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Tom Cullen is a major character in the novel The Stand.

In the 1994 TV miniseries, he is portrayed by Bill Fagerbakke. In the 2020 miniseries the character is portrayed by Brad William Henke.

Biography[]

Early Years[]

Tom Cullen is a mentally handicapped man from May, Oklahoma, where he lived with his mother and borderline-abusive father Don.  

Several years before the superflu outbreak, Don Cullen abandoned his family to run away with a cocktail waitress named DeeDee Packalotte, a fact Tom frequently mentions.

Tom is of Scandinavian background and appears youthful, though at the time of the plague he is actually in his mid-forties. He works as a handyman for a neighboring farmer called Norbutt, performing simple odd jobs and manual labor. Tom is barely literate and had to make superhuman efforts in formal education. When he was 16 years old, despite his best efforts, he only earned certification equivalent to Grade 3.

Cheerful, good-natured and helpful, Tom has a childlike personality. His speech pattern includes a number of verbal tics: repetition, the phrases "M-O-O-N spells (x)", and frequent interjections of mild oaths like "Laws yes!" and "didn't it/they just?"

In order to make simple deductive leaps, Tom has developed a unique ability to hypnotize himself. Entering this altered state of consciousness leaves him temporarily slack-jawed and limp, which formerly caused him to be a figure of ridicule in town and greatly annoyed his father; however, for Tom these were "instances of nearly normal thinking." His ability to make connections by going within himself is cited as evidence that his mental handicap is not actually very severe.

2020StandTomCullen

Tom picks up the hobby of decorating as a medium of self-expression, which would probably be considered "outsider art".  He first decorates the abandoned town of May, then later his house in Boulder:  chiefly he collects and arranges a variety of props, such as mannequins, lawn ornaments, advertising posters, and taxidermied animals.

The Plague[]

Tom loses his mother to the superflu, and ends up being the last living resident of the town of May.

He is the first plague survivor Nick Andros encounters after leaving Shoyo, Arkansas.  The two become traveling companions and close friends, although they initially have difficulty communicating.  When dealing with non-deaf people, Nick has developed the habit of "talking" via scribbled notes; as Tom cannot read, Nick is forced to pantomime a lot (he can, however, read Tom's lips.) Realizing that he can't simply leave Tom behind, no matter his mental difficulties, Nick finds two bicycles suitable enough for them and they ride north together to join Mother Abigail at her home in Nebraska.

Thus, for the first leg of their journey together Tom does not even know Nick's name, even though Tom's quick reaction to an approaching tornado manages to save them both. On the road they are both met by Ralph Brentner, who tells Tom Nick's name and generously offers to take them to meet Mother Abigail in his pickup truck.

Boulder Free Zone[]

When the Boulder Free Zone Committee decides to send scouts westward to spy upon Randall Flagg's activities in Las Vegas, Nevada, Tom is nominated as the third candidate. The committee is very reluctant at first until Nick explains that Tom's mental disability will be the perfect cover.

He is given his instructions via hypnosis; while under trance, Tom startles the Committee by displaying both intelligence, and heightened psychic perception. This aspect of his personality refers to itself as "God's Tom" — or, in Stuart Redman's words, "the man forever denied".

Tom is spotted in Las Vegas by fellow spy Dayna Jurgens, but she suicides rather than give up his name to Flagg. He is, however, positively identified by the spiteful Julie Lawry, and manages to flee just ahead of apprehension by Flagg's henchmen, escaping the destruction of the city itself. Tom's mental disability shielded him from direct discovery by Flagg: Flagg's clairvoyance is indeed powerful but not enough to determine who Tom is. Flagg is only vaguely aware that there was another spy, but could not discern who it was (saying that every time he mentally looked for the last spy, all saw was the Moon). Flagg's combined failure to capture Tom or to prevent Dayna from killing herself revealed to many in Las Vegas that Flagg wasn't actually omnipotent, and his hold on power started to unravel.

In the Utah badlands Tom encounters Stu Redman, waylaid by a broken leg and dying from exposure; together they reach shelter in Green River, Utah.  With the aid of Nick's ghost, Tom saves Stu's life by treating his pneumonia and spends several weeks nursing him back to health.

Tom and Stu winter for a month in Grand Junction, Colorado and finally return to the Boulder Free Zone.

Loyalties[]

v - e - dThe Stand
Stu's Party
Stuart Redman | Frances Goldsmith | Harold Lauder | Glen Bateman | Kojak
Perion McCarthy | Mark Braddock | Dayna Jurgens | Susan Stern | Patty Kroger
Nick's Party
Nick Andros | Tom Cullen | Ralph Brentner | Dick Ellis | Gina McCone | Olivia Walker | June Brinkmeyer
Larry's Party
Larry Underwood | Rita Blakemoor | Nadine Cross | Leo Rockway | Lucy Swann | Judge Farris
Other Party
Lloyd Henreid | Donald Merwin Elbert | Whitney Horgan | Julie Lawry
Rat Man | Barry Dorgan | Jenny Engstrom | Hector "Heck" Drogan

Appearances[]

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