The horror writer always brings bad news: you're going to die, he says; he's telling you to never mind Oral Roberts and his "something good is going to happen to you," because something bad is going to happen to you and it may be cancer and it may be a stroke, and it may be a car accident, but it's going to happen. (qtd. in Magistrale 24)

The bad news is that there have been "nine deadly school shootings in the U.S. during the past three years" (Lloyd 7). Society has been plagued with excessive violence. This behavior has caused many misguided children to fight in school, disrupt a teacher's lesson, disrespect figures of authority in and out of school, commit suicide, and carry guns as a way of controlling situations. The violent events that have occurred in American schools are similar to the rage expressed in Stephen King's novel, Rage, which was written over thirty years ago.

Rage, which was published in 1977, "highlights the isolation, fear, and pressures implicit in high school society..." (Collings 14). King did not use his real name when he published Rage. As a matter of fact, "during the summer of 1966, after graduati

King, Stephen. The Bachman Books: Four Novels By Stephen King. New York: NAL Books: New American Library, 1985.

Charlie [turned] the game on Grace, forcing the psychiatrist to reveal his own motives, sexual practice, hopes, and frustrations. Charlie [tried] to break him, threatening to shoot a hostage if Grace [left] the intercom without permission. Grace [argued] that he [couldn't] take the responsibility. "My God, you've been taking the responsibility ever since they let you loose from college" (81), Charlie [screamed]; now that Grace [had] an opportunity to be truly responsible for life or death, he [backed] away. By the end of the conversation, Grace [was] destroyed psychologically, a state reflected in his physical stance as he [walked] like an old man from the building. (Collings 28-29)

No one knew that Charlie's father was abusing him, but this abuse was just one of the reasons that caused Charlie to hold his class hostage. The other reason had to with Mr. Denver, the H.S. principal, and Mr. Grace, the H.S. psychiatrist. A week after Charlie's suspension, he returned to school only to start another violent episode. While Charlie was sitting in his algebra class listening to his teacher Mrs. Underwood, he heard Mr. Denver's secretary over the intercom asking him to report to the principal's office.

Once Charlie arrived at the administrative office, he was called into Mr. Denver's office, to discuss whether or not he would be expelled from school. Charlie immediately became bored, was tired of being lectured to by the principal and the school psychiatrist, because they never really listened to him. He showed all the signs of a child being abused at home, but no one cared enough to notice. Furthermore, Charlie believed that Mr. Denver and Mr. Grace "...[were] not qualified to deal with [him]" (18).

Magistrale, Tony. Landscape of Fear: Stephen King's American Gothic. Bowling Green State University: Popular Press, 1988.

Ted was shocked that everyone seemed to forget the fact that Charlie had killed two teachers. He felt embarrassed because, "[He] didn't think anybody'd find out about [him] banging sandy," or the fact that he had to drop football because his mother was an alcoholic and couldn't take care of his brother and sister (122). He also felt isolated because he didn't want to tell the students any more than they already knew. Once Ted noticed that the students in room 16 wanted to know about his private life, he tried to leave in spite of the pistol Charlie was pointing at him. Before Ted could get half way to the door everyone in the classroom attacked him except for Charlie:

When every one was done talking, Charlie asked the class, "who knows the final order of business?" (King 120). Susan Brooks, one of the hostages replied, "we have to show Ted where he has gone wrong," at which time Ted replied by saying, "you're not going to play tricks with me Charlie, I'm not saying a darn thing. I'll save my speech for when we get out of here" (121). Then Susan and Ted began to argue:

They were moving around him in a slow kind of dance that was nearly beautiful. Fingers pinched and pulled, questions were asked, accusations made. Irma Bates pushed a ruler down the back of his pants. Somehow his shirt was ripped off and flew to the back of the room in two tatters. Ted was breathing in great, high woops. Anne Lasky began to rub the bridge of his nose with an eraser. Corky scurried back to his desk like a good mouse, found a bottle of Carter's ink, and dumped it in his hair. Hands flew out like birds and rubbed it in briskly. Ted began to w

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2432
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)