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The New Yorker: The Man in the Black Suit
by Stephen King

Stephen King’s “The Man in the Black Suit” felt like a conflict between two genres. On the one side is the magical realistic perspective of a child; the other is the science fiction questioning of what if. The use of both genres ultimately creates an absorbing story about man’s relationship with fear.

As a child, Gary accepts whatever he sees without questioning himself. He never asks himself what if the mysterious man he comes across, garbed in a black three-piece, is the Devil. He knows, without explanation, the man is the Devil and that he wants to eat him. Despite believing that his son was dreaming, Gary’s father is somewhat unnerved when he takes Gary back to the stream where he saw the man. Even though he rejects any type of evidence that suggested his son was telling the truth, it’s implied that to a large extent, he too is believes that the supernatural can be real.

King’s portrayal of youth and adult characters emphasizes the immense differences in their perspectives. As children, we may look at a ghost and think, ‘That’s a ghost.’ As adults, our thoughts rationalize into ‘It can’t be a ghost. It must be a figment of my imagination.’ King perfectly distinguishes between the belief in the supernatural that children are more likely to accept and the logical reasoning that adults take when rejecting any notion that doesn’t fit in with reality. Nonetheless, our ghosts represent the same ting as Gary’s Devil: fear. Gary gears his mother’s death. He fears the bee on his nose is the same one that stung his brother. He fears that there’s truth behind what the man in the black suit tells him even though he knows that “the Devil is the father of lies.” Even as an old man, he fears that the Devil will come for him after death.

This story is worth the read if you’re interested in horror fiction and the human psyche. King uses the theme of fear to point out how it can dominate us throughout our life and although he undoubtedly wants his readers to be just as afraid as Gary is when he sees the man, the hidden message is to not live life through fear.

Read the story and let us know what you think.

HANA UDDIN is a contributing writer for Feminist Review and the opinion editor for MYMEME.