Word Processor of the Gods

Jon (Jonathan) Hagstrom is Richard’s nephew who created the reality-warping word processor that Richard uses to change his life. He is described as having a “still watchful face” with “sober eyes behind [the] thick spectacles” (295). Stephen King describes him as a selfless, kind, and ”quite a boy,” and he is portrayed as the archetypal golden child who is adored by everyone. He is also “crazy for gadgets” and “a damn near electrical genius” who was fascinated by technology (286).

However, Jonathan has a tough home life as his father, Roger, is indifferent to his accomplishments and often ignores him. This leads him to see Richard as a father figure instead. Richard treasures his relationship with Jonathan because the two see each other for who they are, and they endure similar family dynamics with people who put them down. After finding out that Richard “never quite let go of his dream” of becoming a successful writer (286), Jonathan builds him a word processor for his birthday. He is not able to give Richard the gift himself because he dies in a car crash, caused by his father’s drunk driving. Jonathan’s death haunts the other characters, and the story opens with Richard and his neighbor lamenting the loss of such a bright young boy.

Jon indirectly fuels Richard’s inner conflict and, by extension, his external one, as the word processor he built leads his uncle to erase his family. After Richard rids himself of Lina and Seth, he revives Jon as his son. In his new life, Jon is different, though Richard sees this as a good thing; he has nicer glasses, and Richard thinks “the look of doom was gone from the boy’s eyes” (302). Despite the dark undertones of Jon’s new life—he is replacing his cousin—he shares Richard’s happy ending and is last seen laughing and walking into the house with him to drink hot cocoa.

Lina is Richard’s estranged wife, whom the narrator describes as an “overweight” and “sullen” woman who belittles Richard. She blames him for the lack of luxury in their lives as he couldn’t realize his dream of becoming a famous writer. At the same time, his teacher’s salary and the money he makes on the side from writing mean that she doesn’t need to work herself. Lina embodies greed and gluttony, and along with Richard’s thoughts about her, she is characterized by her inertia; when their neighbor asks for water, Richard fetches it while Lina reads a romance novel and eats a Twinkie.

Lina represents the ways that Richard’s life has not turned out as planned. She once believed that Richard would bring them both “fame, riches, and glory” from his novels, and she does not hesitate to remind him of his failure. Richard regrets marrying her and thinks ill of her as well, describing her as a “silent piggy woman” (287). The two do not interact with each other, and her vanity and superficiality make her unpleasant to be around.

Her characterization is deepened after Richard deletes his son; he finds that Lina becomes fatter and is still a short-tempered and bitter woman. While Lina is described only from Richard’s perspective, a depth of character is hinted at in this scene when he notes that “this is how [she] turned out in a world where there was no object for [her] love” (298). Still, this bit of roundness does not make her more sympathetic; she calls him an “idiot” for not taking the frozen turkey she bought home immediately out of her hands, a spineless “mouse” when he asks if she regrets not having children, and she continues to belittle his writing.

Despite this, she still aims to be Richard’s center of attention, represented by the portrait of her she gave him to hang in his study. She may have “backed the wrong horse” (291), but she still wants him to remember that she should be the center of his world.