66 pages • 2 hours read
Bag of Bones
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Symbols & Motifs
First Impressions
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of racism and rape.
Throughout the novel, Stephen King uses first impressions to show how Mike makes rash judgments of others, many of them based on preconceived notions that usually turn out to be wrong. These impressions become a motif for The Tensions Between Truth and Fiction, as Mike comes to realize that many of his preconceived notions are fictional in nature.
For instance, the first time Mike meets Mattie, he immediately assumes she is “trailer-trash” based on her appearance. While Mattie does live in a trailer, she overwrites his notions of the stereotype by opening up about her struggles as a single mother who fears for the future. By reducing her to a stereotype, Mike failed to recognize the harshness of her reality, which elicits his sympathy. On the other hand, Mike’s discovery that Jo was more than just a benevolent jack-of-all-trades clashes with his perception of her. He is initially worried when the gossip he receives indicates that Jo was cheating on Mike with someone else. He later discovers that this notion was wrong, as Jo was conducting a secret investigation on the history of the town to protect both Mike and their future child.
Mike’s erroneous judgment extends as well to the township of TR-90. When Mike arrives, he is filled with nostalgia, fondly recalling the folksy charm of the town as part of the secret getaway he had with Jo. The more time he spends among the townspeople, however, the more he comes to recognize that their charm hides the sinister truth of the town’s racist past. When he realizes that his old friend Bill Dean is racist, Mike starts to reconsider his sentimentality and puts his guard up against the antagonism of the townspeople. In these ways, the novel suggests that first impressions can be deceiving.
Sara Laughs
Sara Laughs is a symbol for The Cyclical Nature of Trauma and Violence. The name of the house sets a melancholic tone for the novel, especially as Mike returns to it during his extended grief for Jo. The name’s connotations suggest that someone named Sara found joy there, but neither she nor her laugh are anywhere to be heard in the area. Instead, Sara Laughs is filled with weeping and screaming noises, undercutting the idyllic quality of Dark Score Lake.
Sara Laughs stands as a reminder of the violent tragedy that Sara Tidwell experienced at Dark Score Lake. Mike discovers that laughing was one of the last things Sara was able to do before her violent rape and murder at the hands of Jared and the other local men, which gives the setting’s seemingly joyous name a tragic hidden meaning. Sara and Kito’s final resting place is not too far from Mike’s house. With this context, the name of the house becomes more macabre, not only reminding Mike of Sara’s good nature, but also of her suffering.
Literature
Throughout his narration, Mike frequently refers to other works of fiction, turning literature into a motif for The Tensions Between Truth and Fiction. This motif first occurs when Mike discovers The Moon and Sixpence by English novelist W. Somerset Maugham under his bed, reminding him of his relationship with Jo. King uses a recurring allusion to Strickland, a character from Maugham’s novel, to invoke Mike’s grief for Jo.
Later, Mike starts to compare his recurring nightmares of Sara Laughs to Rebecca by English novelist Daphne du Maurier, indicating that the dreams both terrify and compel him. Mike conflates the dream with real life, fearing that when he reaches Sara Laughs, he will be confronted by the malignant Mrs. Danvers. When Mike actually arrives at Sara Laughs, he does not encounter the shroud-ghoul from his dream, but instead becomes embroiled in something grander—the haunting of Sara Laughs.
Finally, Mike draws from Bartleby, the Scrivener by American author Herman Melville to explain his resolution to give up writing. Bartleby was first introduced as a topic of conversation between Mattie and Mike. He refers back to his own explanation from Chapter 12 at the end of the novel, suggesting that he no longer wishes to write because his writing seems futile in the wake of his relationships with Jo and Mattie. Mike had only attempted to return to writing because he was tethered to his work as a way to move on from Jo’s death. By untethering himself from fiction writing, Mike can focus on the work of looking after Kyra and guaranteeing her safety, which overcomes his sense of futility.
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By Stephen King
