of King's stories because their resolutions offer no morals to learn from. I mostly find myself shocked by the murderous endings. The often violent deaths cause me to feel distant, but do not encourage me to question the standards or actions of human nature. However, I feel that Needful Things, changed that a little bit. I prefer to read Stephen King because I enjoy his descriptive writing and I feel lost in the story, however when he describes murders and other atrocities, I feel a lack of motive or build for those actions.