Lit Analyses "Salem's Lot" by Stephen King

In the novel our main characters Ben Mears. He returns back to his hometown of Jerusalem Lot (Salem's Lot). In the story we find out that he is a writer but is lacking the key element needing to write something new, From his point of view by returning home he hopes to find that Inspiration. In the novel we see Ben falling in love with Susan, Throughout the story we see strange things happening in the mansion first with a murder and a suicide, but as the story starts to unravel Ben realizes that outside forces are playing key roles in the events taking place in Salem's Lot(Vampires), Ultimately Ben takes the responsibility by killing the head vampire and burning Salem's Lot to the ground killing all the infected residents.

From my perspective the theme of the novel is the idea of "Belief" Throughout the story we encounter each character having different levels of belief. Some easily take in the fact that their are vampires while others in the other hand have a harder time understanding that vampires actually exist. For example Mark Petrie has a greater belief in vampires which helps him survive longer then any other characters.

When reading this novel I found the tone to be dark and mysterious. Like many of Stephen Kings novels dark and gloomy tend to be one of the ways he keeps the reader on his toes. Another example are the actions that take place in the novel, For example the murders that take place throughout the novel.

The different elements that helped me understand the novel more clearly was the dark and gloomy tone presented in the novel which created a sense of terror, The second element was Foreshadowing we see this in the novel in the beginning of the novel when we hear of the murder and suicide that take place in the mansion, In the story Symbolism also plays a major role, in the novel the mansion has great significance because of the dark gloomy element, The diction presented in the novel gives the reader a sense of mystery and fear because of the events that take place, Flashbacks also play a key role, As the reader we encounter flashbacks when Ben looks back at his childhood when he used to live in Salem's Lot.