The Reach
Encyclopedia
The Reach is a short story by Stephen King
. First published in Yankee in 1981 under the title "Do the Dead Sing?", it was later collected in King's 1985 collection Skeleton Crew
. It was also included in American Gothic Tales
in 1996.
As her impending death draws near, Stella encounters more apparitions of the dead of Goat Island, and she makes peace with the knowledge that it is her time to go. Dressed in her warmest clothes, plus her son's long johns
and hat, Stella heads across the frozen reach toward the mainland.
As she starts her trek, it starts to snow - the blowing wind, along with the snow, makes it difficult for her to find her way and she becomes afraid of being lost in the storm. Along her walk, she meets up with the woman who was her best friend, Annabelle, as well as several others. When the wind whips the hat off of her head, her dead husband, Bill, is there and gives her his hat. She is surrounded by her friends and family and they sing to her as she crosses over from this life.
Stella Flanders is found, dead, sitting up right on a rock on the mainland. Her son, Alden, recognizes his father's hat. He comes to believe that the dead sing and that they love those still living.
"The Reach" was the original title, but King changed it to "Do the Dead Sing?" when it was published in Yankee. When it was published in Skeleton Crew
, King changed it back to the original title.
atmosphere and harsh winters as unforgiving elemental characters in his frightening tales. King did an interview on the TODAY show in which he said "The Reach" is the one story he would want to be remembered for because "it's the Maine that he grew up in and the people he knows."
New England
, Maine
specifically, is where King spent most of his childhood and adult life. The towns he writes about are fictitious, but have their basis in fact. They are usually small, close-knit communities where the inhabitants are dependent upon one another and treat each other more like family than neighbors. The primary reason for that is the seclusion of the communities - they don't have the ready availability of assistance from external sources.
Death and dying is the predominant theme in “The Reach”. Stella Flanders’ reminiscences focus as much on the dead as they do the living, and it is the dead that give support to Stella when she is crossing the Reach. The realization that her illness is progressing creates the desire to cross the Reach. The journey from Goat Island to the mainland is a metaphor for Stella’s crossing from one life to the next. When she becomes lost in the snow, her environment is described as otherworldly;
she describes it as gauzy and grey thus setting the scene for the appearance of her long deceased husband and friends.
"The Reach" is about one woman's end of life experience. Stella Flanders is aware that she is terminally ill and reaching the end of her life. The story takes us with her on her journey as she first denies her impending death, by ignoring the ghosts that appear to her, to her coming to terms with it (when she first responds to her dead husband, Bill), and finally to her acceptance of it - when she decides to "cross over" the Reach with her dead companions.
Do you love? Is asked multiple times throughout the story. In the beginning of “The Reach”, this question sneaks into Stella’s thoughts while she is reflecting on difficult times, yet she does not cry. When she is crossing the Reach with her dearly departed she is asked again, Do you love?, and tearfully answers, “yes I will, yes I did, yes I do.” She is crying for the first time, and crying for everything she never cried for during her difficult life. She is accepting her death, letting go of the past, and finding that she will not be alone, but rather embraced by those she loved during her lifetime.
uses drafty castles and gloomy estates for settings; Stephen King uses fictional Goat Island in Maine and its unforgiving winters as the ominous home for Stella Flanders and her familial community. The location takes on the role of the wilderness as used in early American gothic fiction. The remoteness of Goat Island and Stella's willingness to allow it to be her entire world is evocative of the "world within a world" that appears in gothic literature.
King uses the gothic element of foreshadowing
by giving the reader glimpses of the illness that is advancing in Stella Flanders. When Stella attempts to cross the Reach and becomes lost, she likens herself to the damsel in distress; when the dead come to her aid, the supernatural characteristic strengthens the gothic influence. King’s use of unsettling words to describe the island, weather, and events further evoke gothic standards.
Perhaps the most obvious of the gothic elements used here, is that of ghosts. Ghosts often appear in gothic fiction
. Their appearance is usually of a pivotal nature to the other characters in the story. Stella sees the dead and is able to interact with them, although they cause her fear because she is aware that this means that her time is short. As Stella comes to accept her death, she puts her trust in them to help her cross over. It is their kindness and comforting nature towards her that finally allows Stella to accept them and the help they can provide her with as she makes her final transition.
lauds King as a gothic storyteller with his "startling images and metaphors, which lingers long in the memory". Oates continues to praise King's New England saturated atmospheres as "a poetic evocation of that landscape, its history and its inhabitants". Oates mentions some of King's more gothic horror stories, most notable "The Reach", which she considers "elegantly composed".
for the book The Secretary of Dreams
, a collection of comics based on King's short fiction released by Cemetery Dance
in December 2006.
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
. First published in Yankee in 1981 under the title "Do the Dead Sing?", it was later collected in King's 1985 collection Skeleton Crew
Skeleton Crew
Skeleton Crew is the second collection of short fiction by Stephen King. The first collection, Night Shift, was published seven years prior in 1978. Different Seasons, a collection of four novellas, was published between the two in 1982. Skeleton Crew was originally published in hardcover form by...
. It was also included in American Gothic Tales
American Gothic Tales
American Gothic Tales - is an anthology of "gothic" American short fiction. Edited and with an Introduction by Joyce Carol Oates, it was published by Plume in 1996...
in 1996.
Plot summary
Stella Flanders, the oldest resident of Goat Island, has just celebrated her 95th birthday. She has never crossed the reach, the body of water that separates the Island from the mainland, in her entire life. She tells her great-grandchildren when they ask, "I never saw any reason to go." Stella comes to the realization that the cancer that she's known she has, and kept to herself, is it its final stages when she starts seeing the deceased residents of Goat Island. Her visions start with her husband inviting her to "come across to the mainland."As her impending death draws near, Stella encounters more apparitions of the dead of Goat Island, and she makes peace with the knowledge that it is her time to go. Dressed in her warmest clothes, plus her son's long johns
Long underwear
Long underwear, also called long johns, Granny pantys, or thermal underwear, is a style of two-piece underwear with long legs and long sleeves that is normally worn during cold weather. It offers an advantage over the one-piece union suit in that the wearer can choose to wear either the top,...
and hat, Stella heads across the frozen reach toward the mainland.
As she starts her trek, it starts to snow - the blowing wind, along with the snow, makes it difficult for her to find her way and she becomes afraid of being lost in the storm. Along her walk, she meets up with the woman who was her best friend, Annabelle, as well as several others. When the wind whips the hat off of her head, her dead husband, Bill, is there and gives her his hat. She is surrounded by her friends and family and they sing to her as she crosses over from this life.
Stella Flanders is found, dead, sitting up right on a rock on the mainland. Her son, Alden, recognizes his father's hat. He comes to believe that the dead sing and that they love those still living.
Characters
- Abersham, Carl-- Died at sea in 1941
- Bensohn, John-- One of the men that found Stella
- Blood, Harley-- Friend of Alden Flanders
- Bowie, Missy-- Wife of Russell
- Bowie, Russell-- Husband of Missy; died trying to cross the frozen Reach in 1980
- Child, Frank-- Islander
- Curry, Al-- Islander
- Daniels, No first name-- Died mysteriously after being suspected of molesting young girls
- Dinsmore, Freddy-- Oldest man on Goat Island; two years younger than Stella
- Dinsmore, George-- Son of Freddy
- Dodge, Mary-- Wife of Richard; midwife
- Dodge, Richard-- Islander
- Flanders, Alden-- Son of Bill and Stella
- Flanders, Bill-- Husband of Stella; Father of Jane and Alden; died in 1977
- Flanders, Stella (Godlin)--Wife of Bill; Mother of Jane and Alden
- Frane, Annabelle-- Wife of Tommy; mother of Sarah; childhood friend of Stella’s
- Frane, Tommy-- Husband of Annabelle; father of Sarah
- Godlin, Louis-- Husband of Margaret; father of Stella
- Godlin, Margaret-- Wife of Louis; mother of Stella
- Havelock, George-- “Big George”; husband of Sarah; died in 1967
- Havelock, Sarah (Frane)-- Wife of George
- Henreid, Gerd-- Islander
- Maxwell, Bradley-- Islander
- McClelland, Stewie-- Lost foot attempting to cross the Reach in 1980
- McCracken, Ewell-- Minister
- McCracken, Justin-- Son of Ewell
- McKeen, Larry-- One of the men that found Stella
- Perrault, David-- Husband of Lois; father of Hal, Lona, and Tommy
- Perrault, Hal-- Son of David and Lois; great-grandson of Stella
- Perrault, Lois(Wakefield)--Wife of David; mother of Hal, Lona, and Tommy; granddaughter of Stella
- Perrault, Lona-- Daughter of David and Lois; great-granddaughter of Stella
- Perrault, Tommy-- Son of David and Lois; great-grandson of Stella
- Phillips, Annie-- Islander
- Phillips, Toby-- Son of Annie
- Spruce, Vera-- Friend of Stella’s
- Stoddard, Hattie-- Friend of Stella’s
- Stoddard, Madeline-- Mother of Hattie
- Symes, Bull-- Islander
- Symes, Gert-- Islander
- Symes, Harold-- Son of Bull
- Wakefield, Jane(Flanders)--Daughter of Stella; wife of Richard; mother to Lois
- Wakefield, Richard-- Husband of Jane, father of Lois
- Wilson, Ettie-- Wife of Norman
- Wilson, Norman-- Husband of Ettie
Inspiration
Stephen King's inspiration for "The Reach" came about from the story his brother-in-law, Tommy, told him while in the Coast Guard. The real-life alter-ego of Stella Flanders lived and died on a small Maine Island, never stepping foot on the mainland. She remained on a small stretch of land with a community so close, they were more like family. She had everything she needed on this island and had no need to cross the Reach until the day she died. Being intrigued by the idea of the Reach, and flabbergasted with Flanders' counterpart, King came up with the idea for this short story."The Reach" was the original title, but King changed it to "Do the Dead Sing?" when it was published in Yankee. When it was published in Skeleton Crew
Skeleton Crew
Skeleton Crew is the second collection of short fiction by Stephen King. The first collection, Night Shift, was published seven years prior in 1978. Different Seasons, a collection of four novellas, was published between the two in 1982. Skeleton Crew was originally published in hardcover form by...
, King changed it back to the original title.
Major themes
Throughout King’s work, New England has played a vital role. It has lent its often gloomyatmosphere and harsh winters as unforgiving elemental characters in his frightening tales. King did an interview on the TODAY show in which he said "The Reach" is the one story he would want to be remembered for because "it's the Maine that he grew up in and the people he knows."
New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
, Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
specifically, is where King spent most of his childhood and adult life. The towns he writes about are fictitious, but have their basis in fact. They are usually small, close-knit communities where the inhabitants are dependent upon one another and treat each other more like family than neighbors. The primary reason for that is the seclusion of the communities - they don't have the ready availability of assistance from external sources.
Death and dying is the predominant theme in “The Reach”. Stella Flanders’ reminiscences focus as much on the dead as they do the living, and it is the dead that give support to Stella when she is crossing the Reach. The realization that her illness is progressing creates the desire to cross the Reach. The journey from Goat Island to the mainland is a metaphor for Stella’s crossing from one life to the next. When she becomes lost in the snow, her environment is described as otherworldly;
she describes it as gauzy and grey thus setting the scene for the appearance of her long deceased husband and friends.
"The Reach" is about one woman's end of life experience. Stella Flanders is aware that she is terminally ill and reaching the end of her life. The story takes us with her on her journey as she first denies her impending death, by ignoring the ghosts that appear to her, to her coming to terms with it (when she first responds to her dead husband, Bill), and finally to her acceptance of it - when she decides to "cross over" the Reach with her dead companions.
Do you love? Is asked multiple times throughout the story. In the beginning of “The Reach”, this question sneaks into Stella’s thoughts while she is reflecting on difficult times, yet she does not cry. When she is crossing the Reach with her dearly departed she is asked again, Do you love?, and tearfully answers, “yes I will, yes I did, yes I do.” She is crying for the first time, and crying for everything she never cried for during her difficult life. She is accepting her death, letting go of the past, and finding that she will not be alone, but rather embraced by those she loved during her lifetime.
Gothic elements
Typical gothic fictionGothic fiction
Gothic fiction, sometimes referred to as Gothic horror, is a genre or mode of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance. Gothicism's origin is attributed to English author Horace Walpole, with his 1764 novel The Castle of Otranto, subtitled "A Gothic Story"...
uses drafty castles and gloomy estates for settings; Stephen King uses fictional Goat Island in Maine and its unforgiving winters as the ominous home for Stella Flanders and her familial community. The location takes on the role of the wilderness as used in early American gothic fiction. The remoteness of Goat Island and Stella's willingness to allow it to be her entire world is evocative of the "world within a world" that appears in gothic literature.
King uses the gothic element of foreshadowing
Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing or adumbrating is a literary device in which an author indistinctly suggests certain plot developments that might come later in the story.-Repetitive designation and Chekhov's gun:...
by giving the reader glimpses of the illness that is advancing in Stella Flanders. When Stella attempts to cross the Reach and becomes lost, she likens herself to the damsel in distress; when the dead come to her aid, the supernatural characteristic strengthens the gothic influence. King’s use of unsettling words to describe the island, weather, and events further evoke gothic standards.
Perhaps the most obvious of the gothic elements used here, is that of ghosts. Ghosts often appear in gothic fiction
Gothic fiction
Gothic fiction, sometimes referred to as Gothic horror, is a genre or mode of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance. Gothicism's origin is attributed to English author Horace Walpole, with his 1764 novel The Castle of Otranto, subtitled "A Gothic Story"...
. Their appearance is usually of a pivotal nature to the other characters in the story. Stella sees the dead and is able to interact with them, although they cause her fear because she is aware that this means that her time is short. As Stella comes to accept her death, she puts her trust in them to help her cross over. It is their kindness and comforting nature towards her that finally allows Stella to accept them and the help they can provide her with as she makes her final transition.
Critical overview
Upon introducing Stephen King to an audience at Princeton in 1997, Joyce Carol OatesJoyce Carol Oates
Joyce Carol Oates is an American author. Oates published her first book in 1963 and has since published over fifty novels, as well as many volumes of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction...
lauds King as a gothic storyteller with his "startling images and metaphors, which lingers long in the memory". Oates continues to praise King's New England saturated atmospheres as "a poetic evocation of that landscape, its history and its inhabitants". Oates mentions some of King's more gothic horror stories, most notable "The Reach", which she considers "elegantly composed".
Adaptations
"The Reach" has been adapted by artist Glenn ChadbourneGlenn Chadbourne
Glenn Chadbourne is an American artist. He lives in Newcastle, Maine. He is best known for his work in the horror and fantasy genres, having created covers and illustrated books and magazines for publishers such as Cemetery Dance Publications, Subterranean Press, and Earthling Publications. Mr...
for the book The Secretary of Dreams
The Secretary of Dreams
The Secretary of Dreams is a series of graphic short story collections authored by Stephen King and illustrated by Glenn Chadbourne. Cemetery Dance Publications released the first volume in December 2006.-Volume 1:...
, a collection of comics based on King's short fiction released by Cemetery Dance
Cemetery Dance Publications
Cemetery Dance Publications is a specialty press publisher of horror and dark suspense. Cemetery Dance was founded by Richard Chizmar, a horror author, while he was in college. It is associated with Cemetery Dance magazine, which was founded in 1988. They began to publish books in 1992.Cemetery...
in December 2006.