A Writer's Reflection: "The Lawnmower Man" by Stephen King
A Reflection on Voice and Setting in "The Lawnmower Man"
“The Lawnmower Man” by Stephen King is a nightmarish ten-page read that details Harold Parkette’s encounter with a devilish lawnmower man he hires after an incident causes the boy from down the street who cuts his lawn to resign, and his lawn becomes overgrown (King 210-219). For me as a writer, two craft elements bring this story to life: voice and setting.
King’s use of voice in his writing always manages to create a sense of dread and unease that persists throughout a story by shifting from the mundane to the bizarre or surreal. For example, the story starts with a conversational narrative voice and tone that is matter-of-fact while detailing the incident and its aftermath:
“In previous years, Harold Parkette had always taken pride in his lawn. He had owned a large silver Lawnboy and paid the boy down the block five dollars per cutting to push it…After a week of listening to his wife moan and gobble in the next bed, Harold decided to get rid of the mower…He had hired a boy this year; next year he would just hire a boy and a mower. And maybe Carla would stop moaning in her sleep. (210)
This use of voice grounds readers in the story’s events leading up to the nightmarish encounter with the titular lawnmower man by showing Harold’s mundane aspects of Harold’s life, the effects of the incident on him and his family, and his desire to maintain his lawn before plunging readers into a narrative twist that starts after he calls “Pastoral Greenery and Outdoor Services,” after which the lawnmower man shows up at his house and starts cutting the grass (211).
This is when King shifts from merely a conversational voice and tone that is matter-of-fact but sinister, vivid, intense, and urgent which engages readers and pulls them into the horrid scene as it unfolds and gives them a sense that something wrong and otherworldly is happening. The following is the full passage in which the story’s horrors start to unfold:
The aged red power mower the fat man had brought in his van was running on its own. No one was pushing it; in fact, no one was within five feet of it. It was running at a fever pitch, tearing through the unfortunate grass of Harold Parkette's back lawn like an avenging red devil straight from hell. It screamed and bellowed and farted oily blue smoke in a crazed kind of mechanical madness that made Harold feel ill with terror. The overripe smell of cut grass hung in the air like sour wine.
But the lawnmower man was the true obscenity.
The lawnmower man had removed his clothes—every stitch. They were folded neatly in the empty birdbath that was at the center of the back lawn. Naked and grass-stained, he was crawling along about five feet behind the mower, eating the cut grass. Green juice ran down his chin and dripped onto his pendulous belly. And every time the lawnmower whirled around a corner, he rose and did an odd, skipping jump before prostrating himself again.
“Stop!” Harold Parkette screamed. “Stop that!” (214)
In this passage, multiple elements come together to create the voice and tone, such as vivid and detailed language to convey a sense of terror the sight instills in Harold. For example, describing the lawnmower as a screaming, bellowing, “avenging red devil” that releases “oily blue smoke” creates a surreal image of the lawnmower as an animalistic entity that is devouring his lawn, while the description of the lawnmower man as unclothed, crawling behind the mower eating grass clippings and closely following its every move dehumanizes him and creates a compelling scene that is utterly shocking. This both engages readers of horror and keeps them hooked to the story due to the intensity of the disturbingly surreal scene.
On the other hand, it is not only King’s use of voice in “The Lawnmower Man” that contributes to engaging readers while building an ever-growing sense of dread and unease. King uses the setting effectively in the story to accomplish the same effect.
For example, the story is centered around the lawn of a suburban home. Harold lets the grass grow out after selling his mower and having trouble hiring a new boy to cut the lawn for him (210-211); however, it is when his lawn is overgrown that he decides to call someone to cut it for him, “One day in late July, Harold went out on the patio during the seventh-inning stretch and saw a woodchuck sitting perkily on the overgrown back walk. The time had come, he decided” (211).
The change in the length of the lawn, from well-kept to overgrown, is used similarly to the voice; it signifies a shift from the ordinary to what will become the extraordinary.
As a writer, King’s approach to these craft techniques in “The Lawnmower Man” inspires me. When considering my past and future works, after analyzing the story, it becomes apparent that approaching these craft elements similarly could prove beneficial as a horror writer. King’s approach to voice is something that I have attempted with some of my earlier short stories, such as “The Dead Writer’s Society, “The Ones We Love,” and “The Road to Nowhere.”
Similarly, King’s use of setting is something to which I aspire in my writing. When thinking about past and future works, placing the story, its characters, and its events in settings that reflect normal life, such as the home, and using the setting to signal shifts from the ordinary to the extraordinary is something that I can include in my writing. This is something with which I played in “The Paradise Estates,” formerly “Apartment 5c.”
For example, in the beginning, the protagonist sees the apartment complex as friendly and inviting, “His gaze traveled up the facade, each window warm and inviting, like friendly eyes welcoming him” (Blakemore 1), while near the end it shifts to a menacing, pained entity, “His gaze traveled up the façade, each window more grimacing and pained than the last.”
Incidentally, King uses this technique, albeit in reverse order, in his story, “The overripe smell of cut grass hung in the air like sour wine” (214), and “the scent of newly mown grass hung pleasantly in the air” (219). Depending on the story’s structure, it can create a lasting sense of dread and unease that entices readers to learn more about the author and their other works.
Sources
King, Stephen. “The Lawnmower Man.” Night Shift, Kindle, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 1978, pp. 210–19.
Really interesting thoughts, Jimmy. The Lawnmower Man is a strange, disturbing story of King’s when he was really going for it in his early days. Night Shift is a great collection
The less said about the movie, the better 😁
Glad to have you join the crew. Look forward to reading more of your stories and articles 👍🏼
Great first entry. Thanks for joining us.