Morality (novella)

"Morality" is a novella by Stephen King published in the July, 2009 issue of Esquire.^[1] It was then included as a bonus story in Blockade Billy, a novella published on May 25, 2010, and later collected and re-introduced in the November 3, 2015 anthology The Bazaar of Bad Dreams. In the latter publication, King revealed that the story was inspired by issues of moral philosophy in his own life, back when he was a struggling student and would occasionally shoplift or write other students' essays (an academic offence) to make ends meet. "Morality" received the 2009 Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novelette. ^[2]

Plot summary

"Morality" is a character study concerning a married couple, Chad and Nora Callahan, who are suffering from financial difficulties brought on by lack of employment and low-paying jobs. While both are seemingly frustrated with the influx of monthly bills and other expenses, they remain largely optimistic about future solutions to solve their money woes. Chad hopes to supplement their income by writing a book based on his experiences as a substitute teacher, while Nora, a nurse, works full-time for a retired reverend named George Winston, who is partially paralyzed and uses a wheelchair after suffering from a stroke.

Nora's time spent with Winston is largely uneventful, until one day he propositions Nora with a solution to her monetary problems. Being a reverend, Winston states that he has largely lived his life without sin — though he also states he has not gone completely without it — and seeks to experience one major sin before he passes away. However, given his current condition, he is unable to leave his house, making committing any worthwhile sin impossible without outside aid. Winston states that he intends to commit a sin vicariously through Nora's actions, therefore committing "sin by proxy" and effectively "doubl[ing] his sin quotient" in the eyes of God. He makes it clear that for Nora's help, and assumption of risk in this deed, he will pay her a total of $200,000 should she accept his offer.

Initially, after Winston reveals what the sin involves, Nora is appalled and assumes that he must be insane. However, after discussing the pros and cons of the offer with Chad—and reasoning that with the money they would be able to pay off all their debts and move to Virginia—Nora agrees to go through with the proposal. After committing the act with Chad, Nora returns to Winston with a videotape as evidence of going through with the plan. While viewing the tape, it's revealed that the sin Winston chose to commit consisted of Nora going up to a small child in a park in broad daylight and punching him in the face, causing the child to suffer a bloody nose.

Seemingly satisfied with the outcome of Nora's actions, Winston agrees to pay her the money and concedes that Nora will no longer wish to work for him now that she has seen his true face. Nora states that she finds the whole situation repulsive, and goes home wondering why Winston would ever want to commit such a senseless act and whether or not the police will ever find out about it. Shortly afterwards, she learns that Winston has died from what is strongly implied to have been a suicide. This leads Nora to wonder about the fate of the videotape she gave Winston, and whether or not it will be uncovered after his death.

As time passes, Chad and Nora are wracked with guilt over their complacence with the sin, so much so that their previously optimistic mindsets grow bleaker as their fear of exposure increases. Chad starts drinking, while Nora has two affairs and develops a tendency for masochistic satisfaction during sex. They eventually divorce, with Chad blaming the failure and poor quality of his book on guilt and Nora's lack of faith in his writing talent. Nora is seemingly happy to be rid of Chad and begins working full-time at a hospital. However, on the way home from work one day, Nora notices an old book in a used bookstore which she had previously seen in Winston's study called "The Basis of Morality." After reading through it, Nora sadly concludes that there is little or nothing in the book that she didn't already know.

See also

• Stephen King short fiction bibliography

References

External links

• Morality title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database