The Sociology of "The Stand"

There are books all over the world that have the potential to teach you things: How to write a novel, how to be romantic, and, most important of all, how to function well in society. I've read The Stand by Stephen King in both its edited and uncut versions and I can't help but feel that the reader has found quite the exemplary sociological legend amongst the pages of this particular fiction.

If it's been a while since you read the book, here's a quick overview to help jog your memory. If you haven't read it, I suggest you do before reading the rest of this paper. If you haven't read it and don't plan on reading it anytime in the near future, this will sort of help you relate to some of the things said throughout this piece.

A "shifting antigen virus" escapes government control via a rogue soldier running from the military base, where the virus was held when it broke through containment, in order to save his family. The virus spreads like wildfire with a kill rate of 99.4%. Almost the entire population of America dies from it. The survivors have dreams of either a Dark Man or an old lady and a cornfield. Those that dreamed of the old lady, Abagail Freemantle, headed to her house and from there to Boulder, Colorado. Those that dreamed of the Dark Man, Randall Flagg, were Las Vegas, Nevada-bound. Abby & Co. were the seraphs of the story. Those in the Randy Clan, on the other hand, were the incubi. The seraphs try to re-erect the government while the incubi prepare to destroy the seraphs. A pyromaniac in Vegas brings an A-bomb back to home base as a gift and it gets set off and kills everybody on the evil side and the good people are left to continue life as we know it. (Whew!)