Abstract
Corey Robin (2004) argues that political fear takes two forms (external and internal) and both allow political actors to pursue and consolidate power. This chapter tests this understanding through an analysis of Stephen King’s The Stand. Analysis of the two cities that emerge from the destruction of the liberal order and the subsequent widespread violence confirms the distinction between the two forms of political fear while at the same time suggesting a limitation. As our analysis of King’s treatment of religion suggests, political fear is more than a tool to be exploited by political elites. Rather, it is an inherent aspect of human life that informs and shapes political reasoning.
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Notes
- 1.
Corey Robin, Fear: The History of a Political Idea (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004), 2.
- 2.
Robin, Fear, 16.
- 3.
Robin, Fear, 18.
- 4.
Robin, Fear, 18.
- 5.
Robin, Fear, 251.
- 6.
King, The Stand (New York: Anchor Books, 1990), 344.
- 7.
King, The Stand, 980; see also 1079.
- 8.
King, The Stand, 953–54 and 983.
- 9.
King, The Stand, 954.
- 10.
King, The Stand, 954.
- 11.
Robin, Fear, 29.
- 12.
King, The Stand, 514.
- 13.
See Robin, Fear, 64.
- 14.
King, The Stand, 1007.
- 15.
King, The Stand, 1029.
- 16.
King, The Stand, 1036.
- 17.
King, The Stand, 625.
- 18.
King, The Stand, 653.
- 19.
King, The Stand, 1079.
- 20.
King, The Stand, 1080.
- 21.
King, The Stand, 1079.
- 22.
King, The Stand, 290, 294–95, and 982.
- 23.
King, The Stand, 1085.
- 24.
King, The Stand, 647.
- 25.
King, The Stand, 648.
- 26.
King, The Stand, 648.
- 27.
King, The Stand, 668 and 648.
- 28.
King, The Stand, 701.
- 29.
King, The Stand, 702.
- 30.
King, The Stand, 648.
- 31.
King, The Stand, 648–49.
- 32.
King, The Stand, 649–50.
- 33.
King, The Stand, 649 and 707.
- 34.
King, The Stand, 649.
- 35.
King, The Stand, 917.
- 36.
King, The Stand, 872 and 895–96.
- 37.
King, The Stand, 905.
- 38.
King, The Stand, 905.
- 39.
King, The Stand, 906.
- 40.
King, The Stand, 906–07.
- 41.
King, The Stand, xii.
- 42.
King, The Stand, 513 and 629. On Job as a model of perseverance and faithfulness, see James 5:11. All references to the Bible are to John MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible, Large Print Edition (Nashville: Word Bibles, 1997).
- 43.
See Job 38:1–42:17.
- 44.
Job 1:6–2:10. King, The Stand, 707.
- 45.
King, The Stand, 514.
- 46.
King, The Stand, 522 and 720.
- 47.
Job 42:7.
- 48.
King, The Stand, 760.
- 49.
Robin, Fear, 10.
- 50.
King, The Stand, 343–48, 386, 557, and 647–48.
- 51.
King, The Stand, 1037–38.
- 52.
King, The Stand, 917 and 1069.
- 53.
King, The Stand, 919
- 54.
King, The Stand, 1045–46.
- 55.
I Corinthians 13:12. King, The Stand, 1044–45.
- 56.
King, The Stand, 1074 and 1085.
- 57.
King, The Stand, 1064.
- 58.
King, The Stand, 1148.
- 59.
King, The Stand, 1148.
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Mogg, J.A., Barkalow, J.B. (2020). Through a Glass Darkly: The Dimensionality and Inadequacy of Political Fear in Stephen King’s The Stand. In: Picariello, D.K. (eds) The Politics of Horror. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42015-4_5
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