Mr. Harrigan's Phone Literary Elements

Supernatural/Horror

In a small town, likely in the U.S.

From a third-person omniscient point of view.

Tone: anxious, powerful, and vibrant. Mood: horrified, tense, and gloomy.

Craig is the protagonist of the novella; the phone is the antagonist of the novella.

Craig's initial struggle to get a phone for Mr. Harrigan, and then his struggle to deal with the fallout of Mr. Harrigan's phone and its immense power.

When Craig throws his old phone into the lake to stop the suicides from occurring.

The immense power of Mr. Harrigan's phone is foreshadowed by the efforts Craig had to go to to get it and some of the issues within the town itself.

The crippling power of Craig's obsession is initially understated by author Stephen King.

To Mr. King's previous works, to the politics of the era in which the novella was written and published, to other popular culture (particularly horror and supernatural-inflected works), to religion, to geography, and to mythology.

As the power of Mr. Harrigan and Craig's old phones become more clear, death and violent imagery become more prevalent.

Mr. Harrigan is an elderly man (and elderly people almost never get addicted to technology); however, Mr. Harrigan became addicted to his phone.

Craig's obsession with his phone is paralleled with Mr. Harrigan's obsession with his phone - the same phone that Craig got him.

N/A

Mr. Harrigan's cell phone, which is given the human-like characteristic of being able to kill people, is personified in the novella.