| Stephen King is a famous contemporary American author of horror,supernatural and suspense novels.He was awarded the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters by the National Book Foundation in 2003 and has exerted a profound influence on the world of literature.Despite King’s reputation as a horror novelist,he breaks through the barriers of popular fiction through the writing of reality and deep feelings of humanity.King’s critique of the political system and focus on the American family illustrate the multiple social crises facing the United States.This thesis will study King’s five representative novels,Carrie(1974),The Long Walk(1979),Firestarter(1980),Cujo(1982),and Dolores Claiborne(1992),to reveal the causes and consequences of the characters’ “zero degrees of empathy” by drawing on relevant empathy theories,so as to uncover King’s empathic caring that permeates the novels.There are four chapters in the thesis.Chapter one is an introduction and is divided into four sections.The first section is about King’s works and literary achievements,followed by an overview of empathy theories and an elaboration on two key concepts of empathy to be adopted in the study in the second section.The third section offers a review of the critical reception of King’s creation and empathy theories at home and abroad.Finally,the fourth section illustrates the purpose and significance of the study and shows the structure of the thesis.Chapter two analyses the “zero degrees of empathy” in the shadow of times from three aspects: ruthless and cold spokesmen of the state apparatus,thoughtless and submissive bystanders,and selfish and despicable individuals motivated by survival.The Cold War and totalitarianism have corrupted their empathy,breeding a dark humanity in them.Chapter three analyses the “zero degrees of empathy” in patriarchal families.Male violence and male discourse take over when patriarchal values dominate the entire family,causing not only a severe emotional gap between spouses,but also a series of empathy deficiencies to the children.Chapter four is the conclusion,summarizing the idea of empathy that King conveys in his novels through the ethical relationships between various characters.Despite various empathy deficiencies presented in his work,King inspires empathy in readers instead.That is not only the evidence of popular fiction’s social utility,but also King’s solution to resist“zero degrees of empathy”. |
