The Man In The Black Suit Sparknotes

679 Words2 Pages

“The Man in the Black Suit” by Stephen King is about a nine year old boy, named Gary, who has an encounter with the Devil in 1914. One Saturday, Gary goes fishing in Castle Stream, trying out his new bamboo fishing pole in the “troutiest brook he’d ever fished.” After catching a nineteen inch brook trout, Gary falls asleep while watching the clouds. Gary is woken abruptly by a tug at the end of his fishing line and suddenly realizes that there is a bee sitting on his nose. All of a sudden, there is a clap and the bee tumbles off Gary’s nose and onto his lap. He then looks over his shoulder to see who clapped and notices a man standing behind him wearing a black three piece black suit. “I knew right away that he was not a human being, because his eyes were the orangey-red of flames in a woodstove.” The man tells Gary that he came with bad news that Gary’s mother died from a bee sting, and he believes the man. Gary states “we always believe, on some level, the worst things our hearts can imagine” because Gary’s brother …show more content…

The Devil is described as having orangey-red colored eyes, “sharp teeth in a cannibal smile,” and a long pale face. This description would be terrifying to any nine year old child, which makes Gary believe the Devil since he is so creepy looking. Another reason why the Devil is so convincing is how detailed he explained Gary’s mother’s death. “The bee flew in the window and lit on her neck. She slapped at it before she even knew what she was doing.” This implies that the man wearing the black suit was looking in the kitchen window while Gary’s mother was stung. “Do you know what Candy Bill did? That little rascal licked away her tears.” Gary believes the Devil because of how well he described Gary’s mother falling to the ground with tears streaming from her eyes. The Devil also knows the name of Gary’s little black Scottie dog, Candy

Open Document