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“What Ray calls ‘the economy’ has disappeared from this part of Maine.”

This quote explicitly introduces the theme of Poverty and Small-Town Discontent. Ray’s framing of the economic decay of Castle Rock positions the economy as some vast, unknowable entity that dictates the lives of the residents. Fittingly for the small town that features in numerous Stephen King stories, the “economy” is presented as an almost supernatural force that—through its absence—has brought Castle Rock to its knees. It cannot be influenced or controlled; instead, the residents must accept economic downturn with dark humor and helplessness.

“She knows it, and Ray knows she knows it. That’s marriage after awhile.”

There is an unspoken tension in the marriage between Ray and Mary, but there’s also a sense of exhaustion. They both know each other so well that their marriage has become a tiring repetition of the same accusations and arguments. They both know their lines, but they feel compelled to say them anyway, arguing in circles because they cannot envision any other way to be together. This is part of what makes Mary’s death so tonally jarring; it interrupts the banal reality of the marriage, revealing The Absurdity of Death Intruding on the Mundane.

“Were you snooping?”

Mary is ashamed that Ray found her stash of sugary treats, but the tension in their marriage compels her to take a defensive stance. Ray was “snooping,” she says, turning her own feelings of guilt into an accusation that Ray has invaded her privacy. Mary and Ray are unwilling to concede anything to one another, so these defensive stances fuel the tension.

“He knows she thinks he parked close to the building on purpose, to make her sidle, and maybe he did.”

The couple’s marriage has become a passive-aggressive cold war in which even Ray himself is not sure whether he is being consciously spiteful. He parks the car too close to the wall to draw attention to Mary’s weight, and they both seem to be aware that this is what he has done. Yet Ray cannot admit fault in this matter or any, as their marriage is predicated on mutual accusation rather than self-scrutiny or vulnerability.

“Everybody has his poison.”

When Ray is alone with Biznezz, he offers up a quip that equates his cigarettes with Mary’s confectionery. Notably, Mary is not present for this concessionary moment. Ray cannot bring himself to say as much to Mary, showing how this inability to find common ground is the real poison. Moreover, Ray does not fully abandon his antagonism even in private; he says this line while tossing a Sno Ball to Biznezz, which becomes a figurative “poisoning” of his wife.

“Louder this time, but he can’t quite bring himself to shout, not down on his knees with people standing around, one of them a dark-skinned man.”

Ray is in turmoil as he rushes to Mary’s side, yet his latent thoughts racially profile those around him. Mr. Ghosh is “a dark-skinned man” whose complexion returns to Ray’s thoughts on several occasions (58), even though his race has nothing to do with his situation. The intrusiveness of his thoughts points to the ambient racism that marks Ray’s consciousness. The issue is significant to him, even if he is not aware of it in this moment.

“His back hurts and his knees hurt, but if he gets up, he’ll look like a spectator.”

Ray is in pain as he kneels next to his dead wife. The emotional weight of the situation, however, means that he is hyper-conscious of his own actions. He feels the need to perform his grief for others, rather than simply experience it for himself. Even though it physically pains him, he must let the world know that he is more than just a spectator—an attempt to regain control of the situation.

“She was your wife?”

Juxtaposed with the story’s use of present tense, this use of the past tense hammers home Mary’s death: Mary moves between the tenses as she has moved between life and death. Ray must reckon with this shift in tense: She is no longer his wife, and their marriage is now part of his past.

“An older man can take advantage, especially when he’s the boss.”

In the complex swirl of emotions, Ray returns to a familiar pattern. As he and Mary used to point out each other’s flaws to deflect from their own guilt and shame, he focuses on the perceived flaws of those around him to make himself feel less vulnerable. He imagines sins in others, such as Mr. Ghosh preying on his younger staff, to make himself feel better. This projection of guilt is Ray attempting to manage his grief as he managed his marital issues.

“Mr. Ghosh takes a purple kickball from the wire rack and holds it out to Ray in both hands. ‘On the house,’ he says.”

Mr. Ghosh’s small gesture illustrates the extent to which the town is captured by material concerns. As the manager of a store, Mr. Ghosh is familiar with the language of commerce. When faced with a situation like Mary’s death, this is the only language that he can use. He offers the kickball as a gift and a symbol of shared grief, but the gesture is expressed through commercial rather than emotional language.

“My wife went in her sleep.”

The old man shares a story about his own wife’s death, offering a common point of humanity to Ray. However, Ray misses the opportunity for shared sympathy: The man remains anonymous, left to carry his grief in private, because Ray does not respond to his overtures. In this moment, Ray is given a glimpse into a future where he becomes an anonymous, understanding presence on the fringes of someone else’s catastrophe. The atomization of small-town decay prevents him and the old man from forming an emotional connection.

“Finally Ray runs out of things to tell them, and they run out of things to tell him.”

The death of Mary brings people unexpectedly and uncomfortably together. Gradually, however, the emotion fades into numbness, and they realize that they have little to say to one another. The silence is a reminder of the lack of connection that exists between the residents of the same small town.

“Not funny enough to laugh, but funny in a way that’s some fancy word he can’t quite think of.”

After Mary’s death, Biznezz’s death is overwhelming for Ray. He can do nothing but laugh, but even he knows that this humor derives from some inexplicable and confusing emotion rather than true levity. The moment marks the culmination of the story’s exploration of Dark Humor as a Response to Grief, as Ray’s response to the dog recognizes the complex irony of the moment and its relationship to his own unvoiced desires, anxieties, and losses.