A Study On Contemporary American Gothic Features In Pet Sematary

The word of"Gothic"originally refers to the medieval architecture—Gothic Architecture and art—Gothic Arts. Gothic architecture is usually employed in the construction of churches and castles. Such construction is characterized by the towering minarets, massive stonewalls, narrow windows, stained glass, dark inside, gloomy tunnel and even the morgue in the building. Renaissance thinkers held that the Gothic represents a backward, barbaric and darkness. Gothic, therefore, is gradually being deemed brutal, terror, backward, mysterious, dark ages, medieval, and the like.In the middle of the 18th century, Castle of Otranto, the first Gothic novel, was published in the UK. The unique and remarkable charms of Gothic novels lie right in the horrible and gloomy gothic setting and mysterious and dark gothic plot. From then on, Gothic setting and plot have long been employed in creation so as to deepen the theme, enhance the horrible effects of the work, and reach to quality achievement. A large number of ensuing writers, thus, are influenced. A sustainable development and a wide range of Gothic tradition are gradually formed in English literature.Gothic fiction in American literature began relatively late since as a new nation, the US doesn't boast castles, monasteries, strict hierarchical social organization, and other cultural elements. This does not hinder, however, the prosperous development of Gothic fiction in American literature. After the 1920s, the center of Gothic literature switched to the US. Such writers of different schools as Stephen King, Anne Rice, and so on, have employed a large amount of gothic techniques or methods, or even have created Gothic fiction as a literary genre. The tireless efforts of these writers have successfully made Gothic Fiction originated as a literary genre in the UK in the 18th century especially prosperous.Stephen King is right a typical representative of this period. Almost all his works rank top in best selling. This is mainly due to the fact that King's new gothic world differs from traditional gothic conventions. Pet Sematary, published in 1983, is King's ninth novel and also by far the most horrible and terrible literary work of Stephen King. This work is widely deemed as a typical post-modernistic Gothic novel and is King's inheritance and historical improvement of Gothic Fiction. The first chapter, in this thesis, systematically traces the origin and further development of Gothic Fiction in American literature and Stephen King's inheritance and improvement of American Gothic Fiction in modern period. In the second chapter, trough the analysis of untraditional gothic characters in King's new Gothic world and irrational and supernatural elements in the application of characterization, the elements of post-modernism in King's American Gothic novels. The third chapter discusses King's treatment of tradition Gothic theme—Death and Immortality in Pet Sematary, contemporary American Gothic novel. Chapter Four analyzes the setting of King's new Gothic world. In the fifth chapter, the social and literary esthetic value of contemporary American Gothic Fiction is analyzed.