The Ledge

What Lengths would you go to for love? Stephen King attempts to show just how far love can take us in his short story The Ledge. We are introduced to a tennis pro named Mr. Norris, a man whose choices have placed him forty-seven stories up, in a mob boss named Cressners penthouse. Mr. Norris has fallen in love with a client of his name Maria, who just happens to be Cressner’s wife, and now must answer the reaper. Faced with a choice to make, he can go to jail for the heroin that Cressner has planted in his car, or he can walk a five-inch ledge that circumnavigates the outside of the penthouse. Facing certain death or prison time, our hero takes the wager. After accomplishing the task at hand, Cressner drops a bombshell. Maria is dead! Feeling his heart drop from his chest, Mr. Norris jumps into action, beating down Cressner’s goon and taking his gun. Now Norris is in charge and offers one last wager. Cressner must now walk the same ledge that he forced Norris on just minutes before, but this time there would be no happy ending as Norris would be waiting there with the gun. The setting, character, and conflict of The Ledge show us that the power of love can have you forty-seven stories up, betting your life against a crime boss, willing to murder anyone in the way.

WE’VE HAD A GOOD SUCCESS RATE ON THIS ASSIGNMENT. PLACE THIS ORDER OR A SIMILAR ORDER WITH PapersSpot AND GET AN AMAZING DISCOUNT

The love Mr. Norris had for Maria forced him into that penthouse. While he is first having a conversation with Cressner, we learn of the stories Maria had told him; we learn that Cressner was not a good guy. She explains that he knows what questions to ask and how to get into people’s heads. That just when you think you’re winning and know where he is going, he has you right where he wants you. They also knew that Cresnner’s goons had been following them for some time now. So much so that they had to plan an escape for Maria. They would need a way to slip out of sight and get her out of town and off somewhere secret to be safe. The plan was to have Norris meet her after his meeting with Cressner. All of this led us to believe that Mr. Norris knew exactly what he was getting into. He understood the danger yet went anyway. 

Mr. Norris may have been scared but he did not let it show; he went up knowing it may be the last thing he ever did, but went anyway. When he was faced with a deadly choice, go to jail from the heroin Cressner placed in his car or walk the ledge. The ledge was just what it sounds like, a five-inch lip around the outside of the penthouse forty-seven stories high. Facing this choice, Norris took the risk, he would walk the ledge. Knowing that one missed step would be fatal. Norris couldn’t resist the chance to walk out a free man and live happily ever after, with Maria, the love of his life. With every step he took, it put him one step closer to her. Regardless of the danger, love pushed Mr. Norris past all other options, placing him out on that ledge; even if Cressner was going to flake out on the wager, it was a risk he was willing to take.

Love lost can push us even further than love gained. After his trip on the ledge, Mr. Norris thought he had exactly what he wanted. Little did he know, Cressner was up to no good. Learning that the love of his life was dead, Mr. Norris snapped. After he beat up the goon, he then turned the goon’s gun onto Cressner, giving him an option, walk the ledge, or get shot. These are not the actions of a levelheaded man. Norris had been pushed too far. The thought of losing Maria was more than he could handle and now he wanted revenge. Heartbreak had now turned Mr. Norris into a homicidal maniac. Forcing Cressner onto the ledge, Mr. Norris now sat and waited. Not with the intentions of fulfilling his bet, but with the intent on finishing the job if the ledge didn’t do it first.

Throughout the story, we see just what love can push us to do. Stephen King, in his twisted way shows us what I consider a true love story. We see a man pushed to his limits trying to be with the love of his life, willing to go to all lengths to secure that love. Even willing to avenge the love when he feels it has been stolen from him. We see this in life from day to day, maybe not in such an extreme case, but its there. All around us people lie, cheat, steal, and risk it all for love. We lie to our parents about where we are just to get some extra time with that special person. We cheat the system and do what we have to do for them. We even risk our lives for those who truly fill us with love and joy. Stephen King just put it in a story that would catch the eye of the readers, but the message is still the same. Throughout this story, he showed that there are no bounds one won’t leap to get to the one our heart desires.