The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
"The Exorcist" is a horror film that explores themes of faith, possession, and the battle between good and evil. The story begins with Jesuit priest Lankester Merrin, who discovers an amulet linked to the demon Pazuzu during an archaeological dig in Iraq. Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., actress Chris MacNeil begins to experience unsettling occurrences in her home, including a drastic change in her daughter Regan's behavior after the girl uses a Ouija board. As Regan becomes increasingly violent and unresponsive, Chris seeks help from Father Damien Karras, a Jesuit priest and psychiatrist grappling with his own crisis of faith.
Initially skeptical of possession, Karras ultimately witnesses evidence that convinces him to pursue an exorcism. Merrin, called back to confront the ancient evil, arrives and begins the ritual amid escalating horror. The exorcism culminates in a tragic confrontation where Karras sacrifices himself to save Regan, leading to her recovery, while he regains his faith in the process. The film raises profound questions about belief, the nature of evil, and the human spirit's resilience in the face of darkness.
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The Exorcist
First published: 1971
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Fantasy—occult
Time of work: 1970
Locale: Northern Iraq and Washington, D.C.
The Plot
After finishing an archaeological dig in ancient Nineveh, Jesuit priest Lankester Merrin prepares to leave Iraq and return to the United States. A strange premonition, however, fills the elderly priest as he sifts through the recently collected artifacts and discovers an amulet bearing the head of Pazuzu, a demon of sickness and disease. Merrin leaves for home with an icy conviction that he will soon face an ancient enemy.
Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., film star and recently divorced mother Chris MacNeil has rented a home across the street from Georgetown University, where she is acting in a film. As she lies in bed preparing her lines for the following day, she hears strange rapping sounds from somewhere in the house. Other strange events soon occur, the most serious being her daughter Regan’s change in personality. Having found a Ouija board in the basement of the house, the eleven-year-old girl has contacted a “playmate” called Captain Howdy, who now physically abuses her. Medical tests prove futile in explaining Regan’s emerging violent behavior, and her mother remains unconvinced by psychiatric speculations: She knows that the “thing” in her daughter’s room is not Regan.
Although she professes no religious belief, she solicits the aid of a young Jesuit priest, Damien Karras—who is also a psychiatrist—and begs for an exorcism. Karras, tormented by a loss of faith and guilt resulting from his indigent mother’s recent death, agrees to see the child in a medical capacity but doubts the possibility of possession. Events soon convince him otherwise. The demon, speaking through Regan’s emaciated body in a groaning, horrific voice, evinces knowledge of Karras’ mother’s death and intones an unknown language that Karras tape-records. After having the tape analyzed, the priest learns that the language is in fact English, but spoken backward. On the tape, the personality confesses to be “No one,” claims to fear “the priest,” and repeats the word “Merrin” several times.
Karras receives permission for an exorcism, but the bishop of the diocese insists that a man with experience perform it. Karras may assist. Lankester Merrin, now at Woodstock Seminary in Maryland, receives a telegram without opening it, knowing what it requests of him. The demon awaits his arrival. As the elderly priest enters the house, an unearthly voice booms out his name from the child’s bedroom. The exorcism commences immediately, but the cunning demon attacks Karras’ guilt concerning his mother’s lonely death, and Merrin is forced to send him from the room. Upon returning, Karras finds the elderly priest dead from an apparent heart attack and the demon laughing in victory. In a fit of rage, Karras attacks the possessed body of Regan, daring the demon to enter him, which it does. The demoniac transference is punctuated by a brief moment of lucidity, in which the priest finds his lost faith and exorcises the demon’s power by hurling himself through the second-floor window to his death. Regan is saved. As she recovers physically, she remembers nothing of her ordeal.