'Salem's Lot by Stephen King

Analyzing Father Callahan

        In all the novels we read, we encounter numerous amounts of characters. Each and every single character is unique and serves a purpose in the story. An example of a good author who is greatly known for this and does this well is Stephen King. King takes his characters into great consideration and portrays them in a very descriptive manor. An example of such is in his novel, 'Salem's Lot. Father Callahan, a priest and one of the characters, has his own values, goals, and we are even presented with some flaws. 

        Father Callahan expresses multiple values that he cares for deeply. There are two, however, which I have chosen to be the most valued. First, Father Callahan values his "Notes" that he spends so much of his time contemplating and writing about. With those Notes he hopes to one day make a religious book. Now he writes them with no hope or plan that the book will ever be written. Interestingly enough, his drinking problem started the same time he started his craze for writing. For the second value, Father Callahan values the truth. When he is true to himself, it makes him feel like a better person and he despises when he can tell someone is lying to him, such as Sandy McDougall. He explains, "Know the truth and it will set you free. Bully for the truth" (Ch. 6, Scene 9). He values these things highly and thinks about them daily. 

        Father Callahan's goal is very compelling that it can relate to so many of us. It is the obsession with fighting "EVIL" for the Lord. He has seen everyone around him fighting some type of evil and wants to take part but has no idea what evil to fight against. He has gotten himself so far into the idea and he does not even have a basis for reasoning about it anymore. He had pushed himself to the conclusion there was not just one "EVIL" but just evil that is a part of life. Only an evil that should not be taken seriously but to just accept at every moment it shows its face. "At moments like this he suspected that Hitler had been nothing but a harried bureaucrat and Satan himself a mental defective with a rudimentary sense of humor..." (Ch.6, Scene 9). This thinking brings us to his character flaw: that Father Callahan does not have the confidence to accomplish anything. There are so many things in his head and has already decided none of them will ever get done. 

        Father Callahan overall is a character that has really great intentions. He was a great example of how in only once scene, we are able to get all this information about him. We were able to grasp his values, goals, and even flaws. This character could not have been more real in such a few pages of writing. It is amazing how such a character can come alive in our minds and is relatable in many ways to us.