"The Man Who Loved Flowers" by Stephen King

The book created by Stephen King which is a collection of short stories including, "The Man Who Loved Flowers".

In both, "The Man Who Loved Flowers" by Stephen King, and PJ Harvey's song, "Who Will Love Me Now", the main characters yearn to be loved, which has led them to do, "terrible things". In both pieces of media, the main characters are driven to insanity due to their loneliness. For instance, in the story, "The Man Who Loved Flowers", the main character, a young man who is thought to be in love, buys some roses for a girl he is going to meet. However, as the story progresses, the reader learns that the main character is actually a killer who targets women who bear a resemblance his lost love, "Norma". Similar to, "The Man Who Loved Flowers", PJ Harvey's song, "Who Will Love Me Now", mentions a monster who sings of a yearning for love and a regret for the, "terrible things", the monster has done; which can be related to the killer from, "The Man Who Loved Flowers", who yearns for, Norma's love and regrets killing others. Furthermore, in both the story and the song, the main characters are searching for a love that has been lost.

Also, another theme that is shared in both, "The Man Who Loved Flowers", and, "Who Will Love Me Now", is the public‘s obliviousness towards false appearances. In the story, "The Man Who Loved Flowers", the main character is a young man who is thought to be in love by the other people surrounding him, due to his, “head cocked, eyes far away, a half-smile on his lips.” These facts were noted by a woman who had seen the character, after he had murdered someone. She is oblivious to reality; the blood stains on his suit, by his false appearance of being in love. This shows how the public can be oblivious to reality by false appearances. Similar, to the story, "Who Will Love Me Now", later reveals that the monster, "looks so very much like", the singer. So the listener, has thought that the singer is simply singing the song, when she is actually the monster. This also shows how the public can be deceived by the falseness of appearances.