The Dead Zone

“Time. We’ve got that, I guess.”

Sarah and Johnny’s relationship is defined by the time that they do not have together. Sarah will lose years worrying about Johnny and Johnny will lose years in a coma. While they assure one another that they have all the time they need, the time they have left together can be measured in hours, making this quote a moment of dramatic irony. 

“The thing he disliked the most was being on hold.”

Herb resents being placed on hold while using the telephone. The sentiment is an ironic foreshadowing for the next four years of his life, when his family’s life will be put on hold while Johnny is in a coma. Not only will Johnny lose four years, but Herb and Vera will spend all that time fretting and worrying with no end in sight. 

“She had made him wear a clothespin on it for two hours, so he would know

how those diseases felt.”

Frank Dodd’s mother abuses him by making him wear a clothespin on his penis. This punishment warps Dodd’s psyche and creates the strange sexual urges which plague him as a result. He learns to link sexuality and pain in an abusive manner, thereafter inflicting his punishment on women because he resents them for “making” him feel sexual urges.

“Did I grow a third eye?”

Johnny jokes with the nurse about his condition in the wake of his coma. However, his words are more apt than he realizes. In traditional folklore, a third eye allows a person to see into the future. Johnny may not have a physical third eye, but the mysterious coma has left him with the ability to see into the future. In effect, he has grown a metaphorical third eye.

“Some things are better not seen, and some things are better lost than found.”

Weizak warns Johnny that the powers he has may not be purely beneficial. His warning proves to be prophetic in its own way, as Johnny’s predictions typically makes his life worse. People treat him differently, he loses all his privacy, and Johnny takes a pessimistic view of the world. Weizak warns Johnny not to use his powers too often, as he correctly predicts that doing so will ruin Johnny’s life.

“They smiled at each other falsely, knowing that nothing of the kind was ever going to happen.”

This conversation between Sarah and Johnny features a different kind of premonition. Their social understanding tells them that their situations have changed to such a degree that Sarah has no reason to bring Denny, her son, to meet Johnny in the hospital. Johnny does not need special abilities to understand why this cannot happen.

“The medallion swung back and forth below his fist.”

Dussault challenges Johnny to prove that his powers are real. However, Dussault is a cynic who is motivated by spite. Though Johnny does not want to rise to the bait, Dussault’s attitude compels him. He wants to prove Dussault wrong on a personal level, rather than show the world that he is right. As the medallion swings back and forth, Johnny is almost hypnotized. Against his better judgement, he gives Dussault an insight that he comes to regret. Johnny may want the world to leave him alone, but he can still be mesmerized by a challenge from a man like Dussault. 

“Nearly five years, longer than some convicted murderers spend in the slam.”

When Johnny thinks about his coma and everything that it has taken from him, he frames that time of his life like a prison sentence. However, the difference between the coma and the prison sentence is that Johnny does not know what he did to deserve the four years he spent in the dark. The question haunts him, forcing him to give some sort of reason or justification to his existence to atone for his unknown sins.

“The thick wine of fury buzzed and coursed in his head.”

Stillson views anger like an intoxicating substance. The sense of power he gains from his angry outbursts is as addictive as any narcotic or vice. Just like any intoxicating substance, Stillson’s anger affects his judgement. He only allows himself to be angry in moderation, lest he lose control.

“And here sat this fellow with his dyed gray hair and his forty-dollar shoes and his shirt with the store-creases still in it, talking about whoppers.”

When Richard Dees approaches Johnny to use his name in a magazine, he does not understand why Johnny is so angry. Johnny views Dees’s offer as a confession, as though Dees has admitted that the same magazine articles which poisoned Vera’s mind were fake. Johnny blames men like Dees for corrupting his mother and ruining the last years of her life. He focuses on Dees’s clothes–items bought specifically for the country–as being examples of Dees’s falsity. The clothes, just like everything else in Dees’s magazine, are fake.

“This afternoon she and I consummated a marriage that never was.”

Johnny’s ability allows him to see into the future, but the afternoon he spends with Sarah allows him to glimpse into an alternative past. For a few hours, he can imagine what life might have been like if he was never involved in the car accident. The vision is fleeting, and he must return to his normal life later. Like the visions of the future that plague him later in the novel, this afternoon is depressive. Johnny experiences physical and emotional love for just a few hours, giving him a brief introduction to a life that can never happen. Though the fleetingness of this moment is tragic, Johnny is glad that it occurred.

“After that she had become distant and awkward.”

The recurring consequence of Johnny using his powers is that people treat him differently. Even when Johnny saves lives, the people involved can never quite look at him in the same way again. Johnny destroys numerous relationships by using his powers to help people, forcing him to wonder whether he should ever intervene.

“You’re actually changing the location in your brain from which your thought is coming.”

Johnny teaches Chuck how to rewire his brain. The blank spots in Chuck’s reading ability function as parallels to Johnny’s own dead zones; like Johnny, Chuck must learn to operate around these issues if he is to succeed. Johnny’s experience learning how to use his brain in a different manner informs his ability to teach people. Beyond the visions of the future, Johnny’s experiences have taught him lessons that he can pass on to others.

“Warren Richardson started his car and went home to his pork chops and

said nothing at all.”

After being threatened, Warren Richardson returns to his normal life. He pretends not to know about Stillson’s corruption or violent tendencies. Like many other people, Richardson is willing to ignore the darkness of American society because he is too scared and too comfortable to change anything. This dark secret becomes a dead zone that he refuses to acknowledge.

“Stillson’s harmless.”

Roger Chatsworth drastically underestimates Greg Stillson. Like many other people, Roger is seduced by Stillson’s charisma. He does not believe that a person as absurd as Stillson could be any kind of threat. Roger’s view of Stillson illustrates how Stillson operates in a social dead zone. Stillson blinds people to the truth and hides in plain sight; people cannot think of him like a threat in the same way that Johnny cannot access certain parts of his brain.

“The whole thing had a practiced, professional quality to it that jarred with Stillson’s image of the amiable Wild Man of Borneo.”

Stillson’s campaign presents him as an impulsive, charismatic figure who is running a cheap and cheerful campaign. However, Johnny’s visit to the political rally shows that this is not true. Johnny does not need his psychic powers to deduce that there is a well-funded, professional operation lurking beneath the cheap exterior. This disconnect between reality and belief hints at the lies at the heart of the Stillson campaign. Nothing is quite as it seems, even down to the PA system.

“But you don’t sow dragon’s teeth.”

Johnny troubles himself over his visions of Stillson’s future. He believes that Stillson must be stopped but he does not know whether he can bring himself to kill another person. The concept of sewing dragon’s teeth comes from folklore, in which dragon’s teeth are planted in soil and then grow into soldiers. The message is that violence leads to further violence, so Johnny does not know whether he can commit a violent act if doing so will lead to further violence. He finds himself in a moral quandary.

“I’d coat the blade with rat poison.”

When Johnny is trying to figure out how to deal with Stillson, he creates a moral riddle and poses it to people. He asks a World War I veteran whether he could theoretically kill Adolf Hitler if given the opportunity. The man–who also lost his son in World War II–does not hesitate. The conviction in his words leaves an impression on Johnny: while Johnny might never be able to muster the same conviction, he comes to realize that he must kill Greg Stillson to prevent even more deaths in the future.

“He gave me a song-and-dance about improving my insurance rates.”

The owner of the steakhouse lies to Johnny and tells him that the building is equipped with lightning rods—the same lightning rods that Stillson was selling years before. The implication is that Stillson visited the steakhouse and tried to sell lightning rods to the owner. The owner refused but kept hold of the story. Stillson’s lies and deceptions linger throughout the society. While he may not have burned the building down, Stillson’s dishonest sales routine gives the owner of the steakhouse a justification for not closing his business. Stillson’s lies cause even more damage than the characters realize.

“Please come home, Johnny.”

Herb writes to Johnny and asks him to come home. Herb does not just want his son to return to his house, but he wants the old version of Johnny back. For Herb, this is an especially heartbreaking plea. Vera also became obsessed with her own personal demons, and it led to her death. To Herb, Johnny seems to be in a similar situation. He pleads with Johnny to come home because he cannot take the pain of losing another person in the same way he lost his wife.

“Maybe I could and maybe I couldn’t.”

Johnny’s fate comes down to the question of whether he can hurt a person. He writes long passages in his notebook where he mulls over the question of whether he can hurt or kill Stillson to prevent a possible nuclear war. His phrasing reveals his doubts, as all his words are conditional. He never says that he will or that he must. Instead, he writes that he “could” if the conditions were right. He also repeats the word “maybe” (376) to emphasize his indecision.

“A very polite sort of fellow, Elton Curry told the FBI agents who questioned him later.”

Johnny’s route to the showdown with Greg Stillson is shown from the perspective of the witnesses interviewed by the FBI. At this stage of the narrative, Johnny experiences profound shame and doubt. He wants to hide away from the narrative just as he wants to hide away from himself, so King portrays his actions from the perspectives of other people. The witness testimonies show the shame and the guilt Johnny feels, but also the humanity that he retains.

“Everything had changed.”

Johnny’s final thoughts allow him to enjoy a moment of peace. He touches Stillson on the ankle and knows that the future has changed. For once, Johnny knows that his actions have a certain positive effect. All the guilt and worry that led up to the assassination attempt retreat as he enjoys the satisfaction of using his power for good.