33. And So the Cycle Continues

pg.457

"The old-timers say this is where it started," Ben said. "Back in 1951. The wind was blowing from the west. They think maybe a guy got careless with a cigarette. One little cigarette. It took off across the Marshes and no one could stop it," said Ben Mears.

After I read this, the whole picture came together. Everything came full circle for me. Throughout the novel, Stephen King kept mentioning wind and fire. For example, one time he said, "When the wind was right, its irregular burping noise would come to their ears faintly, like an uneasy spirit." He would also refer back to the fire of '51 frequently. I never knew what he was talking about until Ben Mears and Mark Petrie went to revisit 'Salem's Lot to finish the job they had started; setting fire to the town. I think that the references to the wind and the fire in the novel represented history beginning to repeat itself. The cycle was starting over.

This scene is very significant because it is Stephen King's way of showing how 'Salem's Lot will be reborn again. It exemplifies a cycle. I can only assume that the fire of '51 occurred as a direct result of what was going on in the town in the present day. It also signifies a new life for Ben Mears and Mark Petrie.

What I like the most about the way this novel ends is the way it ends with the scene from the beginning of the book. Stephen King is describing how the man and young boy looked like father and son. There is a reason that he mentions this twice and why he specifically mentions it at the beginning and end. He is reiterating the fact that everything is starting over. And so the cycle continues...