The Dead Zone

A key theme in The Dead Zone is the power of belief. The clearest example of this theme is Vera, whose willingness and desperation to believe in anything comes to define her. As remembered by Johnny, she has always been a devoutly religious woman. However, her distress over Johnny’s car crash pushes her into fanaticism. Soon, traditional Christianity is not enough for Vera and her yearning for a justification for her son’s accident leads her into strange and dangerous places. She joins cults, believes in the end of the world, and spends money she does not have on scams which promise to help her son. Vera’s desire to believe in anything is stronger than any single belief that she holds, so much so that her life becomes a desperate outpouring of credulity as she latches on to anything and everything which claims to explain the unexplainable. Even when proved wrong–such as when the world does not end–Vera cannot bring herself to reject her beliefs. At the end of her life, her desire to believe takes a physical toll. She suffers a stroke, believing that her medicine interfered with divine will. Vera succumbs not to a single powerful belief, but to her desire to confirm that the universe around her has meaning.

Belief is a difficult idea to quantify. While most of the other characters describe themselves as Christian, they are unwilling to embrace any form of spiritual or supernatural beliefs. Despite clear evidence of Johnny’s powers, people search for ways to explain or diminish his abilities. Dussault and Roger Chatsworth are both intelligent men but both search desperately for a way to justify or explain the unexplainable. Like Vera, they are desperate to believe the world is one way and they refuse to allow challenges to their beliefs. Even when presented with evidence, they try and search for some other way to explain what they have seen. The power of belief is not limited to religious fanaticism. In the novel, characters are also fiercely devoted to the status quo, and they ignore anything that challenges their belief in their current understanding of the world. King complicates this through the figure of Stillson, who generates a fanatical following of his own. Charismatic and duplicitous, Stillson’s conservative policies offer people seeking meaning a path to power that reinforces the status quo, rather than challenges it. However, Stillson’s offer is as false as the conspiracy magazines Vera turns to for support and he exploits the fears and desires of his constituents, rather than liberating them.

By the end of the novel, Johnny demonstrates similar levels of obsession with the end of the world as Vera, convinced that he must stop Greg Stillson from causing total nuclear war. Johnny’s belief is so powerful that he is willing to sacrifice his morality and his life to ensure that his vision of the future does not come to pass. Johnny’s obsession does differ slightly from that of his mother. In Vera’s case, she turned to scams and cults to satisfy her desire to believe in something. Johnny, however, has tangible evidence for his convictions. He knows that his powers work, so King portrays his obsession as justified. Johnny explains his justifications in his final letter to Herb, outlining to his grieving father why he has not fallen into the same trap as Vera. Johnny knows the power of belief all too well and wants to assure his father that he has not succumbed to the same kind of obsession as Vera. By comparing and contrasting mother and son, and by critiquing both political and religious fanaticism, King portrays belief as a powerful force that can motivate good or evil equally.