Governments, Organizations and Media Using Fear to Control in Crichton’s State of Fear
Michael Crichton was born at the peak of World War II in the 1940s. His father was a writer who inspired his son to write from the third grade. Since then, Crichton has become the grandfather of the techno-thriller genre, creating many acclaimed works, one which is the highly controversial State of Fear. In Crichton’s State of Fear, he reveals his belief that governments, organizations and the media use fear to control their citizens and followers.
Crichton was born in Chicago, Illinois, on October 23, 1942. Soon after, his father was drafted in the war. His family moved to Fort Morgan, Colorado, a small town with no more than 2,000 people, accompanied by his mother and his sister until 1945. When World War II ended and his father returned, they moved once more to Roslyn, Long Island, where he grew up and attended school. Crichton’s father was a journalist, and throughout his childhood he studiously watched his father work on his typewriter. As a 5th and 6th grader he became known as “the weird kid who wrote extra assignments the teacher didn't ask for” (For Younger Readers).
When Crichton was 14, he wrote his first article that was published in the New York Times travel section, and received a $60 check. He took a road trip and visited the Sunset Crater National Monument in Arizona. Crichton “thought it was very interesting and people should know about it” (For Younger Readers), so his parents encouraged him to write an article about it. This article led him to write for his town’s newspaper when he became older, often writing about high school sports. Later on in his life, Crichton was accepted in Harvard University, where he wrote for the school newspaper, the Harvard Crimson. After his undergraduate years, Crichton went to medical school.
Throughout his years in medical school, Crichton published many stories and novels under the pseudonyms John Lange and Jeffrey...