Symbolism in Stephen King's Children of the Corn
Stephen King’s Children of the Corn is a story filled with fear, superstition, and the unsettling power of belief taken to violent extremes. While the plot centers on a couple trapped in a rural town ruled by murderous children, the deeper meaning of the narrative comes from its symbolic structure. King uses the abandoned town, the dying cornfields, the children’s ritualistic behavior, and the unseen deity known as “He Who Walks Behind the Rows” to symbolize the dangers of blind faith, societal decay, and the loss of moral direction. These symbols transform a simple horror tale into a commentary on corruption, fanaticism, and the terrifying consequences of surrendering reason to ideology. Through symbolism, King exposes how communities can collapse when fear replaces thought, and how innocence can be twisted into violence when guided by a destructive belief system.
One of the most noticeable symbols in the story is the cornfield itself. Corn is usually associated with nourishment, growth, and the natural cycle of life. In King’s story, however, the cornfields are decaying, diseased, and endless. They represent a perversion of nature, showing how something meant to sustain life can instead become a tool for death. The cornfields trap the characters, hiding the children and the supernatural force that controls them. They create a feeling of claustrophobia, forming a natural cage around the town of Gatlin. The corrupted corn becomes a symbol of a community that has lost its moral foundation and is now consumed by its own beliefs. Instead of representing abundance, the rows of dying corn represent the consequences of maintaining outdated or destructive traditions.
The town of Gatlin itself also carries symbolic weight. Once a peaceful farming community, it has been frozen in time, cut off from the outside world after the children murdered all the adults. The empty houses, deserted roads, and abandoned church symbolize the collapse of social order. King uses the town as a visual representation of what happens when a community allows fear and superstition to replace rational thought. Everything in Gatlin feels stuck, as if time stopped the moment the adults died. The silence becomes symbolic of the world the children have created—one where dissent is impossible and where the past is erased. By placing the story in a rural, isolated setting, King intensifies the feeling of entrapment and uses the town as a warning about how dangerous it is when communities reject progress and become trapped in harmful belief systems.
Another major symbol in the story is the figure known as “He Who Walks Behind the Rows.” Although the entity is never fully described, its presence is strong enough to control the behavior of the children and inflict death on those who disobey. Because King leaves this force mysterious and undefined, it becomes a symbol for the fear of the unknown and the power of belief itself. The children’s devotion to this unseen deity reflects the destructive potential of religious extremism. By worshiping something invisible, undefined, and terrifying, they surrender their ability to think critically. “He Who Walks Behind the Rows” symbolizes how easily people can be controlled when they give authority to an idea rather than truth. The deity represents fear personified—an invisible force that shapes reality simply because people believe in it. For King, the true horror lies not in the supernatural creature itself, but in the way humans behave when they believe such a creature controls their lives.
The children in the story also serve as symbolic figures. Traditionally, children symbolize innocence, curiosity, and growth. In Children of the Corn, however, they are symbols of corruption and lost innocence. Their transformation into murderers reflects how easily young minds can be manipulated by strong external forces. Their belief in ritual sacrifice and their strict obedience to “He Who Walks Behind the Rows” suggest that they have been robbed of individuality and moral judgment. They symbolize a generation raised without adult guidance, left to interpret the world through fear and superstition. Their violence becomes a result of their environment: without role models, education, or emotional support, they become vessels for the ideology that replaced their parents. Through them, King explores how innocence can be weaponized when shaped by twisted belief systems.
The rituals practiced by the children—such as sacrificing anyone who turns nineteen—carry symbolic meaning as well. They represent the idea of preserving purity through destruction. By killing their members once they reach adulthood, the children symbolize a society that fears maturity, wisdom, and dissent. The ritual becomes a tool for social control, symbolizing how extreme belief systems tear down anything that threatens their power. The age limit also reflects a fear of responsibility and a rejection of the natural process of growing up. In a symbolic sense, the children kill maturity itself, allowing their cult-like society to remain in a state of eternal childhood ruled by fear rather than reason.
The couple, Burt and Vicky, function symbolically as outsiders who represent logic, order, and adult responsibility. Their shock at the children’s behavior highlights the abnormality of Gatlin’s culture. When Burt attempts to understand the situation rationally, he becomes a symbol of reason in a place where reason has been violently eliminated. Vicky, who is ultimately sacrificed, symbolizes how outsiders who challenge deeply rooted beliefs are often rejected—or destroyed. Their arrival in Gatlin reveals how fragile society can become when it shuts itself away from the outside world. Through the couple’s contrasting values, King critiques communities that isolate themselves from reality and reject external perspectives.
Ultimately, the symbols in Children of the Corn come together to deliver a warning about the dangers of fanaticism and the corruption of innocence. The cornfields symbolize natural decay and moral rot; the town represents isolation and societal collapse; the deity embodies fear; the children symbolize manipulated innocence; and the rituals serve as a commentary on blind obedience. Stephen King uses these symbols not only to build suspense and horror, but also to reflect real-world anxieties about belief, authority, and the fragility of social order. Through symbolism, the story becomes more than a tale of supernatural terror—it becomes an exploration of how communities can destroy themselves when fear and ideology overpower reason and compassion.