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Point of View
The Boogeyman is told in both the third and first person. The third person narrator is omniscient to the extent that he/she can tell us the thoughts and feelings of both the protagonist (Lester Billings) and his psychologist (Dr. Harper). Much of the story contains Lester’s first person recollection of events. As with all first person narratives, we should regard this account as biased and incomplete.
Plot Analysis
In most cultures, a boogeyman (also bogeyman) is a mythical creature used by adults to frighten children into good behavior. There is little evidence of Lester’s children being guilty of really bad behavior, although they did cry regularly at night and Denny was wetting the bed in the few weeks before he died. What is interesting is that, according to Lester, all three children cried out the word “boogeyman” when frightened in their bedroom. Someone (presumably Lester or Rita) must have introduced the term to them, most likely as part of some kind of threat.
Who or what is the boogeyman in this story? Anyone who jumps to the conclusion that it was Dr. Harper all along based on Lester’s probable hallucination at the end of the story doesn’t appreciate Stephen King’s mastery of the horror / psychological thriller genres.
It is tempting to believe that Lester is the boogeyman, and that the real person he wants to punish is Rita. Most of the evidence seems to point to Lester having serious mental issues which lead him to either commit or contribute to the deaths of his children. He makes it clear that he did not want children in the first place and feels tied down by them. He may well feel betrayed by Rita and her so-called failed attempts at birth-control: Children tie a man down, you know. Women like that, especially when the man is brighter than they.
Contributing factors here could be the pressure of fatherhood and Lester’s fear of failure in the role. Lester bears scars from his own childhood, as evidenced by his recount of family trips to the beach. Because of this, he is paranoid about being overprotective of his children: But you can’t get overprotective. You make a kid a cripple that way. or spoiling them: You get permissive with them, spoil them. Then they break your heart.
As an alternative to Lester being the boogeyman, the true horror fan might suggest that Lester was able to summon up some sort of supernatural creature from his childhood world which he subsequently lost control of. It is interesting to note in this regard that Lester’s version of the boogeyman is similar to the monster he came across in the comic book as a child, with rotting skin and seaweed in his mouth and hair.
Having said all this, another potential ‘boogeyman’ presents itself in the story. If small children go to bed in fear of dark forces that may be hiding in their room, imagine the thoughts of parents all over the world in relation to the night-time dangers their young children may face. The conditions that the doctors and police believe killed Denny (crib death / SIDS), Shirl (convulsions / seizures) and Andy (an accidental fall from his crib) would have been more common at the time the story was written. Could Lester therefore have been an innocent victim, drawn into madness because of an overactive imagination and feelings of guilt due to the natural and accidental deaths of his three children over such a short period of time?
Like all good horror stories, the tension builds up gradually and we see several examples of foreshadowing on the way through. Some of these arise from Lester’s verbal and physical responses to questions from the doctor: Billings twitched around and stared balefully at Harper.; ‘Bulish*t!’ Billings spat out violently.; He rolled his eyes at Harper and bared his teeth in a savage grin. When talking about Denny, Lester twice offers a rubbery, frightening grin and most tellingly, when talking about Shirl he comments: Christ, kids drive you crazy sometimes. You could kill them.
Character Analysis
Lester: As first person narrator for much of the story, Lester reveals himself to be a very unpleasant man. As mentioned previously, it is probable that Lester has serious mental issues. Just some of the other adjectives that could describe Lester are:
- alcoholic: His eyes held all the miserable secrets of whisky.
- cowardly: So I moved him (Andy). I knew it (the boogeyman) would go for him, see. Because he was weaker. And it did.
- hom*ophobic: Can you imagine waking up some morning and finding your kid – your son – is a sissy?
- misogynistic: She (Rita) still wanted to do what I told her. That’s the wife’s place, right? This women’s lib only makes sick people.
- racist: Like pictures you see of those gook kids over in Nam.
- violent: And if he (Denny) didn’t stop crying I’d give him a whack.; I was tempted to slap her (Rita) around a little, but I didn’t.
Dr. Harper: The only other character physically present in the plot is Dr. Harper, a psychologist whom Lester chooses to share his story with. Harper appears professional throughout, playing a passive role and responding to Lester’s version of events with comments or questions designed to keep him talking.
