Insomnia (novel)
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| Written by: | Stephen King |
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| Genre(s): | Horror, Fantasy |
| First published: | September 15, 1994 |
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"It's a long walk back to Eden, sweetheart, so don't sweat the small stuff." |
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Insomnia is a novel written by Stephen King.
Ralph Roberts, an elderly widower, is suffering from insomnia. Soon he begins to see things that are invisible to others--auras that represent people's life forces and little bald men who are present at the homes of the dying. Soon Ralph discovers that the fate of the universe is resting on his shoulders.
Tropes used in Insomnia (novel) include:
- Ambiguously Human - The Little Bald Doctors.
- Author Tract: Did you know Stephen King is pro-choice? Because a heroic character goes on a two pages-long rant on abortion, defending its legality and counter-augmenting common pro-life arguments.
- Ax Crazy - Atropos and Ed Deepneau.
- Balancing Death's Books - Thanks to Atropos, Natalie Deapneau is set to be killed by a car. Ralph bargains with Clothos and Lachesis to exchange his life for hers.
- Because Destiny Says So - Patrick Danville is destined to die saving two people, one of whom is very important.
- Big Bad: The Crimson King
- Bittersweet Ending - Ralph thwarts the Crimson King's plans and later ends up sacrificing his live to save a little girl.
- The Cameo - Mike Hanlon from IT has a small scene at the library. Ralph also drives by the giant statue of Paul Bunyan that came alive in IT.
- Catch Phrase - "Hey hey, Susan Day! How many kids did you kill today?"
- Canon Discontinuity - In the final Dark Tower novel, it's revealed that Insomnia is not meant to be taken at face value. For example, while Patrick Danville appears and plays an important role, he does not die saving two people--something that was foretold that he would do.
- Canon Welding - Quite a bit. In addition to taking place in the fictional town of Derry, Maine and featuring assorted references to IT, the book also ties into The Dark Tower and introduces two major characters, the Crimson King and Patrick Danville. Ralph also makes a small appearance in Bag of Bones that takes place before his death.
- Cosmic Horror
- Creepy Souvenir - Atropos takes an item as a souvenir from the people he 'kills'.
- Domestic Abuse - Ed Deapneau to his wife.
- Doorstopper
- The Dragon Atropos
- Ear Ache - Ralph cuts off one of Atropos' ears.
- Eldritch Abomination - The Crimson King.
- The Grim Reaper - The Little Bald Doctors.
- Halfway Plot Switch - A large chunk of the novel deals with Ralph dealing with his insomnia and serves as a rumination on age and death. The cosmic plot only picks up a couple of hundred pages into the book.
- Heroic Sacrifice - Ralph makes a deal with Clotho and Lachesis to die in the place of Natalie Deapneau.
- The Insomniac - Ralph.
- Soul Cutting Blade - The Little Bald Doctors' scissors. For Clothos and Lachesis, at least; Atropos uses a rusty scalpel.
- Suicide Attack - Ed Deepneau tries to crash a plane into the Derry Civic Center to kill Patrick Danville.
- Tragic Monster - Implied with Ed Deepneau.
- Villainous Breakdown - Atropos throws a tantrum whenever his plans are thwarted.