Who welcomes Timmy Baterman?

by Andrea Trenti

According to Stephen King, a master of horror stories, readers feel fascinated when they “recognize the people in a book, their behaviours, their surroundings, and their talk. When the reader hears strong echoes of his or her own life and beliefs, he or she is apt to become more invested in the story.” Therefore, what kind of reader might feel fascinated by The Return of Timmy Baterman? Or, more precisely, can this return fascinate adolescents?

This story by Stephen King builds a kind of reader who enjoys stories about zombies, who feels attracted by the context of wars, and who prefers short stories rather than novels. Although most adolescents can identify themselves with these interests, The Return of Timmy Baterman cannot be considered a case of Young Adult Literature.

The most attractive feature of a short story can be its length, but not only its length. The most interesting element in a plot might be a walking dead, but not only a walking dead. And the most exciting context in a narrative could be a war, but not only a war. If adolescents cannot recognize themselves in a story, all these elements become empty pieces of information.

In his characterization of Young Adult Literature, Robert Small claims that the main character is always a teenager whose points of view represent an adolescent’s interpretation of events and people. In The return of Timmy Baterman, Jud, the main character narrator, is an adult who tells a past experience that happened to him some years before, but not so many years, since he was already an adult then. Jud tells his friend that Timmy Baterman was a seventeen year old boy that had been killed while charging a machine-gun nest during World War II. “Well, I tell you, Louis: Missus Baterman was dead ten years then, along with the second child she tried to bring into the world, and that had a lot to do with what happened. A second child might have helped to ease the pain, don’t you think? A second child might have reminded old Bill that there’s others that feel the pain and have to be helped through. I guess in that way, you’re luckier having another child and all, I mean. A child and a wife who are both alive and well.” This way of understanding death and pain expresses the way an adult experiments and interprets the world. Thus, adolescents might not recognize themselves in the voice of this narrator.

Another characteristic that Small highlights in Literature for Young Adults is that events and problems in the plot are related to teenagers. But Timmy Baterman, who was seen walking in the street like a zombie some days after his death, suddenly uncovers problems that seem to belong to the universe of adults. Jud goes on telling Louis that, after many people had seen Timmy in town, he and three friends decided to look for the walking dead in his father’s house. When they met him there, Timmy started to reveal secrets about their lives that no one was supposed to know. Through this sudden behaviour, he brought to light unthinkable realities of each visitor: a man in his forties whose second wife, a woman in his twenties, was cheating him with a man from her work; a postmaster whose grandson was expecting him to die in order to inherit his money; a selectman that misappropriated town funds; and Jud, who used to go to a whorehouse while being married. These attitudes and experiences are far from connecting teenagers with their own lives or thoughts.

Building adolescents as the intended readers of a story involves thinking of an interesting plot, attractive characters and a catching style. But it is not only that. The essence of Young Adult Literature is the existence of a link with adolescents’ world, their experiences and beliefs. So, The Return of Timmy Baterman could possibly be read by teenagers. But it will certainly not fascinate them.