Under the Dome is a 2009 science fiction novel by American author Stephen King. It is the 58th book published by King, and it is his 48th novel. The novel focuses on a small Maine town, and tells an intricate, multi-character, alternating perspective story of how the town's inhabitants contend with the calamity of being suddenly cut off from the outside world by an impassable, invisible glass dome-like barrier that seemingly falls out of the sky, transforming the community into a domed city.
Plot summary The novel covers eight days, from October 21 to October 28.
At 11:44 a.m. on October 21, the small Maine town of Chester's Mill is abruptly and gruesomely separated from the outside world by an invisible, semipermeable, dome-shaped barrier of unknown origin. The immediate appearance of the barrier causes a number of injuries and fatalities and traps former Army Captain Dale "Barbie" Barbara—who is trying to leave Chester's Mill because of a local dispute—inside the town.
The town's police chief, Howard "Duke" Perkins, is killed instantly as his pacemaker explodes when he gets too close to the dome. James "Big Jim" Rennie, the town's second selectman and Duke's opposition, uses the opportunity to use the Dome as part of a power play to take over the town. Big Jim appoints one of his cronies, the incompetent Peter Randolph, as the new police chief. He begins expanding the ranks of the Chester's Mill police with questionable candidates, including his son, Junior Rennie, and his friends. Junior has frequent migraines caused by an as-yet-undiscovered brain tumor which has begun affecting his mental state; unknown to Big Jim, Junior was in the process of beating and strangling a girl, Angie McCain, to death when the Dome appeared and has killed another girl, Dodee Sanders (the daughter of head selectman Andy Sanders), by the time Big Jim places him on the police force.
Elsewhere in Chester's Mill, Col. James O. Cox, who is stationed outside of the Dome, calls Julia Shumway, the editor of the local newspaper, and has her carry a message to Barbie to contact him. Cox asks Barbie to act as the government's agent to bring down the Dome. Drawing similarities to Barbie's Army specialization in locating enemy munitions factories, Cox gives him the task of locating the Dome's power source, which is believed to be somewhere in the town. By virtue of a presidential order, Barbie is reinstated in the U.S. military and brevetted to the rank of Colonel, and is presented with a decree granting him authority over the township, acknowledging the political tensions within the town. However, this action is not well received by Big Jim and his faction. Around this time, Brenda Perkins, Duke's widow, discovers a file on her husband's computer that lists Big Jim's criminal schemes.
As Big Jim covertly orchestrates unease and panic to build up his grab for power, Barbie, Julia and some other townspeople attempt to stop the situation from escalating. After crossing Big Jim's path on several occasions, Barbie is framed and arrested for the murders of Reverend Lester Coggins, who laundered money for Big Jim's large-scale methamphetamine operation, and Brenda, both murdered by Big Jim, as well as Angie and Dodee. While Barbie is in jail, other residents track the source of the Dome, using a Geiger counter, to an abandoned farm; the device they find in the middle of the farm's orchard is strongly indicated to be extraterrestrial in origin. The restrictions issued by Big Jim become more severe, and the police force grows more abusive, galvanizing the town and eventually leading some residents to break Barbie out of jail, killing Junior seconds before he can murder Barbie.
The semi-organized resistance flees to the abandoned farm, where multiple people touch the strange object and experience visions. They conclude that the device was put in place by extraterrestrial "leatherheads", named after their appearance, and that specifically they are juveniles who have set up the Dome as a form of entertainment, a sort of ant farm used to capture sentient beings and allow their captors to view everything that happens to them.
On an organized "Visitors Day"—when people outside the Dome can meet at its edge with people within—Big Jim sends Randolph and a detachment of police to take back control of his former methamphetamine operation from Phil "Chef" Bushey, who is stopping Big Jim from covering up the operation as well as hoarding the more than four hundred tanks of propane stored there. Big Jim underestimates Chef's capacity for self-defense and meth-induced paranoia; he, as well as the now-ostracized Sanders defend themselves and the meth lab with assault rifles. Many are killed in the ensuing gunfight, and Chef, who is mortally wounded, detonates a plastic explosive device he has placed in the meth production facility. The ensuing explosion, combined with the propane and meth-making chemicals, unleashes a toxic firestorm large enough to incinerate most of the town.
More than a thousand of the town's residents are incinerated on national television, leaving alive just over 300 individuals who gradually die out as the toxic air restricts their breathing. Among the survivors are the twenty-seven refugees at the abandoned farm, an orphaned farm boy hiding in a potato cellar, and Big Jim and his informal aide-de-camp, Carter Thibodeau, in the town's fallout shelter. Big Jim and Thibodeau eventually turn on each other over the limited oxygen supply; Big Jim stabs and disembowels Thibodeau, only to die several hours later when hallucinations of the dead send him fleeing into the toxic environment outside. The survivors at the barn begin to slowly asphyxiate, despite efforts by the Army to force clean air through the walls of the Dome using industrial-size fans.
Barbie and Julia go to the control device to beg their captors to release them. Julia makes contact with a single female leatherhead, no longer accompanied by her friends and thus not under peer pressure. After repeatedly expressing that they are real sentient beings with real "little lives," and by sharing a painful childhood incident with the adolescent alien, Julia convinces the leatherhead to have pity on them. The Dome rises slowly and vanishes, allowing the toxic air to dissipate and finally freeing what is left of the town of Chester's Mill.
Characters
Main characters Dale "Barbie" Barbara – A former Army lieutenant (initially referred to as a former captain by Colonel Cox), Barbara became a drifter after separating from the Army. Trapped within feet of the edge of the Dome, witnessing a woodchuck cut in half by the event, Dale was attempting to flee the town after a confrontation with Junior Rennie and his friends. Dale soon becomes the U.S. government's choice to run Chester's Mill, after being recalled to active service and promoted to the rank of colonel (partly based on a favorable report from Jack Reacher). This causes more tension between Dale, Big Jim, and Junior, causing the two to frame Dale for the murders they commit. One of the 26 survivors of the Dome. Julia Shumway – A cynical woman who owns and edits The Democrat (despite being a Republican), the town's local newspaper. Julia often feels the need to prove a point and expose those she sees around her. Julia becomes the conduit between Colonel Cox and Dale Barbara via her cell phone. Julia and Dale have a budding romantic relationship. Both Dale and Julia are gutsy and tough, brave enough to try any chance they might have for survival. Julia comes from a family of news executives; the newspaper is a family concern. She was groomed early for success and was viewed by her peers as a "goody-two-shoes". A confrontation with her classmates in fourth grade caused her to rethink her status and changed the course of her academic career; however, this same confrontation is key in helping her formulate a plan to end the siege. One of the 26 survivors of the Dome. James "Big Jim" Rennie – A power-obsessed second selectman of Chester's Mill based on Dick Cheney, owner of a used car dealership and the biggest crystal meth lab on the east coast. When Chief Perkins is killed on Dome Day, Big Jim becomes the de facto leader of Chester's Mill. He is owed favors by virtually every person of authority in town, and is rubber stamped by Andy Sanders, the grieving and incompetent first selectman, and Pete Randolph, the new, incompetent town police chief. Big Jim directly controls both Andy and Pete through most of the story. Big Jim murders Lester Coggins, Brenda Perkins, and Carter Thibodeau during his time under the Dome. His actions make him responsible for the deaths of many others. Presumed dead from heart failure in the town's emergency shelter. James "Junior" Rennie – Junior is a smalltown thug and son of the most influential man in Chester's Mill. After he is deputized, he recruits new police officers for his father. Junior gradually devolves from a violent (but somewhat sane) thug to a paranoid, angry sociopath, suffering from a brain tumor disguising itself as migraines. He particularly hates Dale Barbara, who laid a beating on Junior and his friends even though they outnumbered him. Dale could have had Junior arrested for assault, but Dale was an outsider and Junior's father was Big Jim. Junior murders Angie McCain early in the story, and Angie's friend Dodee Sanders a short time later when she stops by the McCain house. He later molests the corpses of the two women, referring to them as his "girlfriends" in his delusional state. He slowly becomes more delusional as the novel progresses and his tumor becomes more debilitating. Eventually Junior comes to the false conclusion that Barbara has poisoned him and sets out to kill him. He later murders special deputies Stacey Moggins, Rupe Libby, and Mickey Wardlaw by shooting them, before being killed himself by Jackie Wettington. Eric "Rusty" Everett – A kind-hearted physician assistant at Cathy Russell Hospital. Rusty is married to Linda Everett, a police officer, and has two young daughters, Janelle and Judy. His children are the first of many to experience seizures and prophetic visions from the device that generates the Dome. After the town's doctor dies, Rusty tends to those that are ruined in the chaos that erupts after the Dome's arrival, maintaining a cool, optimistic attitude in a time of stress. Rusty is arrested for threatening Big Jim, but escapes and helps the other survivors. One of the 26 survivors of the Dome. Joseph "Scarecrow Joe" McClatchey – A 13-year-old student at Chester's Mill Middle School. Joe is a dedicated skateboarder along with his two friends, Norrie Calvert and Benny Drake. Mature and intelligent beyond his years, Joe is one of the first in town to seek answers for the cause of the Dome rather than try to establish a semblance of order. He organizes a protest at the Dome's wall—assisted by Norrie and Benny—and manages to rally the town before an incident calls the entire protest off. He later becomes a valuable ally of Dale Barbara, assisting him in providing a video feed during the incident early in the book where the government sends a missile to try to destroy the Dome. Afterward, he continues to make an effort to find answers to the Dome with his friends, and is among the group that finds the alien generator in the town's back fields. One of the 26 survivors of the Dome.
Minor characters The novel contains an expansive cast of minor characters while maintaining a rather small circle of central players.