The ABC’s Of Stephen King : He Who Walks Behind The Rows

He who walks behind the rows is of course, the mysterious dark force to whom the cult of the Children of the Corn pay tribute to. It is the powerful antagonist which lives within the fields and drives the decisions and ethos of those who live there and the being to whom they pay sacrifice to. It is a device that I have always been a fan of, the faceless supernatural force that holds sway over a particular narrative universe.

One reason why I chose this character to bring up in this series of essays is to give me an excuse to discuss somewhat of a hotbed topic within the Constant Readers and that is the crossover between King’s books. He has made a long career out of making references to other books and having characters from one appear in another. I have always been attracted to this as sort of a reward for the readers who are more conversant in his body of work as well as the notion that so many of his books exist within a common narrative universe.

I do think though, that he made this quite a bit more complicated when he made the decision to insert himself as a character into the Dark Tower books, essentially setting himself up as a sort of creative force behind the whole universe. It seemed like after that, people started looking more actively for connections between all the books, where I tend to believe that often those Easter eggs were just a way of winking at the fans to some extent.

So what does that have to do with He Who Walks Behind The Rows, you might ask? Well, it has been suggested by quite a few that He Who Walks Behind The Rows is actually none other than our old friend, Randall Flagg. And while I get that this makes for an entertaining spin to the story and to King’s universe, my personal opinion is that it is a conclusion just not supported by the text itself. I think that there is a difference between books that have overt references to each other and books that can be made to look like they fit together. For me, this connection doesn’t exist and I see Children Of The Corn as it’s own entity.

And that isn’t to say that I’m pointing at others and telling them they are wrong. That’s the great thing about King’s books and his universe. It can be whatever you want, the only limits being that of your own imagination.

I wouldn’t want it any other way.

.

.

.