Another factor, which I think has great importance in this story, is Lester’s mother’s role. According to Lester, his mother was very overprotective, and this is not what he wants to be for his children. Lester is actually afraid, that his children will end up like him.
To prevent the children from ending up being as him, or as sissies, he refuses to let the babies sleep with a night-light, he also refuses to move the babies into Lester’s and Rita’s bedroom, because “If a kid doesn’t get over being afraid of the dark when he’s little, he never gets over it.” This is exactly what has happened to him and his feelings for the sea – his mother did not allow him to go far out, and now he is afraid of the sea.
The killings of the three children are different. For every time, the killing becomes more dramatic and the horror increases. At the first he does not hear or see the Boogeyman, he only sees a crack in the closet door. However, when the last murder occurs and Andy is killed, Lester sees and hears the Boogeyman, which I think Lester is prepared for this to happen. Lester identifies himself with Andy, and therefore is he more affected by this murder. When we hear about the closet door being open just a crack, we can transfer the meaning of it to Lester’s personality. Even though he behaves normally, he occasionally loses control and his façade cracks a little.
Another thing is Lester’s prejudices. Beside his prejudice about homosexuals, he has also one about women and Vietnamese. When people have prejudices of anything, it is often because they are afraid of these things, and I think this is exactly what Lester is. I also think Lester is paranoid, because he thinks he is being hunted by the Boogeyman and he has all these compulsory thoughts.
Maybe Lester does not accidentally live in Waterbury – the name that Stephen King has chosen are not without significance. If we look at the name Lester Billings, and the meaning of the words – we can see that “lest” means “in fear of” and “bill” means “to pay”. This could mean that Lester is afraid to pay the price of his actions.
Dr. Harpers name has also significance. “Harper” makes us associate to a harpoon, which is used as a weapon to catch large sea-animals. This suits the ending of the story perfectly. Even though Lester has come to get this of his chest, he feels in the end that Dr. Harper knows too much and he is afraid of the consequences this could bring. Dr. Harper tries to catch the Boogeyman, but he fails and is killed by the Boogeyman. The closet door is no longer open, just a crack, but it is entirely open.
Stephen King has written his story in 3th person, which means we hear the story through an imaginary person. We only hear Lester’s point of view, which I think is very warped
“Billings broke off and darted up on his elbows, staring across the room. “What’s that?” he barked. His eyes had narrowed to black slots.” I think it is a good example of the narrator’s technique – here is the narrator describing how Lester suddenly changes character. It also shows how quickly Lester can change into something scary.
Earlier in the story, we heard how Lester talked about a dream, where a man from a story, he read when he was a child, comes back to kill his wife, who had murdered him. In this story, the man also wore seaweed – I think this is the point where Lester’s imagination, when he returned to the office, had taken overhand. “”So nice” the boogeyman said as it shambled out. It still held its Dr. Harper mask in one rotted, spade-claw hand.” The ending is very important for the story. This is the climax – which the reader not had suspected – but it also says that Lester’s desire of mentally catharsis has not been obtained. This also means that Lester has got to live on, with a constant fear of the Boogeyman.
Last but not least I am convinced that Lester is the Boogeyman – but I do not think he knows it. Maybe he is schizophrenic? But I think Lester’s fears and prejudices are the Boogeyman. Because of his constant fears of the unknown, and his prejudices, he becomes the Boogeyman – which also means he killed all of his children.
I think when the closet door is entirely open; the Boogeyman has completely control over Lester. The closet has an obvious symbolic meaning –you can say that everybody has something hidden in his/her closets – and Lester has got the Boogeyman in his closet.