Carrie by Stephen King
"Carrie" is a horror novel by Stephen King, first published in 1974, that explores themes of adolescence, bullying, and revenge through the tragic story of Carrie White, a socially ostracized high school girl living in Chamberlain, Maine. Raised by her oppressive, fanatically religious mother, Margaret, Carrie struggles with her identity and experiences intense isolation at school. Her life takes a dramatic turn when she discovers her telekinetic powers, which awaken during a traumatic incident related to her first menstruation.
The narrative escalates as Carrie faces severe bullying from her peers, particularly from a classmate named Chris Hargensen. In an attempt to humiliate Carrie at the high school prom, Chris devises a cruel plan involving pig's blood, which leads to catastrophic consequences. When the prank is executed, Carrie unleashes her telekinetic abilities in a fit of rage, resulting in widespread destruction and tragic loss of life. The novel culminates in a climactic confrontation between Carrie and her mother, highlighting themes of familial conflict and the effects of extreme religious beliefs. "Carrie" not only delves into the horrors of teenage life but also examines the darker aspects of human nature and the quest for acceptance.
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Carrie by Stephen King
First published: 1974
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Horror
Time of plot: 1979
Locale: Chamberlain, Maine
Principal characters
Carietta “Carrie” White , a seventeen-year-old girlMargaret White , Carrie’s motherSusan “Sue” Snell , a classmate of CarrieTommy Ross , a classmate and Carrie’s prom dateChris Hargensen , a classmateBilly Nolan , Chris’s boyfriendRita Desjardin , a high school gym teacher
The Story:
Carrie White lives alone with her mother, Margaret, a domineering woman and a religious fanatic, in the small town of Chamberlain, Maine. Carrie’s parents had left the local Baptist church many years before, because it was too liberal for them, and they never found any other church in the area that was up to their traditional standards. Carrie’s father died in an industrial accident before Carrie was born, and her mother supplements the money from the insurance by working in a laundry.
Margaret conducts worship services for herself and Carrie on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Fridays. She makes Carrie wear homemade clothing and forbids her from wearing makeup. Margaret regards sex, even within a Christian marriage, to be inherently sinful, and she still feels guilty for submitting to her husband when they conceived Carrie.
Carrie is at the bottom of the pecking order in her high school. She is overweight, her face has pimples, and she has no friends or even friendly acquaintances. Carrie is quite different in another way, too, because she has the power of telekinesis, the ability to move objects by the force of her mind alone. When she was four years old, she had made stones fall like rain on her mother’s house because her mother frightened her.
Carrie’s power remains dormant until she has her first menstrual period. Unfortunately, she has her first period in the shower at high school. Because her mother had not educated her about menstruation, Carrie panics and believes she is bleeding to death. Led by classmate Chris Hargensen, the other girls scream “period” and “plug it up” and throw sanitary napkins at her. Rita Desjardin, the gym teacher, stops them and sends them to their next classes. She then realizes that Carrie does not understand what has happened. She cleans her up and sends her home, where her mother locks her in a closet. Margaret, believing Carrie’s sinful thoughts had caused her to begin menstruating, feels her daughter needs to be punished.
Classmate Sue Snell was one of the girls who ridiculed Carrie in the shower room, but she later feels guilty. She tries to atone for her actions by persuading her boyfriend, Tommy Ross, to ask Carrie to the prom. Carrie has had a crush on Tommy for years, so she accepts his request.
Gym teacher Desjardin imposes a week’s detention with calisthenics and running laps to punish the girls for the way they treated Carrie. Chris refuses to take her punishment, so she is suspended from school for three days and barred from the prom. Chris blames Carrie and plots her revenge after learning that Carrie is going to the prom with Tommy. The plan calls for her and her boyfriend, Billy Nolan, to douse Carrie with pig’s blood.
Billy gets the blood by leading his gang to a nearby farm; he kills two pigs with a sledgehammer and another boy cuts their throats, filling two pails. The night before the prom, Billy sneaks into the gym with the buckets of blood, which he places on a beam above the spot where the king and queen of the prom will be crowned. He rigs up a system of ropes that will allow Chris to douse Carrie with blood, if she is elected prom queen. Chris rewards Billy by having sex with him for the first time. Meanwhile, Carrie has been practicing her telekinesis. Also, Tommy gradually comes to like Carrie.
Prom night has arrived, and Carrie is wearing a dress she made herself. She and Tommy are voted prom queen and king, most likely because Chris had asked her clique to vote for them. In the end, Carrie and Tommy win by one vote. At the moment they are crowned, Chris pulls the rope that knocks over the buckets of pig’s blood. One of the buckets strikes Tommy and knocks him unconscious, Carrie is drenched in blood, and everyone in the gym erupts in laughter. Using her power, Carrie begins destroying the school and then sets fire to the town. Tommy, Chris, Billy, and more than four hundred others die.
Carrie returns home and is fatally stabbed by her mother, who believes she is obeying the biblical command not to suffer a witch to live. Carrie lives long enough to stop her mother’s heart from beating.
Because she had not gone to the prom, Sue is one of the few surviving members of her class. She writes a book about her experience, My Name Is Susan Snell. The gym teacher, Desjardin, who chaperoned the prom, also survives, but leaves teaching.
Bibliography
Beahm, George. Stephen King from A to Z: An Encyclopedia of His Life and Work. Kansas City, Mo.: Andrews McMeel, 1998. This comprehensive biographical reference book on all things King includes an entry on Carrie.
Collings, Michael R. Scaring Us to Death: The Impact of Stephen King on Popular Culture. 2d rev. ed. San Bernardino, Calif.: Borgo Press, 1997. Examines King’s influence on the rise of horror fiction in the United States and the effects of such fiction on society. Includes a bibliography and an index.
Gresh, Lois H., and Robert Weinberg. The Science of Stephen King: From “Carrie” to “Cell”—The Terrifying Truth Behind the Horror Master’s Fiction. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, 2007. A study of the science behind King’s fiction, including an analysis of the theme of telekinesis in Carrie.
King, Stephen. Introduction to Carrie. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999. King’s introduction to the twenty-fifth-anniversary edition of the novel provides background information on how he came to write the story, the two girls Carrie is based upon, and his use of telekinesis in the work.
Reino, Joseph. Stephen King: The First Decade. Boston: Twayne, 1988. Book-by-book analysis, from Carrie to Pet Sematary, which attempts to show King’s literary merits, stressing subtle characterization and nuances of symbolism and allusion. Includes a chronology and primary and secondary bibliographies.
Russell, Sharon A. Revisiting Stephen King: A Critical Companion. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2002. Provides biographical information and a discussion of the horror genre before analyzing King’s novels from 1996 through 2001. Includes a bibliography and an index.
Spignesi, Stephen J. The Essential Stephen King: A Ranking of the Greatest Novels, Short Stories, Movies, and Other Creations of the World’s Most Popular Writer. Franklin Lakes, N.J.: New Page Books, 2001. A detailed volume by a King enthusiast that combines serious critical examination of the author’s works with the readable commentary of an unabashed fan. Includes discussion of many of King’s novels, including Carrie.
Wiater, Stanley, Christopher Golden, and Hank Wagner. The Complete Stephen King Universe: A Guide to the Worlds of Stephen King. Rev. ed. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2006. A comprehensive reference volume that explores King’s work, including the common themes, places, and characters of his fiction. Features a biographical chronology, a bibliography, informative appendixes, and an index.