Historical Content
"House on Maple Street" was published in the year of 1993 in a collection of short stories known as Nightmares and Dreamscapes. It is the predecessor of King's novella, Four Past Midnight. The early 1990s had a lot of time dedicated to space exploration. The Sci-fi channel has recently started transmitting on cable TV and there were countless of Sci-fi movies and TV shows such as Edward Scissorhands, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, and Start Trek: Next Generation.
Conflict
The main conflict in this story was Man Vs Man -- the Bradbury children against their oppressive stepfather, Lewis Evans. The Bradbury children want to escape their stepfather and his abusive and authoritative ways, to do that, they hatch a plan that works against him in the most supernatural and scientific way possible.
Analysis
Symbolism: The Mystery Alloy
The alloy that was found within the house continuously grew through the house and did not stop growing, filling in all of the nooks and crannies. At first, the children only found it the alloy in one area of the house, but as time passed, it started to spread until it has completely taken over. The alloy is symbolic towards Trent and Lauren's worries towards their stepfather. It was first discovered in the story and as it progresses, both the two children's worries and the alloy grow and fester. By the end of the story, the alloy turned the house into a spaceship and blasted off, taking the both the strange metal and the source of their worries, Lewis, off into space.
Irony: Lewis' demise
Lewis was very protective of his study. He loathed the thought of random people who trespassed into his territory without permission. Lewis was enraged by any other family members who encroach into his study, lashing out at Brian for entering the study without knocking. He was so upset with the fact that his wife has fainted in the study, he didn't bother to ask why Trent decided to call him in the middle of the day when they were all supposed to be at school. In the end, Lewis was locked in the very study that he was so possessive about and was unable to leave as the house blasted away.
Imagery: The Takeoff
The takeoff at the end of the story rocked the whole house before the children fumbled outside to watch as it rocked off into the sky. The shaking of the house appealed to feel, touch, and sight and grasped the children's own feeling of excitement as they rushed outside. The house turned itself into a rocket from Lewis' experiment and when the children locked Lewis inside the basement he forbid them to enter, he was sent off to who knows where when the house-turned-rocket lifted off on its own into the sky.
The alloy that was found within the house continuously grew through the house and did not stop growing, filling in all of the nooks and crannies. At first, the children only found it the alloy in one area of the house, but as time passed, it started to spread until it has completely taken over. The alloy is symbolic towards Trent and Lauren's worries towards their stepfather. It was first discovered in the story and as it progresses, both the two children's worries and the alloy grow and fester. By the end of the story, the alloy turned the house into a spaceship and blasted off, taking the both the strange metal and the source of their worries, Lewis, off into space.
Irony: Lewis' demise
Lewis was very protective of his study. He loathed the thought of random people who trespassed into his territory without permission. Lewis was enraged by any other family members who encroach into his study, lashing out at Brian for entering the study without knocking. He was so upset with the fact that his wife has fainted in the study, he didn't bother to ask why Trent decided to call him in the middle of the day when they were all supposed to be at school. In the end, Lewis was locked in the very study that he was so possessive about and was unable to leave as the house blasted away.
Imagery: The Takeoff
The takeoff at the end of the story rocked the whole house before the children fumbled outside to watch as it rocked off into the sky. The shaking of the house appealed to feel, touch, and sight and grasped the children's own feeling of excitement as they rushed outside. The house turned itself into a rocket from Lewis' experiment and when the children locked Lewis inside the basement he forbid them to enter, he was sent off to who knows where when the house-turned-rocket lifted off on its own into the sky.
Text-to-Text
Cinderella:
- The story of Cinderella relates to the story of the Bradbury siblings because of their abusive and authoritative step-mother/father.
- Cinderella's step-mother left Cinderella in fear as did Lewis Evans with the Bradbury children.
- Cinderella's stepmother would always forbid Cinderella from going to the ball or coming out from the attic when the duke arrived with her glass slipper.
- Lewis forbid the children from coming anywhere near the basement and disturb his research, and treated the children harshly.
To Kill a Mockingbird:
- Mayella Violet Ewell, the daughter of Bob Ewell, was constantly abused by her father due to his alcoholism.
- Mayella took care of her siblings because her father was never taking charge for the children.
- The Bradbury children looked out for each other because their mother was struggling with fatigue and migraines and their step-father was too indulged into his research.
- Mayella lives in fear of her father, she even testified against Tom Robinson, to keep her father from beating her again.
- The Bradbury children lived in fear of Lewis that they never trespassed (until later on in the story) his territory so that he wouldn't abuse them.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn:
- When it was discovered that his father was alive, Huck became very nervous and started to hid the riches he had received with his adventures with Tom.
- The Bradbury children would always clear out away from Lewis and never approach him intentionally.
- When Huck's father takes him away to a remote hut, he eventually breaks out and fakes his own death to escape. He later joins Jim on the river as a way to leave the town.
- The two older children plot against Lewis and want to teach him a lesson about treating their family so horribly.