The plot in the book is about four boys, around the age of 12, going on an adventure to find a dead body. The boys are all misfits that the reader can sympathize with. The boys are Vern, Gordan, Chris and Teddy. Most days are spent by the boys playing cards, reading magazines, and smoking up in their tree house. One of the boys, Vern, hears his older brother talk about finding the body of a boy in the town close to theirs. Hearing this news Vern runs to tell his friends. All four boys decide to go and search for the body of Ray Bowner. They tell their parents that they are camping out at Vern's. They go on search for the missing boys body, which they believe he was hit by a train while out picking berries. The boys' adventure takes them more than a day to complete. They have to go through many obstacles, which almost ends Gordie and Verns life, as they go across a bridge when a train approaches and they are left with no where to run. The boys later find the body, but they aren't alone. Vern and Chris's older brothers, and their gang, are also there. After some fighting and scarring, the older boys and their gang leave. Gordan and his group of friends call in an anonymous tip about the dead body
Point of View
The story is told in first person by Gordon Lachance. He is 12 years old when the story occurs, but is telling when he is 30 years old. One of the ways he tells the story is by sharing stories he had wrote as a boy. As an adult he has become a writer which shows the audience his view from then and now. At the end of the story he tells what happened to the boys in his gang, which was a smart move by Stephen King. It shows irony in something that Chris talks about when they are camping out after their adventure on the bridge.
Characterization
The characters are around the age of 12. The main character is Gordan Lachance. As an audience, the characters are revealed by childhood memories, things that happened to them that makes an audience connect and sympathize. The rest of the boys are Chris Chambers, Teddy Duchamp, and Vern Tessio. Each boy has a story and is unique in his own way. My favorite character is Teddy. I love his humor throughout the book. One of my favorite lines from Teddy is, "The pile of shit has a thousand eyes. Teddy said gravely, and both Chris and I cracked up. Teddy stared at us with a slight frown, as if wondering what had gotten us laughing." page 297
Setting
The story takes place in the year of 1960. It takes place in the town of Castle Rock, Maine. The story is about an adventure so the boys are on the move. They are in their tree house when they learn about the whereabouts of the dead boy's body. They're mission, to find the body, took them through the woods. Their adventure is told in the woods along the railroad tracks, around campfires, and by the river.
Theme
The theme of the story is of childhood friendships. This is shown by the quote, " I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was 12 - Jesus, did you?" - end of chapter 11. Throughout the story the audience is shown that the boys stick together, play around, and love each other. The audience later learns that the boys are no longer friends, which is sad. This shows Stephen King's personality, life isn't perfect. This fact, and Mr. King writing about it, is why people love him and why "The Body" is so famous.
