The rest of the world?

[costanza]

Yeah, at the end, after the nuke blows, Flagg wakes up with jungle people worshipping him. There are other worlds than these.

[doowopgirl]

I may be mistaken, and it might mention it somewhere in the book, however I have come across a thought that I just can't seem to get rid of. That is, what happened to the rest of the world during the superflu? I don't remember reading anything about foreigners making their way to Boulder or Las Vegas. Were there only survivors in America?

What are your thoughts? And, if anyone knows the answer for sure, I'd appreciate it.

If you recall, at the end of the book, Randall Flagg is surrounded by a group of people and he is trying to figure out what language they speak, so I took it that the story was being moved up a notch that way. I never thought that survivors were only in the U.S., just that we had to start some where. Anyway that s my thoughts doowopgirl

[Checkman]

The Flu spreads across the world. At the beginning of Chapter 38 which I have entitled the "No Great Loss" chapter there is a second cut of FLu survivors due to suicide, misfortune, stupidity etc. It's stated that some 16% of the survivors in the U.S. and other technological societies fall to the Second Epidemic. But in Peru (South America) and Senegal (Africa) it only averages around 3%.

So yes the Flu goes around the world. Ultimately the novel is about Americans (Or United Statesians as my Colombian friend calls us) coping with the End of the World. Why does everyone have such trouble with that? "No BLade of Grass" was a about a British Family dealing with the collapse of civilization. "The Hour of the Wolf" was about a French mother and her children dealing with an unamed apocalypse in France and elsewhere and "V for Vendetta" also took place in England. "Children of Men" was in England and the Mad Max movies were in Australia. There are many post-apocalyptic stores that take place in other nations and they don't worry about providing great details about the United States.

Why does King have to write about the whole world? I'm not raging against you folks, but this issue seems to come up alot on the Internet whne discussing the "The Stand". I just wonder why?

[aeroplane]

So yes the Flu goes around the world. Ultimately the novel is about Americans (Or United Statesians as my Colombian friend calls us) coping with the End of the World. Why does everyone have such trouble with that? "No BLade of Grass" was a about a British Family dealing with the collapse of civilization. "The Hour of the Wolf" was about a French mother and her children dealing with an unamed apocalypse in France and elsewhere and "V for Vendetta" also took place in England. "Children of Men" was in England and the Mad Max movies were in Australia. There are many post-apocalyptic stores that take place in other nations and they don't worry about providing great details about the United States.

Same thing with George Romero's "Dead" movies. And the funny thing about those is that for the most part, they only focused on one particular city or state to a time. Romero's zombie movies didn't show things happening around the rest of the United States and they didn't suffer for it either.

Frankly, I'm not that interested in reading how things turned out in the rest of the world we see in The Stand. If anything, I would have liked a greater focus on the downfall of society in the United States, since this breakdown or collapse is pretty much over by about page 240 or 250. At least I thought so.

Everything afterwards focuses on the surviving characters picking up the pieces, fixing up any loose ends in their old world and starting their journey to one group or the other.

And of course there are characters I would have liked to have seen an increased focus on.

[Checkman]

I agree absolutely. As it is The Stand is a massive and epic novel. If SK had tried to take in other countries the book would have been at least 2,000 pages. Why do folks get all wound around the axle when and American writer writes a novel about Americans? Remember the fuss that was kicked up about the movie Saving Private Ryan? There were Brits who were upset that it only showed Americans on D-day. That was a stupid response. It was an American movie about the American experience in WW2. How many British movies about the British experience during WW1 looks at the U.S. Army in 1918? Ridiculous.

And to all our members not in the U.S.A. please don't get angry. This is something that seems to come up now and again on other forums. I am not flaming anybody here.

[aeroplane]

The only content in The Stand that I would have been interested in reading, when it concerns other countries, might have been a paragraph or two concerning foreign governments and whether they really did believe that Captain Trips was "made by the Americans."

And that is only because Starkey was so worried about Russia, China, etc. thinking that.

But again, it wouldn't have been necessary and one or two paragraphs from a location in Russia, China, etc. would have covered it more than enough.

[Benita]

I may be mistaken, and it might mention it somewhere in the book, however I have come across a thought that I just can't seem to get rid of. That is, what happened to the rest of the world during the superflu? I don't remember reading anything about foreigners making their way to Boulder or Las Vegas. Were there only survivors in America?

What are your thoughts? And, if anyone knows the answer for sure, I'd appreciate it.

Great question! I remember they said it wiped out the whole world. But as you say where were the survivors from the rest of the world? I think most American Movies and books think that the whole world just means America!

[Checkman]

Great question! I remember they said it wiped out the whole world. But as you say where were the survivors from the rest of the world? I think most American Movies and books think that the whole world just means America!

Well like I posted a few months ago the Mad Max movies don't address the United States. It's pretty clear that Max is in post apcalyptic Australia and not once does anysone say "gee how are the Americans doing?" And why would they? Those are Australian movies. Why does SK have to dedicate four or five chapters to other nations? No Blade of Grass takes place in England and all the characters are English. Nothing about the United States in that one either. No offense Benita, but some of the criticism that is aimed at the United States sometimes comes across as being hypocritical. People who live in glass houses and all that jazz.

[aeroplane]

Larger nations in the rest of the world had their own Stu Redman's, Tom Cullen's and the like. Simple as that.

[JohnDalglish]

Great question! I remember they said it wiped out the whole world. But as you say where were the survivors from the rest of the world? I think most American Movies and books think that the whole world just means America!

Hi,

Quotation from Ambrose Bierce and I pass it on with no comment -

'War was invented to teach Americans geography''

Ambrose Bierce

Long days and pleasant nights