4. Biographical and Historical Context

Andrea Levy
Dec 7, 2021
4 min read

Updated: Dec 12, 2021

There's not much about Stephen King's life (at least published on his official web site) to indicate historical or biographical context for his writing.

I could make some stuff up, but in the end, since Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption is one novella out of hundreds of Stephen King authored novels, novellas, Richard Bachman novels, nonfiction works, collections, interviews, essays, short stories, anthologies and screenplays, it would be farcical to use his own context, or even history, to try to explain his writing.

Stephen King is an incredibly prolific writer. His topics and styles are varied and include an essay on 'A New Introduction to John Fowles's The Collector' (King 2000) to horror novels, to stories like Shawshank, which are not at all supernatural or creepy or even anything but a really great read and character study. I do find it interesting that he was tapped to write an introduction to The Collector. I once took a half course on John Fowles (it was opposite of the half course in Fitzgerald), and while I would not have thought to connect the two authors then, in retrospect, I can't think of a better person to introduce John Fowles. When I think about it, that prof was one of the ones who turned me down when I wanted to write a thesis about Stephen King. Ironic but in all fairness, that course was completed in 1988!

Stephen King writes in different eras-even Shawshank takes place over multiple decades and some of his stories are timeless, meaning they could take place at any time and still be meaningful works. I find myself regretting that I don't have more time to do a real survey of his works!

Stephen King has done some activist work, mostly political in nature, and after he wrote Shawshank. In 1992 he wrote a great article on book censorship which was published in a local newspaper. (King 1992). In the time where he wrote Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, he does not seem to have been particularly aligned to any activist movements. While he identifies as a Democrat party-wise (Frequently asked questions 2020), even the meaning of that has changed drastically over the years.

In my youth, I probably would have found ways to make up historical and biographical context, but I think at this point (as opposed to when he was at the beginning of his career) he's written far too much, in too many styles to even try to make those connections. Instead, I'd like to focus on what the man himself says on his web site.

On Stephen King's FAQ, he answers the question "Why did you become a writer?" His response to the question:

The answer to that is fairly simple-there was nothing else I was made to do. I was made to write stories and I love to write stories. That's why I do it. I really can't imagine doing anything else and I can't imagine not doing what I do. (King, Why I became a writer)

In response to the question "Where do you get your ideas?" He responds:

I get my ideas from everywhere. but what all of my ideas boil down to is seeing maybe one thing, but in a lot of cases, it's seeing two things and having them come together in some new and interesting way and then adding the question "What if?'' 'What if' is always the key question. (King, Frequently asked questions)

The only connection that I thought was obvious in terms of experience, was that throughout Shawshank, Red refers to Andy Dufresne's prior tendency to drink to excess. According to an article on detoxrehab.com, in an article by Madison Kimberlin (Kimberlin 2020) during his time in university, King started using drugs and alcohol to help him escape from his mental reality. By the time he graduated in 1970, he was an alcoholic and drug addict. Shawshank was published in the early 1980's, so by that point he was solidly entrenched in his addictions. His family staged an intervention in the late 1980's and he has been sober ever since. This provides context for the numerous references to Andy having " been bitten hard by the bottle. Hard enough to draw blood." (King 8)

If Shawshank was a horror story, it might have been easier to connect his experiences with his writing. Kimberlin writes that King was "An insecure child who was "plagued by nightmares and anxieties, he feared everything from falling down the toilet pipes to clowns."(Kimberlin 2020) This would explain so many of his writings, but not particularly Shawshank are horror based. Even the reference to sewage pipes in Andy's escape were not presented in a way that indicates anxiety. Instead they were a portal to freedom.

In conclusion, I think that Stephen King defies categorization as anything other than a writer. In an article about Stephen King in The Guardian, Emma Brockes quotes Stuttering Bill Denbrough, a character in It: (King 1986)

"Why does a story have to be socio-anything?" Bill asks. "Politics… culture… history… aren't those natural ingredients in any story, if it's told well? I mean… can't you guys just let a story be a story?" (Brockes 2013)