Suicide- warning *spoilers*

[cpolcaro]

As someone who has battled severe anxiety and depression and has had suicidal thoughts, I was deeply insulted by one part at the end of the book. In it Hodges says "suicide is a fact of life" then looks over at two old men in the hospital. Hodges then has a thought. "It's about how some people carelessly squander what others would sell their would to have: a healthy, pain free body. And why? because they're too blind, too emotionally scarred, or too self-involved to see past the earth's dark curve to the next sunrise."

People who suffer from mental illness and struggle with suicidal thoughts are often accused by those who have no understanding of being "selfish". So here King is calling those who have taken their own lives or have considered doing so due to mental illness or other struggles "blind, emotionally scarred (that one is fair), and self absorbed. Very nice Stephen King. He then puts what seems like a supportive note of hope at the end of his author's note at the end of the book. Unfortunately, everyone has already read how he truly feels about those suffering from suicidal ideology in the few pages before that. I can proudly say that after one year of in patient care followed by out patient care, I pulled through my dark time. For the last four years I have done medication and therapy and my life is wonderful. Sadly, not everybody makes it through their dark time, and nobody deserves this kind of negative judgement and arrogant assumption.

 

[Tery]

First, welcome to the MB. Nice to have you here.

One should never assume that when an author voices the character's thoughts, that the author actually believes what the character does. Especially when said character

Spoiler

is dying of cancer.

 

[HollyGolightly]

Welcome to the board! I've been there too and I have to agree with Tery. SK does a very good job of making us believe his characters - and since he's the one putting them together - I get why you think that. Those lovely Dear Constant Reader letters lead me to believe that he's truly a man with a heart of gold. I'm glad you made it through. So many don't. Peace to you!

 

[GNTLGNT]

...you cannot see what is in his heart or head, except what he chooses to turn to fiction on the page.....King is most certainly not an advocate of or dismissive of those who struggle with the idea of possibly taking their lives....as a survivor of suicide, I can tell you he has the "concept" down very well....

 

[Haunted]

As someone who has battled severe anxiety and depression and has had suicidal thoughts, I was deeply insulted by one part at the end of the book. In it Hodges says "suicide is a fact of life" then looks over at two old men in the hospital. Hodges then has a thought. "It's about how some people carelessly squander what others would sell their would to have: a healthy, pain free body. And why? because they're too blind, too emotionally scarred, or too self-involved to see past the earth's dark curve to the next sunrise."

People who suffer from mental illness and struggle with suicidal thoughts are often accused by those who have no understanding of being "selfish". So here King is calling those who have taken their own lives or have considered doing so due to mental illness or other struggles "blind, emotionally scarred (that one is fair), and self absorbed. Very nice Stephen King. He then puts what seems like a supportive note of hope at the end of his author's note at the end of the book. Unfortunately, everyone has already read how he truly feels about those suffering from suicidal ideology in the few pages before that. I can proudly say that after one year of in patient care followed by out patient care, I pulled through my dark time. For the last four years I have done medication and therapy and my life is wonderful. Sadly, not everybody makes it through their dark time, and nobody deserves this kind of negative judgement and arrogant assumption.

So glad that you are beyond "the earth's dark curve".

Spoiler

Hodge was dying he could not control his ending.

 

[no bounce no play]

As someone who has battled severe anxiety and depression and has had suicidal thoughts, I was deeply insulted by one part at the end of the book. In it Hodges says "suicide is a fact of life" then looks over at two old men in the hospital. Hodges then has a thought. "It's about how some people carelessly squander what others would sell their would to have: a healthy, pain free body. And why? because they're too blind, too emotionally scarred, or too self-involved to see past the earth's dark curve to the next sunrise."

People who suffer from mental illness and struggle with suicidal thoughts are often accused by those who have no understanding of being "selfish". So here King is calling those who have taken their own lives or have considered doing so due to mental illness or other struggles "blind, emotionally scarred (that one is fair), and self absorbed. Very nice Stephen King. He then puts what seems like a supportive note of hope at the end of his author's note at the end of the book. Unfortunately, everyone has already read how he truly feels about those suffering from suicidal ideology in the few pages before that. I can proudly say that after one year of in patient care followed by out patient care, I pulled through my dark time. For the last four years I have done medication and therapy and my life is wonderful. Sadly, not everybody makes it through their dark time, and nobody deserves this kind of negative judgement and arrogant assumption.

I was a bit disappointed by Hodge's thoughts regarding suicide too I'm glad you made it through your dark time I had a good friend who didn't

 

[Haunted]

...you cannot see what is in his heart or head, except what he chooses to turn to fiction on the page.....King is most certainly not an advocate of or dismissive of those who struggle with the idea of possibly taking their lives....as a survivor of suicide, I can tell you he has the "concept" down very well....

((((GNTLGNT))))

 

[king family fan]

 

[carrie's younger brother]

I believe his son, Joe hill the author, struggles with mild OCD and paranoia. I really do not think SK takes the subject of mental illness lightly.

 

[skimom2]

Welcome, and thank you for your thoughts.

As both a writer and someone who has struggled with The Big Black Hole for more years than I care to think about, I have to agree with Tery. The character is not the author is not the character (at least if the author is any sort of writer). Many times a character will do or say something that is horrifying to the writer, but it is right FOR THAT CHARACTER. Making an assumption about Mr. King's personal thoughts on suicide based upon what a character does is like deciding J.K. Rowling is a child abuser because Umbridge hurt students, or that Nabakov was a pedophile because he created the horrible Humbert Humbert in Lolita. It doesn't hold water. I actually had a very interesting conversation about that with Michael Grant, r.e. a character in his book Messenger of Fear. The teenage girl makes such a good argument for suicide in the first few chapters of that book that it's frightening--I worried about it as a trigger (and explained that to my own teen daughter who also struggles with depression. She decided to let that book go by the wayside) for at risk teens. Keep in mind, Grant is not cavalier about this subject matter. He knows who is main audience is. BUT that reasoning is exactly what that particular character would use, so to write to the least of his ability (and he is a fine writer, who understands teens well) would have been a lie and a cheat. Doesn't mean he feels the same way his protagonist did--in fact, he has teens of his own and gave great thought about his story.

Ultimately, a story is a story, and a good writer keeps his or her character in character, even when their thoughts or actions are personally distasteful or even repugnant.

I'm glad you came through, by the way. Hang on to that.

[EDIT: The conversation with Grant was on Twitter, so I'm not an all "la-di-dah, I hobnob with the big names" writer. Teeny fish in the ocean For everyone who snubs social media, it's something to think about: there are some really interesting people there who at the least answer questions and even sometimes get into interesting discourse with their fans. Grant is one, Joanne Harris another. Christopher Moore, Joe Hill, Margaret Atwood... so many more. Something to think about.]

 

[cpolcaro]

I think I reposted this by mistake :/ I'm not sure how to reply to everyone but I want to say I appreciate the love and support as far as my own journey goes I do understand that the author is not his character. I think in this case though, he has set up Hodges to be the voice of reason and a sympathetic narrator. As soon as I read those lines my heart dropped. It just seemed like such a callous thing for that character to say. I suppose it was a trigger for me simply because I have had to defend against the idea that suicide is a thoughtless, random, selfish act. I appreciate the information that people do not think that Stephen King feels that way. I hope that is the truth. I follow him on Facebook and Twitter and he has always seemed so compassionate and intelligent. I do hope he understands that being spoiled or "self involved" is not generally the reason behind suicide.

 

[cpolcaro]

I hope that is true.

I believe his son, Joe hill the author, struggles with mild OCD and paranoia. I really do not think SK takes the subject of mental illness lightly.

 

[cpolcaro]

As someone who has battled severe anxiety and depression and has had suicidal thoughts, I was deeply insulted by one part at the end of the book. In it Hodges says "suicide is a fact of life" then looks over at two old men in the hospital. Hodges then has a thought. "It's about how some people carelessly squander what others would sell their would to have: a healthy, pain free body. And why? because they're too blind, too emotionally scarred, or too self-involved to see past the earth's dark curve to the next sunrise."

People who suffer from mental illness and struggle with suicidal thoughts are often accused by those who have no understanding of being "selfish". So here King is calling those who have taken their own lives or have considered doing so due to mental illness or other struggles "blind, emotionally scarred (that one is fair), and self absorbed. Very nice Stephen King. He then puts what seems like a supportive note of hope at the end of his author's note at the end of the book. Unfortunately, everyone has already read how he truly feels about those suffering from suicidal ideology in the few pages before that. I can proudly say that after one year of in patient care followed by out patient care, I pulled through my dark time. For the last four years I have done medication and therapy and my life is wonderful. Sadly, not everybody makes it through their dark time, and nobody deserves this kind of negative judgement and arrogant assumption.

I was a bit disappointed by Hodge's thoughts regarding suicide too I'm glad you made it through your dark time I had a good friend who didn't

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I am so very sorry for your loss. Sending love.

 

[Dana Jean]

Please know, Stephen King is NOT his characters. I don't think for one minute that he shares this characters thoughts about this issue.

Stay strong and fight the good fight!

 

[mjs9153]

I agree with those who say you shouldn't identify SK's thoughts about the issue so much as those of the characters, Hodges. We have to consider that Hodges is facing the end of his life, and every moment is precious to him, you can understand those thoughts of his. Also, he is a policeman, and speaking from that perspective I can say he is pretty much spot-on as to what a policeman may consider on the issue. Hodges is, or was, a police officer in a fairly large city, so it stands to reason that he dealt with a lot of suicides. The aftermath of a suicide scene is not fun at all for the police officer. Not only does he have to deal with the mechanics of the scene and trying to piece together what happened, but there are often family members present who are out of their minds with grief. Imagine having to go to a lot of those over the years, it can make a police officer view suicide with some anger towards the victim. There are a lot of ugly things to try to come to terms with. It takes a lot of time and perspective to understand what the person goes through, why they may have done what they did, and to view it dispassionately.
I sure wouldn't take what was said in the book personally, I would just take it as the story..

 

[doowopgirl]

Welcome to the board. I don't know what that black hole feels like, so I can only pray for those who do. I don't think SK takes these things lightly. I think he just wanted to steer people to get help.

 

[skimom2]

I agree with those who say you shouldn't identify SK's thoughts about the issue so much as those of the characters, Hodges. We have to consider that Hodges is facing the end of his life, and every moment is precious to him, you can understand those thoughts of his. Also, he is a policeman, and speaking from that perspective I can say he is pretty much spot-on as to what a policeman may consider on the issue. Hodges is, or was, a police officer in a fairly large city, so it stands to reason that he dealt with a lot of suicides. The aftermath of a suicide scene is not fun at all for the police officer. Not only does he have to deal with the mechanics of the scene and trying to piece together what happened, but there are often family members present who are out of their minds with grief. Imagine having to go to a lot of those over the years, it can make a police officer view suicide with some anger towards the victim. There are a lot of ugly things to try to come to terms with. It takes a lot of time and perspective to understand what the person goes through, why they may have done what they did, and to view it dispassionately.
I sure wouldn't take what was said in the book personally, I would just take it as the story..

Slightly OT, but what the hell: I have nothing but respect for most LEOs--they deal with horrible, horrible things. My brother and dad died within 6 months of each other (1 OD, 1 officially a blood clot), and the same LEO came out for both. He was kind and patient with my mom, and helped all of us figure out 'what comes next'--none of us had ever had to deal with death first hand. He was the one to help my mom realize it was time to call the mortuary, etc when she wasn't ready to let go. Just in case no one ever told you this: thank you for doing the hard stuff not many of us have to or want to do. And Happy Father's Day.

 

[mjs9153]

Slightly OT, but what the hell: I have nothing but respect for most LEOs--they deal with horrible, horrible things. My brother and dad died within 6 months of each other (1 OD, 1 officially a blood clot), and the same LEO came out for both. He was kind and patient with my mom, and helped all of us figure out 'what comes next'--none of us had ever had to deal with death first hand. He was the one to help my mom realize it was time to call the mortuary, etc when she wasn't ready to let go. Just in case no one ever told you this: thank you for doing the hard stuff not many of us have to or want to do. And Happy Father's Day.

Thank you SkiMom that means a lot.. I remember shortly before I left the full-time job sitting at a table with a lady holding her hand and helping her make phone calls and decide what to do next after she woke up next to her husband who had passed in the night.. Felt awful for that lady. And Christmases too, I ended up with 3 deceased persons over my last two Christmases.. Certainly no fun.
But you understand that is the job going in, and you do it as professionally and compassionately as you can.. The kind of things that the media never see, I guess it doesn't sell ads and airspace like a cop doing something wrong..such is life..
Thanks again and Happy Father's Day to you and yours as well..