Later

While generally good-natured, Tia Conklin acts the part of a devouring mother. She’s overprotective of Jamie, while insensitive to the issues that come with his supernatural ability. Tia gradually exposes Jamie to circumstances in which lying is necessary. She betrays Jamie’s trust when she reveals his secret to girlfriend Liz Dutton, despite instructing him to never do so; this inadvertently puts her son in danger.

Tia finally lets go of the doting mother role after Jamie’s first encounter with Therriault. For better or for worse, she releases Jamie outside the shelter of motherhood so he can become a man. The story frames Tia, a woman, as unable to help Jamie toward manhood, as his personal demons exist in the realm of men (Therriault and, to a degree, Uncle Harry). It is later revealed that Jamie is Tia’s son by her brother Harry, which may explain her overprotective nature.

Liz Dutton is Jamie’s second devouring mother, or “wicked stepmother” figure. She doesn’t just expel Jamie from the realm of women—she actively exposes him to the evil that will destroy him if he can’t learn to control it. Stephen King uses Liz to subvert the hard-boiled detective trope of the dangerous dame, who deceives the detective. Liz herself is a disillusioned detective who serves as a contagonist: She doesn’t directly oppose Jamie’s goals, but does cause conflict and put him in danger.

While Liz starts out benevolent enough, she descends into drug running and addiction to financially support her sister, and is devoured by her personal demons (due to her always trying to justify herself). Liz becomes a direct antagonist to Jamie in their final encounter, when she uses him to interrogate Donnie Marsden; ultimately, she is defeated by Jamie’s inner darkness (as he has learned to wield it in a responsible way).

Initially, Kenneth Therriault is the type of villain one would expect of a hard-boiled detective story. He is a serial bomber, a mundane monster who simply wishes to see others suffer. Therriault acts the part of a magical-supernatural creature who aids the hero for a price. Fittingly, Jamie uses Therriault to save himself from Liz.

However, Therriault acts as a direct antagonist to Jamie when possessed by an alien deadlight. The insertion of a supernatural antagonist is uncharacteristic of a hard-boiled crime story, but characteristic of Stephen King’s blending of genres. Where Therriault fits the genre’s representation of corruption, the deadlight is a cosmic horror that heightens the stakes of Jamie’s moral growth.

Uncle Harry acts the part of an absent father. He is literally absent in that he’s not an active part of Jamie’s life, and his early onset Alzheimer’s leaves him unable to communicate with Jamie on a deeper level. He also represents Jamie’s fear of the future. Early onset Alzheimer’s is largely genetic, so if Tia carries this gene, Jamie has a double risk of inheriting it (thus, his uncertainty of “later”). While the details of Jamie’s birth are ambiguous (aside from him being the child of Tia and Harry), Harry is framed as having tried to support both Jamie and Tia, despite giving in to his personal demon.