A few thoughts on Duma Key

I'm reading Duma Key by Stephen King, a book that is really open for a lot of discussion about a character with a disability. Edgar Freemantle has an unpleasant accident involving a crane and loses an arm. (He suffers other injuries, such as a brain injury and hip problem.) He also separates from his wife, and goes to see a psychologist who suggests he try a hobby. Then he decides to move to Florida.

Edgar starts to paint. If this was not a Stephen King novel, the book would take a different turn at this point. Maybe meet someone new, etc. But I knew that the itching in his stump, the fact that he had phantom sensations of the supernatural kind, was going to lead to an interesting plot. And so it has.

It is a book about those who have had near death experiences, which have given them psychic powers, according to the NY Times. Maybe so, but there are many other subjects of interest in Duma Key.

What's so interesting in this book is that it is one of the first I've read where disability is treated as an integral part of life and relationships and those around pwd are shown as very human in their reaction to it. Edgar's wife is first portrayed as a villain, but this changes as he becomes less angry and looks at how he acted after his accident toward her. There is an elderly character with Alzhemer's who has a caregiver named Wireman who also has a disability - and the give and take of that relationship is shown, caring for each other at different times. The wounded helper theme is all over this book. It's a grand equalizer for those who see disabled folks as always in need of help. So little is written about people with disabilities and their relationships to each other, although in independent movies I'm seeing more films on this theme. What bothers me sometimes is how it's treated as a "quirky" subject. (In The Guatemalan Handshake, a film I watched last week, a boy in a wheelchair's few lines were about snot and poop and not much more. The exaggerated nature of some of these indie characters is along the lines of Napoleon Bonaparte.)

In any event, back to the wounded healer theme. Edgar's paintings turn out to have the power to heal, to change the course of events turning him into a very powerful artist. Is it possible to read into this book that King is talking about how his own art feels more powerful after his accident? Obviously I did do that, but could be wrong. One thing I do know is that it's exciting to read about a character with a disability who comes across as an agent of change, not a character to be acted upon.