The Revenge of Lard Ass Hogan
An essay based on the short story by the main character, Gordon Lachance, of the novel ”The Body” by Stephen King

What is revenge - and does it always make people even? And is a story about a bullied boy who makes everyone puke on each other at a pie eating contest a good story? This essay will focus on the story telling skills of Gordon Lachance and revenge – especially the revenge of Davie Hogan also known as Lard Ass Hogan.

Lets focus on Davie Hogan. He is characterized as a fat kid that nobody likes. He is about 12 years old, weights one-eighty and he is always getting beaten up. And if that wasn't enough he has got this awful nickname – Lard Ass Hogan. But one day he got fed up. So he decided to take revenge. Every year, on Pioneer Days, the town would have a pie eating contest – and Davie Hogan decides to make his move – not for the prize of 5 dollars, no; he has other plans.

“ At school kids keep comin' up to him and sayin' Hey Lard ass, how many pies are ya gonna eat? Ya gotta eat ten? Twenty? Fuckin' eighty? And Lard Ass, he says, How should I know, I don't even know what kind they are.” Page 100, line 26-30

Before he attempts the pie eating contest Davie Hogan drinks three-quarters of a bottle of castor oil – his plan is to eat until he pukes and make everybody puke after wards. And if the audience pukes on each other it would be the ultimate plan. Because Davie Hogan has no intention of winning.

“And besides, winning for him was losing; revenge was the only blue ribbon he sought.”
Page 109, line 3-5

But what is revenge?
Revenge is often known as a harmful action against a person (or a group) in response to a grievance, real or perceived. It may make it even between the two parts – but it doesn't have to be that way.
But did Davie Hogan get his revenge? If you start comparing what revenge is and the revenge action Davie Hogan pulled you will find some similarities.
The revenge was a respond of the constant teasing and bullying of him. And puking is not a pleasant action so the fact that Davie Hogan caused the puking of the audience would make it a revenge. But what does Davie Hogan from the revenge?
On one hand his plan succeeds but on the other hand his is the winner, the bully, the master. It's him who makes everybody puke and it is his fault. He was the one who decided to do this thing and he feels some kind of relief and satisfaction. Now he got his revenge – his payback. Now his not the underdog anymore – not this time.

“Lard Ass Hogan watched it all, his large face calm and beaming, his stomach suddenly sweet and steady with a warm balm it might never know again – that balm was a feeling of utter and complete satisfaction.” Page 111, line 1-4

But why does Gordon tell this particularly story? Does he get some kind of satisfaction?
We know, that Gordon loves to write down stories and telling the, but his friends are not supposed to know that he likes the attention and recognition he gets. But in some way Gordon is embarrassed of his story, probably because his friends might not like them and he doesn't want to be a “pussy”. In someway Gordon sees his stories as private things, as masturbation – but on the other hand, he loves the way feeling of being peculiar when his friends reads his work.

“Richie held the pages up out of reach... I must admit that I didn't try very hard to get them back. I wanted him to read them and at the same time I didn't – an uneasy mix of pride and shyness...” Page 96, line 25-28+

But this story seems different from the other stories he tells and writes down. But in the forest, Vern does not want to hear the horror stories he usually craves. And nobody else than Teddy wants to hear the “Le Dio” stories – so it won't be horror or Le Dio. But then Chris says “Hey, tell that story”. And Gordon knows, which one Chris talks about. As the other boys, Chris likes the stories of Gordon, but Gordon especially likes the recognition from Chris. So that is probably the reason why he chooses the story about Lard Ass Hogan.

The difference between the story about Lard Ass Hogan and the other stories Gordon is used to write down is huge. Le Dio and the horror stories are in someway just “for fun and entertaining”, and it seems that the serious stories is for Gordons eyes only. Especially because they are often about his feelings and his state of mind. But Lard Ass Hogan is different. It's fun and entertaining but also serious. The fun and entertaining part is the way he is described and the “barf-o-rama” he creates. But the serious part is when the boys can relate to the boy and understand him. The would say it was a perfect revenge and that he is even. They think Davie Hogan is the victim and hero and if you asked them in the situation they would never tease or bully Davie Hogan – even though the boys always tease boys like him. Gordon puts Davie Hogan in another perspective – a perspective the boys otherwise wouldn't have known.