The "N" word

[tabari55]

I'm just wondering why Mr King has to use the "N" word in just about all of his novels?

[Moderator]

The characters who use the word are the types of people who would so he is creating realistic dialogue and it creates a visceral reaction in most people to further connect to their distaste of a character because of it.

[GNTLGNT]

The characters who use the word are the types of people who would so he is creating realistic dialogue and it creates a visceral reaction in most people to further connect to their distaste of a character because of it.

Precisely!!!!!....great summation ma'am.....

[fushingfeef]

I don't think a day goes by where I don't here this word spoken on the streets, never from a white person, but I don't doubt that there are white racists out there who use the word on regular basis. If SK's characters didn't sometimes use the word, it would make for a less realistic read.

[dsurrett]

I'd be interested to see which books in particular you're talking about, and the time frame in the books. The word is used a lot in IT, in a 1958 setting, then by one of the same characters in the early 80s. I'm not saying it was right to use the word in previous decades, but it was used nonetheless. I grew up in the south and heard it a lot in the 60s and 70s, not as much after that, and certainly not by as many people. Not that the use of the word was confined to the south.
And like Ms. Mod said, if King wants to portray a character in a negative light, one of the best ways to do that is through the words they speak.
Valid question though, and if I hadn't read so much of King and noticed the time periods and types of character that use it, I'd have the same concerns.

[SHEEMIEE]

The characters who use the word are the types of people who would so he is creating realistic dialogue and it creates a visceral reaction in most people to further connect to their distaste of a character because of it.

yeh but its more embarrassment for the characters now than distaste, because i hear the kids here use it all the time and cringe. when i hear the young white, blackand yella ozzy kids say it- as in "waz up my ******" its all upside down to me

Its now moved onto something different, something sorta trendy- an americanism that has travelled.

is it an affectionate name calling now- i dont know, but if "jock bastad" is a term of endearement- maybe it is now.( being from scotland you see) and i still hear it on the terraces-


If a character uses the F*** word is he to be detested- because nowadays every other word is F*** When i try and write dialogue its everywhere because that is what we hear nowadays.

So N word, F word - I do not why we need to censor our writing to prevent offending. Something I find irratating on this board, considering the reason to what brought us all here- SKs sweary offending characters!

I know, I know, its for the kids- but they read his stuff too. Ns Fs Bs and the ever so shocking C word- one never to be uttered anywhere! ANYWHERE!

shame on you SK!

thanks ms Mod!:smile2:

[J.T. Adams]

Also agreeing completely with Mod's original post up there, I'm adding that. . .

Sai King's non-fiction book On Writing offers a fairly suitable depiction as to why he can't spend his every waking moments worrying about who he's going to offend.

[Roseasharn]

This should be in the FAQ's, it gets asked so often.

What interests me about this question is that, just for one example, in Flannery O'Connor's short story, A Good Man Is Hard To Find, the ONLY character that uses the N word is the grandmother, who is epically awful. AWFUL.
Anyway, that character's use of the word (and various others) serves to illustrate one way in which she is awful. There are many other ways in which she is awful. I hate that character so much. Oi, I almost hate her more than Randall Flagg. No. I do hate her more than Randall Flagg. Ugh.

Anyway, it is literature. And powerful literature. And in my literature class, no one got upset and said "HOW COME SHE USES THE N WORD?"

The N word, for me anyway, is a powerful word. It grates on my brain like pumice. I actually hate it, and any other racial slur I've heard. They bug me. I wasn't raised that way. I hate it in Rap, i hate it Books, I would not, could not, say it in a bar, I will not, do not, say it in my car, etc. etc.

Sure gets my attention, though.

[champ1966]

I'm with dsurett on this one.A great number of his books are based in the 50's where the word was more frequently used

Reminds of when Eddie Dean and Susannah first meet and are both shocked by what is considered normal slang in each others when time

ie Eddie using the word "blacks" which wasn't used in the 50's and 60's as an unoffensive term

[Chris_Ferox]

my favorite Steve King N word scene of all time has got to be the one in IT where Mike Hanlon's father confronts Henry Bower's father (who then has a hard time in the moment of thinking of any sort of non-N-word form of address)

[Mindscribe]

I'm as big a stephen king fan as anyone else, but I find myself asking the same question a lot.

He seems to slip it in even when there's no need.
Even when the book isn't about racism.
And it's not just the dialogue, it's in the narratives as well.
And it's not just his old books, it's his new ones as well. I read duma key last year...which i believe is a 2007-8 novel and it had the word in it a few times. along with some other books.
It frustrates me at times i see it so much. Like dude...you're smart as hell so...can't you bring up a black person without referring to him as an n word?

Like i said...big fan of stephen king but come on...in almost every book?
Original poster has a point.

[Mindscribe]

Major holes in his defense, all im sayin.

[blunthead]

I'm as big a stephen king fan as anyone else, but I find myself asking the same question a lot.

He seems to slip it in even when there's no need.
Even when the book isn't about racism.
And it's not just the dialogue, it's in the narratives as well.
And it's not just his old books, it's his new ones as well. I read duma key last year...which i believe is a 2007-8 novel and it had the word in it a few times. along with some other books.
It frustrates me at times i see it so much. Like dude...you're smart as hell so...can't you bring up a black person without referring to him as an n word?

Like i said...big fan of stephen king but come on...in almost every book?
Original poster has a point.Maybe sK just doesn't do political correctness.

[Sundrop]

I'm having difficulty finding this particular word in "almost all his novels".... While it is true that I haven't read nearly all of them, I have read a good number, and haven't noticed the extreme frequent use that the OP mentions. When I do find it used on occasion, it is used within the perspective of a particular character, and does not bother me.

[dsurrett]

Dialogue isn't the only place where a character's thoughts and motivations are shown. Most narrative in fiction shows the reader a scene through a particular character's eyes. If you're seeing the scene through the eyes of Henry Bowers in IT, the language will be much different than if the scene is from Bill Denbrough's perspective, for instance. Bowers would use the 'n' word, Denbrough probably wouldn't.
I don't believe it is a word that King throws around haphazardly in his books. He knows he's gonna catch flack for it, but he stays true to what his characters would do or say in different situations.
Check the context of where the word is used and in whose perspective the scene is written. I believe that'll answer a lot of your concerns.

[bobledrew]

@sundrop -- don't feed the trolls!

[Sepia and Dust]

I'm as big a stephen king fan as anyone else, but I find myself asking the same question a lot.

He seems to slip it in even when there's no need.
Even when the book isn't about racism.
And it's not just the dialogue, it's in the narratives as well.
And it's not just his old books, it's his new ones as well. I read duma key last year...which i believe is a 2007-8 novel and it had the word in it a few times. along with some other books.
It frustrates me at times i see it so much. Like dude...you're smart as hell so...can't you bring up a black person without referring to him as an n word?

Like i said...big fan of stephen king but come on...in almost every book?
Original poster has a point.

I can tell that you either don't like realistic dialogue or you don't come from the backwoods. Hell, I can't even talk to anyone in my hometown without somebody using the N-word in it's original context: "Them niggers have ruint that whole part of town," "Let them niggers stay down there and kill each other. They better not come up here."

Of course, that may be better than one guy I used to work for when I was a teenager. I got pissed about something at work, and he told me, "You don't get mad. Natives get mad." I had no idea what a native was. He rolled his eyes, "Y'know... darkies."

That's how some people talk. King's dialogue reflects that, whether you or I like the words or not.

[Hans]

...He seems to slip it in even when there's no need...

Hope you never read 'Just after Sunset'...I can tell you, the 'N' is strong in there.

[Doc Wilson]

hahaha. Honestly, I hadn't noticed it being in every book, and I've read them all. I'll keep an eye out on the next one.

[~Ally~]

I'm having difficulty finding this particular word in "almost all his novels".... While it is true that I haven't read nearly all of them, I have read a good number, and haven't noticed the extreme frequent use that the OP mentions. When I do find it used on occasion, it is used within the perspective of a particular character, and does not bother me.

I have read all of his novels and and haven't noticed this use in "almost all" of them. Which means I'm either a very poor/ignorant reader, or as you stated very well...it is used within the perspective of a particular character, and does not bother me.

If I was one of these readers that is constantly irked by a particular aspect of King's writing--as so many appear to be--I wouldn't bother to read him at all. There are many other writers in the world, I'd explore their writing styles until I found one more suited to my tastes/ideals.

[PatInTheHat]

Hope you never read 'Just after Sunset'...I can tell you, the 'N' is strong in there.

You hope someone 'never' reads something, and because they might not like a word that is found within:eyebrow:???
W:umm:w, that's kinda weird.
Hmm, ya know folks are oft mentioning that words are so very powerful, that they're so strong they can effect change, inspire great work, start wars and bring peace, why they can even get ya laid (so I've been told:rolleyes:).
And I believe that all to be true, but them wascally words only have as much power on oneself, as oneself is ready, able, and let us not forget willing, to give them.
Me, well gee whiz, alphabet I can take any one of 'em at least 7 outta 10 times arm wrestlin' :wink2:.
W:love:rd.

[tenngolfer]

Character development. Are the (N word using ) characters out of place for the settings of the novels? Not that I have noticed, although the social verbage (as has been pointed out here) has modified in recent decades. The last white person I can recall using the word was 10 years ago. The gentleman was very old and used the term as a color descriptor such as yellow or green; I did not get any sense it was used derogatory. Does the word still get used? Probably, just like murder still happens; but thankfully both are rare.

[fushingfeef]

How about the "a" word? (arc-sodiums). It's in all his novels!

[blunthead]

The "dc" phrase ("down cellar"). Prove to me that that phrase does not appear at least once per sK work which I've ever read.

[Sepia and Dust]

How about the "a" word? (arc-sodiums). It's in all his novels!

Hell, the bastard puts the S and K words RIGHT THERE on the cover of every book!

[blunthead]

Hell, the bastard puts the S and K words RIGHT THERE on the cover of every book!Lost now, sorry.

[Hans]

You hope someone 'never' reads something, and because they might not like a word that is found within:eyebrow:???
W:umm:w, that's kinda weird.

Maybe I should have added some :wink2:

The 'N' I am talking about is 48 years old, a partner in a large Portland accounting firm, divorced, the father of two daughters....

My point is - 'N' can be used in different ways - S.K. himself gave us a completely different perspective of 'N'

And no I am not offended by ANY words used in novels.

[bobledrew]

Hans, you are my heeee-ro.

[PatInTheHat]

Hell, the bastard puts the S and K words RIGHT THERE on the cover of every book!
Sodom & Kremora:rolleyes:?

[Sundrop]

@sundrop -- don't feed the trolls!

Ahhh, it is that season again, isn't it?
Thanks for the reminder, Bob!.....I'm removing my kibble from the front porch.....and my burritos, too! ♥

[Chuggs]

good fiction is believe-able, almost always. The world is not a politically correct place, so why should a book?

[urrutiap]

I swear people like the topic creator are so sensitive when it comes to the "N" word. Really? Get over it. Its bad enough I have to hear people slam HP Lovecraft because of the way he described black people or whatever.

get over it and just enjoy the stories that theses authors made to entertain you.

[GNTLGNT]

...well, far be it from me to try to throw anything off topic(yeah, right!)...but let us shelve the the use of the "N" word(nitrogen)...and consider the liberal use of the term "Green Card Man" throughout 11/22/63...on behalf of other colors of the rainbow and hues in the spectrum, I find myself mightily and most egregiously in a huff...why "green"????... is this some kind of tree hugging/conservationist subliminal message here?:eyebrow:...in the future, Mr. King should refrain from applying ANY color to his cards, and simply refer to them as "cheap lined pieces of cardboard from the dollah stoah down street, ayuh!"....

[champ1966]

If I read the word greenin one more SK book,I'm gonna throw up

[The Nameless]

IMO, it is simply an easy way to get you to hate a character the way Stephen wants you to. Also, most of his books are set in periods when it was more common place - even if its deemed inapropriate.

[unclelouie]

I'd be interested to see which books in particular you're talking about, and the time frame in the books. .

The "N Word" is thrown around by Sai King pretty liberally in The Drawing of Three, which came out in the mid 80s. I've also seen the word used in The Stand as well. I dont use the world myself, but I dont mind seeing it in King's work. It adds to the depth of a character.

Doesnt mean Sai King is a racist. So a King character uses the N word. That doesnt make King anymore or less a "racist" than it makes him a clown who hangs out in sewers...

[unclelouie]

HP Lovecraft uses the "n-word" in Rats in the Walls.

[PatInTheHat]

:oo:
Hmm, over four pages, shouldn't we be up to, "Nutbag', yet:eyebrow:?...oh come on, at least "Nitwit":down:

[Sepia and Dust]

HP Lovecraft uses the "n-word" in Rats in the Walls.

The difference between Lovecraft and King is that H.P. actually was extremely racist. While he was married, he'd go on and on about the Jews... and his wife had to remind him that he was married to one.

[unclelouie]

The difference between Lovecraft and King is that H.P. actually was extremely racist. While he was married, he'd go on and on about the Jews... and his wife had to remind him that he was married to one.

I was not aware of that. I dont know much about HP's personal life or views. I guess the 1920s werent the most open minded.

[Patricia A]

How many times can you ask a person to explain a thing? Yikes! Really?
I think that question is stuck on a quantum loop or something. Somebody please kick the question machine.