Please forgive my observation, my fine friend, but I think that you might be making too much of the eight-ball's presence. Is there any evidence of magical qualities to the piece (other than it being in a King-inspired story)?
Are you familiar with the principle known as 'Occam's razor'? You likely are, but for those who might not be, it states that in general the simplest answer is usually the correct one.
That is that it is simply an eight-ball, and nothing more.
I'll grant, of course that the thread is somewhat tongue-in-cheek.
Well said.
The only other time a magic 8 ball turns up in a Stephen King story (as far as I can remember) is in the 1985 collection of short-stories in the book 'Skeleton Crew.'
Specifically the story 'Word-Processor of the Gods' where the main character has a bullying and despotic older brother who purposely smashes up the antagonists magic 8 ball which is his favourite childhood toy.
The bullying brother then goes on to compound his felonies by later marrying a woman who should have been with the main character, until he is presented with an opportunity to change things as follows:
From Wikipedia the on-line encyclopaedia:
Word-Processor of the Gods
A middle-aged writer is disenchanted with his tyrannical wife, his disrespectful teenage son, and his life in general. His teenage nephew suddenly dies in a car accident caused by the writer's abusive brother, who was driving drunk, who dies as well along with the nephew's gentle, kind mother. Amongst the boy's effects, the writer finds a word processor, seemingly cobbled together from a dozen different sources, with the startup message stating "Happy birthday, Uncle Richard", revealing that it was intended as a birthday gift for the main character. At home, the writer discovers that the processor has the mysterious ability to affect reality, but the electronics in the patchwork machine are brittle and will not function for long.
While in the middle of testing the processor, Richard's son Seth returns home alongside his obnoxious band members. Overhearing his son badmouthing him, Richard deletes him, which retroactively erases his existence. His bandmates are gone, his room is empty and every trace of him ever living there is gone. When his wife returns home, he finds she is now even fatter than when she left, the result of never having any children. After she vocally abuses him, he deletes her as well.
With the processor now rapidly deteriorating, Richard impulsively rewrites reality, making the nephew his own son, and his mother his wife, moments before the processor irreparably breaks. He turns around, finding the nephew alive once again, and now calling him Dad.
What you have said about 'Occam's razor' is perfectly correct, the Magic 8 ball is probably exactly just that: A standard Magic 8 ball!
I'll grant, of course that the thread is somewhat tongue-in-cheek.
OK, once again I appreciate what you have said. So much time has gone by since the 1979 production, that every detail of the script, production design and actors involved has probably been discussed in details.
As a result, I am really just trying to add a little levity to the board and see if I can get a debate started.
Thanks for everything,
By all means do post with any thoughts...
Cheers.
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