Themes

King continues to explore the nature of evil, particularly as expressed in human ambition and power. In the course of this narrative King gives a general definition of human evil. Sasha, the queen, teaches Peter that "god" spelled backwards is "dog," demonstrating that people have a godlike side to them, which is civilized, powerful and good, and a doglike side, which is uncivilized, often silly, and apt to hurt others. Genuine evil is usually not done by accident or by the foolish.

King then proceeds to delineate the types of human evil. Thomas, in spite of his cowardice and weak leadership, is not truly evil — as the narrative voice challenges the readers to conclude. It is made explicitly clear however, that Flagg is evil. True human evil, then, is not defined by acts committed out of fear or compulsion by another, but only by those acts committed...