They hear a rumor that the body of a missing boy has been seen not far from their hometown, Castle Rock. They decide that they must be the ones to find the body, and that finding and reporting it will make them town heroes.
Why did the boys in Stand by Me want to find the body?
The body of Ray Brower
The kid was dead." Ray Brower, although not an important character to the story, holds a placemarker for the mystery that is death. For Gordon, this is his chance to come to terms with his brother's death, and for the other boys, it's a way to prove themselves to the town.
Gordie needs to look him in the face to prove to himself that it was not he who died. Ray's body helps him digest the experience of death and dying, something he was unable to do when his brother died. His maturity is achieved through the confrontation with, and understanding of mortality (Evan 2005).
During an argument, Chris pulls the gun on the gang and forces them to leave, but Ace promises reprisals. Tired, depressed and fearing retaliation, the boys decide there is nothing more to be done with the body and return home.
Ray's body is a symbol of death, mortality, and coming of age for Gordie and his friends. The body represents a transition in their lives and in their friendships.
He recalls an incident from when he was 12 years old when he, his best friend Chris Chambers, and two other friends, Teddy Duchamp and Vern Tessio, went searching for the body of a missing boy named Ray Brower near the town of Castle Rock, Oregon, during Labor Day weekend in 1959.
At some point along the way, the title of the film changed from “The Body” to Stand By Me, inspired by the unforgettable Ben E. King song. Reiner thought if people saw a movie based on a story by Stephen King called “The Body” they'd just assume it was a horror flick.
Teddy Duchamp is described by Gordie as "the craziest guy we hung around with. He didn't have much of a chance in life. His dad was given to fits of rage. One time he held Teddy's ear to a stove and almost burned it off." His father has PTSD and often takes it out on Teddy.
Ray Brower, a boy from a nearby town, has disappeared, and twelve-year-old Gordie Lachance and his three friends set out on a quest to find his body along the railroad tracks.
Sutherland starred in the 1986 film as John "Ace" Merrill, a hoodlum in '50s Castle Rock, Oregon who hangs out with the older brothers of River Phoenix's Chris, Richard "Eyeball" Chambers, and Jerry O'Connell's Vern, Bill Tessio.
What does Vern overhear Billy Tessio and Charlie Hogan discussing? He hears his brother and his brother's friends discussing the dead body. They say they think the boy got hit by a train. They didn't report it because they stole a car, and the police would ask how they got out to the body.
In the book it is said that Gordie loves Chris, however it is never specified as to what love Gordie is referring to (romantic or platonic). The two are extremely touchy with each other and overall act like boyfriends. They're always there for each other when no one else is.
He almost tried to commit suicide after standing on the tracks while a train was coming towards him, but avoided being struck with the help of his friends. As an adult Teddy attempts to get into the military but according to Gordon LaChance [the narrator of the film] His eyes and his ears kept him out of it.
How old are the boys in Stand By Me supposed to be?
STAND BY ME (based on Stephen King's novella) revolves around four small-town 12-year-old boys who set out on a trek to find a dead body. They overcome oncoming trains, a disgusting bout with leeches, and the rival advances of a competing "gang" to collect the prize of locating the body.
Chris literally giving Gordie a shoulder to cry on, when he breaks down in tears after seeing Ray Brower's body (which reminds him of his deceased older brother Denny), saying that his dad "hates him."
They may reach a peak of sexual excitement, which is called an orgasm or 'cumming'. At this moment, all the tension and excitement that has built up in the body is suddenly released. During orgasm, your heart may race, your breathing may quicken, your blood pressure increases and muscles throughout the body may spasm.
According to director Rob Reiner (via FSR), King's response to the film was "[Y]ou've really captured my story. It is autobiographical. All that was made up was the device of the hunt for the body." In King's own words then, Stand by Me is based on his own life.
Some time before the story begins, Teddy's father had become enraged with Teddy for a minor accident and had held both of Teddy's ears to their hot stove, causing Teddy severe deafness.
He reveals that he did take the milk money at school first but felt remorseful about it and returned it to one of the teachers, who happened to show up to school the next day in a brand new dress. Chris took the heat for the theft but could never atone to it because of his family's reputation.
What happened to the kids at the end of Stand By Me?
Although only Chris is mentioned to have died in the film, Teddy and Vern's deaths are also given in the novella. Vern dies in a fire during a house party and Teddy dies in a drunk driving accident. Vern and Teddy are spared in the film: Vern marries out of high school, has four kids, and works as a forklift operator.
As a child, King apparently witnessed one of his friends being struck and killed by a train, though he has no memory of the event. His family told him that after leaving home to play with the boy, King returned, speechless and seemingly in shock. Only later did the family learn of the friend's death.
Most of Stand By Me takes place in the late summer of 1959, when the four boys hear that a boy has been struck by a train about thirty miles from town.
Wheaton says the leeches were created two different ways: For long shots, they used skateboard grip tape, and for the closeups used a combination of latex, blood makeup and rubber cement. The effects did not wear off very easily.
