Horror Review
Story number two in Stephen Kings collection entitled Different Seasons. Apt Pupil represents summer. It represents fire and heat and torment. A perfect metaphor for a disturbing and frenzied story in which some of the worst evils in human history find their way creeping back into the subconscious suburban desires of the modern world.
Todd something or other is the typical representation of high school big man on campus. He’s blonde, tanned, pretty and has no problem getting girls. He gets good grades, is athletic and is the shiny golden delicious in his parents eyes. However, as all teenage boys do, even the perfect ones, he’s got a little bit of a mean streak, one which he takes to the next level when he discovers that his neighbour, Arthur Denker, is actually a Nazi war criminal name Kurt Dussander. Instead of turning the old man in to the authorities, Todd blackmails him; He will keep Denkers secret on the condition that the former soldier tell him everything about what it was like to be a Nazi, the things that he did to people, and forces him to relive an unwanted history.
As his sessions with the old Nazi continue, Todd’s personality begins to change. He is no longer a good looker. He is tired and drained all the time. He no longer gets straight A’s. He is being called in to school over this, though he and Denker both adopt a ruse in order to fool Todd’s teachers. He is starting to hallucinate and begins to feel full of murderous rage. Denker, revelling in the memory of the strong and powerful character he was as a young man, remembers what it felt like to be Kurt Dussander. He desires to feel the excitement and the thrill that came from being in command with another persons like in his hands. The relationship between the two main characters is initially codependent- Dussander rediscovers his motivation for living and Todd discovers what it is like to have true power. This unstable relationship soon becomes twisted, manipulative and sadistic, resulting in a power struggle between old and young, past and present, as they both slowly lose their grip on reality.
It’s an interesting book, and one through which we learns about the worst things that human beings are capable of doing to each other. Not through the references and stories of the holocaust, but in the way the two main characters interact with one another. They are very different people with different upbringings and motivations, both matured in different times with different rules. Yet they are both easily corruptible, both swayed by the temptation of power, and we learn from them how easy it can be to become swept away into something dangerous simply for the thrill of living, and how little it takes to be able to justify these actions, without ever considering the consequences. You are pulled into the story almost immediately. King has a talent for taking the mundane, every day suburban settings and your average, every man characters, and twisting the narrative into something that is both shocking and entirely believable. Do we expect the teenager exploring his curiosities and testing his boundaries by asking for gruesome stories about the holocaust? Yes, probably. Morally it’s wrong but some people are assholes. Do we expect this teenager to take pleasure in humiliating an elderly man by forcing him to dress up in a Nazi uniform and march on command? No. The psyche of each character rapidly deteriorates as the book continues its frenzied narrative, and it’s frightening because you don’t want to believe that it’s actually possible.
The story is long and challenging to read in places because you really do have to concentrate. King has a tendency to waffle and it’s easy to get distracted by the characters and the history rather than be absorbed by the story, It’s frustrating because the novella is a chaotic, hideous character study of human behavior and the corrupting influence of power. The realism brings the story it’s fear. You do not want an average teenage neighbor to have these proclivities. That’s the thing with Stephen King. that do leave you feel a little emotionally scarred afterwards. He might waffle on and show off a little with his writing skills but you can’t deny that the man has a cruel imagination and truly understands the worst things human beings are capable of doing.
