A tragedy “reveals a more pessimistic viewpoint on life wherein a tragic hero suffers a fall, which often includes death. This fall is caused by a combination of fate, and, at least, in part, through some facet of his or her own character. While the personal cause of this fall is often labeled a “tragic flaw,” this is based on an inaccurate translation of the Greek word hamartia, which means a characteristic that contributes to a tragic character’s downfall, not necessarily a flaw”(blackboard). One could say that grief and guilt were the characteristics that lead him to his downfall. He felt guilty once his cat Church had died, being hit by a passing trucker, as he was crossing the street. The guilt wasn’t much because of his love for the cat but because of his daughter’s. His daughter loved Church and would be devastated if she learned that her cat was killed under her father’s supervision while she was away. Once his son Gage died his guilt and grief ten folded. Some parents could only imagine what it is like to have their son die before themselves. Gage dies the same way Church died as he ran toward the busy street as a trucker speed by (fix). When Gage dies Louis begins to tune everything out. He felt guilty of his son’s death constantly blaming himself for not being a faster than he was, chasing his son to try and grab him before he reached the busy street. Elisabeth …show more content…
Horror is a genre that creates a feeling of fear or dread. Supernatural events are not needed to create a horror genre, but King uses them to create an eerie and frightening atmosphere all throughout “Pet Sematary”. King does this by introducing a path in Louis’s backyard that leads to a "Pet Sematary". It serves as the final resting place for many of the pets of children in the area. Behind the Sematary there is a dangerous deadfall that leads down a path deep into the forest. Louis, a new doctor at the local college, receives a warning in the dying words from an accident victim named Victor Pascow on his first day of work not to venture past the deadfall. Later that night, in a dream, Louis is visited by the ghostly apparition of Pascow who warns him, "The barrier was not meant to be broken. There is more power here than you know. It is old and restless" Once he woke up he was relieved to know he was dreaming… or was he? Once he pulled back the blankets he noticed that his feet were dirty with soil and pine needles as if he had actually experienced everything in his dream following the dead Pascow up to the Pet Sematary to receive a warning of the deadfall. (copied from horror website). Throughout the novel Louis is warned multiple times to leave the deadfall alone and not to cross it. Louis, being the logical doctor that he is, did not completely believe in these warnings. Even when he wakes up to