Strawberry Spring

Though King provides few personal details about the narrator, he uses indirect characterization to create a well-rounded protagonist to whom readers can relate, at least on some levels. Indirect characterization can be defined as revealing a character’s personality through showing versus telling. Rather than explaining the kind of person the protagonist is, King reveals the narrator’s personality through his actions, private thoughts, and feelings. The story’s first-person point of view provides an opportunity for the narrator to speak for himself and make an impression on the reader.

As the story ends with a plot twist, the narrator’s characterization must mislead the reader to some degree so that the ending is a surprise. Horror fiction often relies on readers’ uncertainty about fact versus imagination, especially when a story contains the supernatural.

In “Strawberry Spring,” the narrator seems no different than his fellow students in how he reacts to the murders. The only clue to the narrator’s difference is his obsession with the fog and strawberry spring. A key aspect of indirect characterization is how the protagonist affects those around them, and the narrator’s roommate does not find the narrator’s attitude strange.