by Monnie

Created on: September 25, 2010   Last Updated: September 27, 2010

When it comes to applying the word epic to contemporary literature the first author many people might think of is the prolific Stephen King. “Under The Dome” is the most recent saga from the imagination of this legendary writer. While many aspects of the story are less than perfect, as a whole, Under The Dome is pure genius. Continuing in the tradition of sweeping, complex stories such as The Stand, It and The Dark Tower series King has created an intricate, realistic world where crisis quickly leads to chaos.

It’s business as usual in Chester’s Mill when the impossible starts happening. Cars and planes begin crashing into some kind of invisible wall, animals are sliced in half and love ones are separated from each other. Soon it becomes clear a crisis has happened to this little Northeastern town in Maine. As in most small towns there are plenty of dramas unfolding, secrets festering and scandals lurking just under the sweet as apple pie appearance.

Dale Barbara is on his way out of town hoping to leave behind the trouble brewing for him in Chester’s Mill when what would soon be known as the dome descends upon the town. Barbara, who goes by the nickname Barbie, soon finds himself in the middle of everything. Exactly where he doesn’t want to be. Barbie has found himself on the bad side of small town politician Big Jim Rennie after getting into an altercation with Rennie’s son and his hoodlum friends. Soon he finds himself in a deadly game of politics where he must figure out friends from enemies. Fear, manipulation and the drive for self-preservation has turned the folks of Chester’s Mill into suspicious, gullible sheep and being an outsider he finds himself in a vulnerable position.

Big Jim Rennie has always wanted to be the dictator of the small town and he sees the crisis of the dome as his big chance. Soon he is engaging in political maneuvering, murder and maliciousness in order to achieve his dream. While the dome is not the cause of the second selectman’s descent into evil, it provides the right circumstances for him to take his used car-salesman persona and put it to work for a far more heinous purpose than selling the townspeople shoddy lemons.

These two basically are the face of the different forces at play in Chester‘s Mill. There are those who favor power and control in times of distress and those who choose to be cooperative and work as a team. Barbara is a team player,. Rennie is a fatter,

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