I think SK suggests we live in the best possible Universe. Any alteration his character makes to past history ends up in a much bigger disaster on the not-so-long term.
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...this....I don't see that at all. I think he's a funny blend of hopeful believer and realist, and in this particular instance he's wearing his 'realist' hat. What we have is not necessarily the best possible universe, but it is the universe we've created through our own actions. No one action/reaction stands alone: each is the product of a myriad of other decisions in a delicate balance of cause and effect. I think he's being realistic about how much we can change a single action (or chain of actions) without sending the whole works into chaos. Wearing his hat as hopeful believer, it seems through the denouements of many of his stories, Mr. King believes that everything works toward the good in regular life--eventually, things work out. So, if we go back to the past and change one thing--like the maiming of one child, or the killing of a president--the delicate force that eventually works us around to the good is corrupted. Thus: changing things in the past, without reference to all the things that led to that original action, will ultimately have a negative result.
I don't see that at all. I think he's a funny blend of hopeful believer and realist, and in this particular instance he's wearing his 'realist' hat. What we have is not necessarily the best possible universe, but it is the universe we've created through our own actions. No one action/reaction stands alone: each is the product of a myriad of other decisions in a delicate balance of cause and effect. I think he's being realistic about how much we can change a single action (or chain of actions) without sending the whole works into chaos. Wearing his hat as hopeful believer, it seems through the denouements of many of his stories, Mr. King believes that everything works toward the good in regular life--eventually, things work out. So, if we go back to the past and change one thing--like the maiming of one child, or the killing of a president--the delicate force that eventually works us around to the good is corrupted. Thus: changing things in the past, without reference to all the things that led to that original action, will ultimately have a negative result.
I don't see that at all. I think he's a funny blend of hopeful believer and realist, and in this particular instance he's wearing his 'realist' hat. What we have is not necessarily the best possible universe, but it is the universe we've created through our own actions. No one action/reaction stands alone: each is the product of a myriad of other decisions in a delicate balance of cause and effect. I think he's being realistic about how much we can change a single action (or chain of actions) without sending the whole works into chaos. Wearing his hat as hopeful believer, it seems through the denouements of many of his stories, Mr. King believes that everything works toward the good in regular life--eventually, things work out. So, if we go back to the past and change one thing--like the maiming of one child, or the killing of a president--the delicate force that eventually works us around to the good is corrupted. Thus: changing things in the past, without reference to all the things that led to that original action, will ultimately have a negative result.