Short Story Analysis: 'Gramma And There Be Tygers'

“Gramma” Over spring break, I read three horror short stories by Stephen King; “A Death”, “Gramma”, and “Here There Be Tygers”. Although all three short stories were different in plot, they all shared the same intention of being written; which was to bring forth the fear of death. Stephen King’s objective in writing these kind of short stories is to capitalize on people’s fear of death, to lure the reader into his stories, and to show the evil side of mankind. The audience that King targets are for those who enjoy reading horror, and do not mind getting frightened. In particular, in the short story, “Gramma”, the main character’s fear of his grandma comes head on, no matter how many times the main character tries to find flaws in his

It definitely keeps the reader on the edge of their seat, and makes him/her hooked on the story. Overall, there were many strengths in this short story that left me eager to read more. King does a very good job using many flashbacks that George remembers, ‘Gramma, who slept more and more, and she began to cry Ruth! Ruth! ROO-OOOTH! in that high, querulous voice of hers, and Mom had stopped laughing and went into her room’ (King, 5), ‘On one occasion when she was doing this last, Mom had turned white and had gone in and told her to shut up, shut up, shut up! George remembered that occasion very well, not only because it was the only time Mom had ever actually yelled at Gramma, but because it was the next day that someone...’ (King, 6). Another successful aspect of the story was the very detailed description of George’s grandma, ‘Gramma held out her heavy arms toward him from her white vinyl chair that always smelled of the poached eggs she ate and the sweet bland powder George’s mom rubbed into her flabby, wrinkled skin; she held out her white-elephant arms, wanting him to come to her and be hugged to that huge and heavy old white- elephant body’ (King, 1). George provides the reader with a lot of knowledge of what the grandma looks like physically, and what his thoughts are on it. The last thing that King does very well is explaining George’s grandma’s illness, ‘Sometimes, when she had her “bad spells,” she would

The reader learns that if something does not feel right, chances are that you should not take a risk. George tries to pick flaws in his logic when he does not feel comfortable being alone with his grandma, but deep down inside, he feels uncomfortable. George tries to put on a brave face for his mother after being asked whether he will be alright being left alone with his grandma, “I don’t want you to worry,” she said. “You’ll be all right. Gramma, too. Sure, I’ll be okay” (King, 1). George should realize that his emotions and thoughts are not invalid, and should be taken into