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Blood is a symbolic and strong key character and theme which brings Carrie's story together, being It's foundation. It is a metaphor which plays a role when Carrie is showering naked in the girl's locker room with her fellow female students. This is something her mother Margret, strongly disapproves of. Despite how Margaret feels, Carrie is determined to try and be as normal as possible at school by engaging in activities such as P. E and showering with everyone else. Despite her efforts Carrie fails miserably. When the blood comes for the first time, Carrie views this as a punishment for disobeying her mother. In reality it was just her very first period, that came at a very late age, sadly Carrie was never informed about this. This shows an example of how cut off and sheltered Carrie is compared to her other peers at school who already know the meaning of a period and the cycle of menstrual blood. When Margaret finds out about what happened to Carrie at school, she believes it was God punishing her daughter and giving her the curse of blood for being naked in the girl's showers. This makes Margaret even more abusive to Carrie and even more delusional in her twisted mind. It also is a female metaphor for womanhood, and stands for the end of female adolescents, and the beginning of adulthood. Which Carrie was held back from. |
Blood is a symbolic and strong key character and theme which brings Carrie's story together, being It's foundation. It is a metaphor which plays a role when Carrie is showering naked in the girl's locker room with her fellow female students. This is something her mother Margret, strongly disapproves of. Despite how Margaret feels, Carrie is determined to try and be as normal as possible at school by engaging in activities such as P. E and showering with everyone else. Despite her efforts Carrie fails miserably. When the blood comes for the first time, Carrie views this as a punishment for disobeying her mother. In reality it was just her very first period, that came at a very late age, sadly Carrie was never informed about this. This shows an example of how cut off and sheltered Carrie is compared to her other peers at school who already know the meaning of a period and the cycle of menstrual blood. When Margaret finds out about what happened to Carrie at school, she believes it was God punishing her daughter and giving her the curse of blood for being naked in the girl's showers. This makes Margaret even more abusive to Carrie and even more delusional in her twisted mind. It also is a female metaphor for womanhood, and stands for the end of female adolescents, and the beginning of adulthood. Which Carrie was held back from. |
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| − | The blood from Carrie's humiliating experience at school, is given back to her in an even more cruel and embarrassing way when she is at the prom. When Carrie is covered in pig's blood after being elected as prom Queen, the blood is a symbolic metaphor for Carrie which shows that she will never be truly accepted by society and that she will forever remain as the |
+ | The blood from Carrie's humiliating experience at school, is given back to her in an even more cruel and embarrassing way when she is at the prom. When Carrie is covered in pig's blood after being elected as prom Queen, the blood is a symbolic metaphor for Carrie which shows that she will never be truly accepted by society and that she will forever remain as the black sheep of her school. The blood is a reminder that Carrie will always be an outcast no matter what. |
| − | In a sense, Carrie also |
+ | In a sense, Carrie also views blood as a curse. If she never received her period, the blood wouldn't have come on Prom night, yet if there was no blood, there would be no story, blood is Carrie's fate. Blood is a part of Carrie. It's the heart of her story, for Carrie, instead of it being a rite of passage as a woman, it resembles a curse that Carrie was not aware of until it unexpectedly showered down on her in one of the most cruelest of ways. |
===Inspiration=== |
===Inspiration=== |
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Revision as of 05:23, 9 April 2014
| “ | Jesus watches from the wall, but His face is cold as stone. And if He loves me - as she tells me - why do I feel so all alone? | „ |
| ~ Words of Carrie White (describing both the crucified Jesus statuette and her loneliness in her poem/journal). |
| “ | Everyone isn't bad, Mama! Everything isn't a sin! | „ |
| ~ Carrie White to her mother Margaret in Carrie (1976). |
| “ | Does everyone think they can go on playing tricks on me? | „ |
| ~ Carrie White in Carrie (2002). |
| “ | The other kids they- they think I'm weird, but I don't wanna be, I have to try and be a whole person before it's too late. | „ |
| ~ Carrie White in Carrie (2013) |
Carietta N. White, also better known as Carrie White, is the titular protagonist of Stephen King's controversial first horror novel Carrie as well as several films and the musical based on the story. Carrie is the main anti-villain of the story, being both the protagonist and antagonist. She is a villain that the third party can root for with guilty pleasure. The true villains who are strictly the antagonist in the story are her worst enemy Chris Hargensen, the rich and popular bully at Carrie's school. And her severely mentally ill mother Margaret White, a religious and abusive fundamentalist.
She is portrayed by Sissy Spacek in the classic 1976 film, Angela Bettis in the 2002 made-for-TV movie, Chloe Grace Moretz in the 2013 remake and in the original 1988-musical by Annie Golden.
History
Carrietta "Carrie" White has a history that is bizzare and tragic. Her story is a thought provoking and cautionary tale about social isolation, peer pressure, religion and the outcome of bullying. She was the only child of Ralph and Margaret White. Both of her parents were very concencrated Christians and promised each other to never have sex before marriage. However, her father raped her mother one night when he came home from a Roadhouse down the street from their house and he was extremely drunk. Though Margaret put up a fight at first, she admitted later on that she smelled the Whiskey on his breath and she liked it. Carrie's father eventually left her mother when he got another woman pregnant and died shortly after. Margret was left all alone to give birth to her daughter in her own home, whom she named Carrietta.
Childhood
As the years went by Margret's mental state deteriorated because she never got over Ralph or accepted the fact that he turned his back on the Lord and left her. Ultimately as she never moved on, she slowly cut herself off from the world and never got the help she clearly needed. Margaret became obsessed with religion as a result to cope and believed that her daughter, Carrie was a Child of Sin and Sin never Dies, all because of the fact that Margaret gave birth to her out of wedlock. This shows how truly mentally ill Margaret sadly is.
As Carrie grew up, she had a very difficult childhood. Her mother strictly raised her to be a concencrated Christian like herself, and if she disobeyed or did something ungodly, Margaret would beat her with a Holy Bible, throw drinks at her, and send her to the prayer closet to pray for forgiveness. Carrie never had any friends because of her mother's deluded and crazy ways. She was a very lonely and quiet girl who was isolated and cut off from her surroundings, rarely leaving the house unless it was mandatory such as school.
Rain of Stones
In the novel; Carrie shows off her powers at a tender young age. One sunny day as a child, Carrie was playing in her yard until she ventured out into the next door neighbors' yard when her mother was not watching. There she found a young beautiful teenage girl sun bathing in a sexy bikini without a top on, her ex-neighbor Estelle "Stella" Horan. Carrie looked at the half naked girl and pointed to her breasts and asked her "what are those?" The girl replied "breasts" and told Carrie that one day she would get them. But Carrie shook her head and said that good girls do not get them and that she referred to breasts as 'dirty pillows' which was a phrase that her mother had put in her head. Margaret then came rushing out of her house hysterically, screaming at Carrie for talking with the neighbor girl, and even called her a "whore" and a "slut" which was heard by Estelle's mother, Mrs. Sheila Horan who asked Mrs. White to please never call her daughter that ever again. She pulled Carrie by the arm and back inside the house and began abusing her. Screams and cries could be heard by neighbors nearby. Suddenly a rain of hailstones came falling from the sky and strangely only fell directly on the White's house, mainly damaging the roof and windows. It was later hinted that Carrie was the cause of this.
Personality/Character Analysis
Despite her eventually turning into a homicidal, sadistic, and destructive force to be reckoned with, Carrie was not a monster in the beginning. Throughout her story in both the book and the movie, Carrie was a loner, shown as a shy and timid young woman with no confidence. Carrie was a fractured young soul, in need of support and love. But it was only handed to her in small amounts, and at a very high cost. Carrie was a girl who had a traumatizing childhood and longed for a friend and someone who truly understood her pain and suffering. Alas, she let her powers get the better of her and this, coupled with all the abuse she suffered, caused her to undergo a villainous transformation.
Notably, even after her descent into villainy and unfathomable madness, Carrie is usually shown to still not be completely bereft of redeeming qualities. In several versions, she spares Miss Desjardin's life due to appreciating the kindness she had shown to her earlier and also chooses to let Sue Snell live even when she does not forgive her. Finally, she sought comfort in her mother following her rampage, suggesting that she still loved her and wanted to be loved by her even after all of the abuse Margaret showed to her.
Prior to snapping, Carrie was very sensitive and misunderstood. She would cry silently in her room late at night, dreading the next day of school. When she had her period for the first time, she was hysterically frightened because she thought she bleeding internally and was going to die. She appeared to be a shy student who kept to herself much of the time.
Carrie can be considered a secondary villain (to the main villains Margaret White and Chris Hargensen), a tragic villain, and a protagonistic villain.
Prayer Closet
Carrie in the Prayer Closet.
The prayer closet that Margret White locks her daughter to pray inside of for hours or even days at a time (depending in Margaret's sick mind how severely Carrie has sinned) is a very symbolic part of the story of Carrie. It represents the repression, mind control and power Margaret has over her daughter. It is a metaphor for Carrie's world of loneliness, being trapped and unable to escape the prison her mother has made for her. As long as the closet exist, so will the misery that consumes the majority of Carrie's young life. Being inside the closet brings a strong feeling of claustrophobia and fear to Carrie as she cries, screams and pounds on the closet door begging to be let out, which is useless.
Inside the closet there are religious pictures hung up upon the walls, Bibles are laid out to read, candles for light and small religous figures cluttered all about the tiny space. A large crucifix with a bleeding and suffering Jesus with an expression of agony is nailed to it, is also on the wall and is the focal point of the little room. When locked inside against her will, Carrie reads glamour magazines such as Cosmo or Seventeen to pass the time instead of just endlessly praying. She dreams of what being a normal teenage girl would be like and hides the magazines under the floor boards of the closet. So her mother will not find them to punish her even more for filling her head with provocative and ungodly things. It is stated in the book that Carrie nearly died of suffocation and starvation from being locked in the closet once for days.
High School
Years later as a teenage girl who was slowly developing into a woman and attending public high school, Carrie was an outcast who was always singled out and relentlessly teased by cruel bullies and by the other popular classmates. Even a few teachers joined in on the fun making because of her crazy mother and the un-cool clothes her mother forced her to wear. At home, Carrie was constantly beaten into submission and stripped of her individuality by her insane mother on a regular basis but Carrie was too afraid to tell anyone.
Telekinesis
| “ | it's time to show them all a thing or two! - Carrie White | „ |
If I concentrate hard enough I can move things!- Carrie White
Carrie, was mysteriously born with telekinesis. Which gave her the ability to move and control things with her mind whenever she concentrated hard enough. Carrie refers to her telekinesis as "flexing". At first this seemed like a rare and special gift, a miracle in Carrie's eyes that she strictly kept to herself, not telling a soul. Despite Carrie's effort to keep it a secret, she subconsciously had one or two outbursts infront of few people who witnessed this phenomenon but chose to be in denial or simply ignore choosing to believe it simply didn't happen. Carrie thought her telekinesis was a blessing, but in the end it all turned into a curse as Carrie did not now how to control her powers inside. And Carrie finally let it take over her mind, body and spirit, which lead not only to her eventual demise but sadly many others also. In the book, Carrie was also psychic and could sometimes read people's thoughts when they were near her. Such as Ms. Desjardins, her Physical Education teacher, which were a mixed feeling of sympathy and disgust in all her lying compassion. It is hinted that Carries father was telekinetic but never knew it.
Physical Appearance And Style
Carrie is much more prettier in the Hollywood/ Tv movie's and musicals than the Acne covered and overweight Carrie that Stephen King envisioned.
In the novel, Carrie was first descibed while showering in the girl's locker room at school, which was against her mother's rules. She is said to be a 'Frog amongst Swans', an unattractive teenage girl with long, straight oily, and colorless flat blonde hair that hangs over her face. She was chubby at the waist, and had a lot of pimples on her chest, face, and back and buttocks. Physically, Carrie has lots of flaws and is even repulsive looking to some. As a small child, she was described by neighbors as being a very pretty little girl, who always wore homemade bright colored clothes, stockings and long skirts every day at school and at home. But over the years Carrie did a reverse ugly duckling.
She was never seen wearing jeans or skirts because her mother does not want her daughter to wears clothes that she describes for being "provocative". When Carrie got all dressed up to go to the Prom, she wore a red dress of thick crushed red velvet that she made herself, with high heeled shoes and a matching corsage.
In the classic 1976 Sissy Spacek movie, Carrie wore a flimsy light pink dress of silky material with a pink translucent sash wrapped loosley around her arms. She was more attractive and skinnier and unlike in the book she had no pimples, but did have many freckles. Her hair was straight but not very well kept and hangs over her face like in the novel. On Prom night, she brushed and curled her hair at the bottom. She walked with a slouch, wore Librarian clothing and had Hazel eyes. In the 2002 TV remake, played by actress Angela Bettis, she has long brown hair and brown eyes. Her forehead was big and slightly broad. As opposed to the novel, she was underweight. In the TV movie, she also wore a light pink dress like in the Sissy Spacek film. In the 2013 remake, Chloe Mortez is nearly identical to Spacek's classic look.
Queen of the Prom
In the original novel, Carrie's revenge plays out rather differently and more slowly compared to the movies.
When Carrie rebels against her mother, she gets a taste of freedom and escapes the psychological cage her mother has locked her in just for one night.
When she arrives at the Prom, things look as if they are turning around for Carrie at last. She talks to some of the cool and popular kids and even cracks a few jokes that makes her peers actually laugh with her and finally not just at her. The night seems to be going fairly well as she gets complimented on her appearance. It is stated that Carrie looked really beautifully and normal for the first time in her short ilife. The social anxiety within her slowly begins to lift, letting Carrie glow and come out of her shell to enjoy herself. Carrie's fantasy is ultimately shattered as fate steps in when she is tricked and humiliated by vindictive and sociopathic students into being elected as Queen of the Prom by one vote. Carrie is crowned on stage as the audience below cheers and congratulates her as they all sing the school song. While sitting on the Queen's throne, suddenly a banging metallic sound is heard that cuts through the music. Seconds later Carrie is showered in what feels to her at first like a warm, thick, wet blanket which come to find out was very smelly rotting blood from a pig.
Crowned in Blood!
After the blood is dumped on her from a metal bucket high above, Carrie is drenched from head to toe in front of the entire school, everything goes dead silent as time seems to stop. Her red velvet dress she made for the special night is completely ruined. It is stated that Carrie looked as if someone had dipped her in a red bucket of paint.
Tommy Ross, who was the most nicest, cutest and popular boy in shcool happened to be Carrie's date. Unfortunately he is also showered in pig's blood as he's beside Carrie sitting on the King's throne with a second bucket above. Despite this Carrie gets soaked the worst. Tommy's bucket falls and hits him right on the top of his head. He is knocked out cold, hitting the floor unconscious and he dies seconds later.
Unconscious Tommy.
The prank was followed by a rain of cruel laughter by even a few of the teachers including Ms. Desjardin, the teacher who was nice to Carrie, like a trusted friend before. Ms. Desjardin tries to comort Carrie who is reading her thoughts, which are of lying compassion. Carrie strikes out at Desjardin, who then flies across the room. In embarrassment, Carrie then tries to flee the stage with her hands infront of her face only for an anonymous student in the crowd of Prom goers, to stick their foot out to trip Carrie as she passes by. She falls clumsily, leaving a big streak of blood behind her as she slides on all fours across the room and the laughter grows louder. While on the floor, Carrie looks up and into the faces of the many people crowded around her. Carrie knows everyone is hysterical and laughing uncontrollably. As they are all dressed in glittering balll gowns and expensive tuxedos, the perfect hairdos and attractive smiles. Wrapped within the bright llight of acceptance and belonging, a light that Carrie will never be apart of.,. Humiliated, Carrie is still on the floor, crawling like a pig .
Carrie gets back up on her feet and runs out of the school so fast and ungainly that she loses her prom slippers like Cinderella on the way out. She finally makes it to the school's front lawn near by and lays on the wet moist grass outside to catch her breathe as she looks up into the star filled night as she realizes she has just been tricked and made a fool of once again.
A Descent into Madness and a Thirst for Bloody Revenge
While Carrie barefoot and all alone outside, in a state of utter shock she tries to come to terms and accept what has happened. Carrie plans to just slip away into the dark night and take the back streets so no one will see her, but just as she decides to go home and admit to Momma that she was right, yet she did not.
A ticking time bomb explodies within Carrie's mind. A epiphany and psychological breaking point inside of her is released and it quickly takes over Carrie as she remembers her telekinesis. It's time to teach them all a lesson or two. So she pulls herself together, returning to the school with a deep and ruthless vengeance, it's time to teach everyone a lesson. Carrie locks everyone inside the auditorium and turns on the sprinkler system to wet everyone and ruin they're prom outfits and nice hairdos. What seems to be just innocent fun to Carrie, wetting eveyone, the sprinklers water gets to close to all the electrical cords on the stage. Carrie looks in through the windows of the gymnasium doors and smiles as she see's everyone inside panicking as sparks fly everywhere and people are getting electrocuted one by one. Some students are still desperately trying to open the doors and even looking back at Carrie through the thick glass. As the building quickly catches fire and spreads.
The horror of the Black Prom tragedy in Chamberlain, Maine.
Carrie looks happy and smiling as she seeks her revenge and watches her fellow classmates and peers electrocuted to a crisp and ultimately burned alive before leaving to destroy the town next.
Only a few lucky students and teachers survived that night of "The Black Prom".
Carrie, in a deep catatonic trance proceeded to go on a hellish rampage while walking home, happily destroying everything and anything that she passes. Burning cars and houses, blowing up gas stations, knocking over electric poles and breaking fire hydrants as she sets the town of Chamberlain, Maine ablaze and killing as many people as she can. Innocent bystanders are running and screaming through the streets in all of the chaos and confusion throughout the town as fire trucks, cop cars and sirens wail. The wild fire in the town becomes uncontrollable as the high flames are so fierce that a bright orange glow can be seen in the sky even from a far off distance. After praying at a nearby chapel, Carrie then returns to her house and from her mother learns the truth about how she was conceived. Though at first Margaret appears to comfort her bloody distraught daughter, she tricks Carrie and brutally stabs her in the back, hitting an artery. Carrie defended herself and retaliated by stopping her mother's heart until Margaret died from a heart attack. A tired and drained Carrie makes her way outside again to finish what she started and kills the two main antagonists who were the ringleaders of the prank, Chris Hargensen and her boyfriend Billy Nolan. Chris and Billy know what Carrie has done, and thru underestimate her by stupidly attempting to run over Carrie and kill her. Carrie uses her telekinesis and crashes their car into the building of a nearby strip club and destroys it as the car explodes in flames of fire.
The Novel's Original Ending
At the end of the story, Carrie has a deep conversation with Sue Snell before her dying, where she does not forgive Sue and chooses to hold a grudge. Carrie, however, does believe her when she states she had nothing to do with the prank at the Prom. Thus, Carrie leaves her alive showing her some mercy, but also shows Sue all of the soul crushing torment she received as an outsider throughout her life.
The story ends with Sue Snell finding Carrie outside yet nearly dead. Carrie cries out loud for her mother, wanting to be comforted and held as she dies in Sue's arms. Seconds later, as Sue gets up to call for help she strangly has her period on herself which was late, as the menstrual blood runs down her leg. Earlier in the story Sue believed she might have been pregnant with her boyfriend Tommy Ross's baby. But her period coming confirms she either had a miscarriage or she was never pregnant to began with. It hints that Sue received the "Curse" of Carrie. Rather Sue's period coming at the exact same time of Carrie's death was coincidental or caused by Carrie is left to the unknown.
After the night of the prom and town fire, Chamberlain Maine is a nearly abandoned ghost town and the smell of death still fills the air a month later. The tragedy by now has made headlines across America. The night of The Black Prom has hit the nation bigger than the JFK Assassination. Ms. Desjardin resigns as a teacher due to her guilt over Carrie and a heartbroken Sue Snell goes on to write a memoir about her high school experiences and her involvement with Carrie White. Titled "My Name Is Sue Snell".
The majority of survivors and their families are grieving over the tragic deaths of loved ones who were killed at the prom when Carrie White locked everyone inside, or were caught in the chaos of the wildfire and explosions and didn't make it out. After the funeral services are held for the dead, people are packing up and leaving town for good, never to return.
It is also implied, that the ghost town has become a tourist attraction since then for all those, who want to know everything regarding Carrie White. With all the destruction intact it was also easy to achieve that.
The Death of Carrie White
Carrie White Burns in Hell!
The cause of Carrie's death is left an open mystery. Carrie either died due to a combination of exhaustion, severe brain hemorrhaging from over using her telekinesis, blood loss from her wounds, or she used her telekinetic abilities to shut her own body down and committed suicide after realizing what she had done. And the monster that she became. It also is very possible that Carrie couldn't live with herself knowing she killed her own mother, whom she loved unconditionally and died to possibly be with Margaret in the afterlife. The book closes with a letter written by a woman in Tennessee, where it is implied her niece is developing telekinetic power and energy.
Blood Sport
Blood is a symbolic and strong key character and theme which brings Carrie's story together, being It's foundation. It is a metaphor which plays a role when Carrie is showering naked in the girl's locker room with her fellow female students. This is something her mother Margret, strongly disapproves of. Despite how Margaret feels, Carrie is determined to try and be as normal as possible at school by engaging in activities such as P. E and showering with everyone else. Despite her efforts Carrie fails miserably. When the blood comes for the first time, Carrie views this as a punishment for disobeying her mother. In reality it was just her very first period, that came at a very late age, sadly Carrie was never informed about this. This shows an example of how cut off and sheltered Carrie is compared to her other peers at school who already know the meaning of a period and the cycle of menstrual blood. When Margaret finds out about what happened to Carrie at school, she believes it was God punishing her daughter and giving her the curse of blood for being naked in the girl's showers. This makes Margaret even more abusive to Carrie and even more delusional in her twisted mind. It also is a female metaphor for womanhood, and stands for the end of female adolescents, and the beginning of adulthood. Which Carrie was held back from.
The blood from Carrie's humiliating experience at school, is given back to her in an even more cruel and embarrassing way when she is at the prom. When Carrie is covered in pig's blood after being elected as prom Queen, the blood is a symbolic metaphor for Carrie which shows that she will never be truly accepted by society and that she will forever remain as the black sheep of her school. The blood is a reminder that Carrie will always be an outcast no matter what.
In a sense, Carrie also views blood as a curse. If she never received her period, the blood wouldn't have come on Prom night, yet if there was no blood, there would be no story, blood is Carrie's fate. Blood is a part of Carrie. It's the heart of her story, for Carrie, instead of it being a rite of passage as a woman, it resembles a curse that Carrie was not aware of until it unexpectedly showered down on her in one of the most cruelest of ways.
Inspiration
According to Stephen King, Carrie is based off of 2 real girls he knew in school.
When reading Carrie, in the books introduction, Stephen King admits that the character of the telekinetic, blood drenched Prom Queen was based off two real life girls:
"I'd read an article in LIFE magazine some years before, suggesting that at least some reported poltergeist activity might actually be telekinetic phenomena – telekinesis being the ability to move objects just by thinking about them. There was some evidence to suggest that young people might have such powers, the article said, especially girls in early adolescence, right around the time of their first —POW! Two unrelated ideas, adolescent cruelty and telekinesis, came together, and I had an idea …
Before I had completed two pages, ghosts of my own began to intrude; the ghosts of two girls, both dead, who eventually combined to become Carrie White. I will not reveal either girl's true name, both we're unfortunates in life and do NOT deserve to be chewed over. So, I will call one of them Tina White and the other Sandra Irving.
Tina, was short, pudgy and very quiet. So plain jane you could cry, she went to Durham Elementary School with me. There is a goat in every class, the kid who is always left without a chair in musical chairs, the one who winds up wearing the 'KICK ME HARD' sign on the back or the one who stands five feet away at the very end of the class line. The one who is shoved in a locker after being given a wedgie. The one who gets picked last to team up with in a class project. The one who is the first one to get hit with the ball during dodge ball. The one students deliberately make vomiting sounds when passing them in the hallways. You know that kid, everybody does, they went to your school also!
Sadly this was Tina. Not because she was stupid (she wasn't), and not because her family was peculiar (it was) but because she was poor, wearing the same exact outfit to school every single day for the entire year. I can remember that outfit even now, I don't even have to close my eyes. The red headband, the dingy white blouse and the long black, and unflattering skirt that fell to the shins. One year, after Christmas break, Tina came back to school completely transformed, with a new outfit. I can't remember that one but I remember how happy she was to be wearing it. But instead of finally being accepted by her fellow peers, the students rejection of Tina became even fiercer as the insults, jokes and sarcasm just rained down on her, until Tina was simply numb, filled with dull acceptance.
Sandra Irving suffered from Epilepsy, she was very religous as well was her family. And her religous beliefs is what drove most people away from her. She lived about a mile-and-a-half from the house where I grew up. She lived in an old house, older than the rest in the neighborhoods and had a pet dog with the absurd name of 'Chedder-Cheese'. Mrs Irving hired me one day to help her move some furniture … I was struck by the crucifix hanging in the living room, over the Irving couch. If such a gigantic icon had fallen when the two of them were watching TV, the person it fell on would almost certainly have been killed. Or at least mildly wounded.
Neither girl made it through High-school, nor saw the age of thirty. Tina eventually committed Suicide, hanging herself in her family's home, up in the attic. Sandra died from one of her epileptic seizures.
These were the ghost of my past, that seemed to haunt me so. Telling me to combined them somehow, and tell a story about what could have or might have happened if either girl was fortunately or unfortunately blessed with Carrie's miraculous gift.
I did three single-spaced pages of a first draft, then crumpled them up in disgust and threw them away.
The next night, when I came home from school, my wife Tabby had the pages. She'd spied them while emptying my waste-basket, had shaken the cigarette ashes off the crumpled balls of paper smoothed them out and sat down to read them. She wanted me to go on. She wanted to know the rest of the story, so...that's when I was determined to bring Carrie to life.
I wish that Tina and Sandra were still alive and here today, or even they're daughters, so they could read it, to find comfort in it, to know that they are not alone.
To bring justice to them, in a world that is as cold and cruel as it is beautiful and fair."
-Stephen King
This piece is taken from Stephen King's book On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft and his Introduction to Carrie.
Classic 1976 Movie
Sissy Spacek as Carrie White in the 1976 film.
In this iconic classic 1976 movie version directed by Brian De Palma, starring Sissy Spacek, only Carrie gets Pig's blood dumped on her. Tommy Ross does get hit in the head and knocked unconscious, but by Carrie's swinging bucket above, instead of two buckets with one as his own.
Everything that Carrie does to the Prom goers after the prank, happens inside of the gymnasium instead of Carrie just looking in the gym door windows like in the novel. The film adds the cruel twist in which she only imagined that everyone was
The Black Prom
laughing as she snapped. But in reality many of the students and staff were shocked and horrified by the incident, as they knew the prank had gone too far. Most appeared to be frozen in place, with expressions of disbelief and even sympathy. Only Chris Hargensen's group of friends actually laughied This delusion of Carrie's triggered a psychotic episode in which she unleashed her suppressed telekinesis in a horrific and unapologetic manner -as in Carrie's eyes, they all we're guilty and all had to go. Carrie Kills everyone in the gym while burning it down and locking everyone inside to scream as they burn to death and die.
There were no Survivors.
Carrie does not destroy the entire town in this movie. But while Carrie is slowly walking home and in a catatonic state, Chris Hargensen and her boyfriend Billy who is drunk, are driving in Billy's car. Chris is at the wheel and she see's Carrie down the same road ahead of them, she is walking and covered in pig's blood as wailing fire trucks are seen passing by. Chris pursues to run Carrie over, but Carrie quickly turns around to see them and flips the car over dozens of times and blows it up killing Chris and Billy both. Carrie then makes it home finally to find hundreds of religious candles lite and burning all throughout the home.
Carrie returns home after the frightening tragedy at the prom.
She slowly walks up stairs, takes off her bloody prom dress and washes herself in a hot bath. After she drys off and puts her nightgown on, she finds her mother Margaret standing behind her. In sadness and despair Carrie throws herself into her mother's arms only to be stabbed in the back by her with a butchers knife, believing Carrie is evil.
Carrie's mother corners her in the kitchen of the house and in defense Carrie stabs her mother all over the body with kitchen utensils using her telekinesis. Carrie's mother has her hands pinned to the walls by knives and dies resembling Jesus on the cross. Realizing she has killed her own mother, Carrie screams in anguish and frustration. Carrie uses her telekinetic powers to make the house cave in and collapse with her and her mother inside which makes the candles all about the house knock over and burns the house to the ground. Carrie is knocked unconscious during the house fire, and while holding her dead mother in the Prayer closet, the two are buried together and Carrie dies.
Sue Snell, a former classmate of Carrie and girlfriend of the deceased Tommy, stayed home on Prom night so Tommy could take Carrie instead. Sue did not have anything to do with the prank, but is guilt ridden by the tragedy nonetheless. Sue is forever haunted by Carrie in her nightmares and will never be the same.
2002 TV Movie
In the 2002 remake of the fim Carrie suffers a black out because of the evil prank. She is therefore not aware of her surroundings and what she is doing, while she does all the destruction at the school and the town of Chamberlain that ends when she reaches her home to wash all the blood off in the bathtub. Only after reaching it and putting herself in water she recovers her awareness of the world around her. Shortly afterwards Carrie's mother tries to drown her in a overflowing bathtub after the Prom. She stops her mother's heart and kills her in self- defense. She nearly dies because of the murder attempt, but she is later found by Sue, who was looking for her. She manages to revive her. After waiting until things would cool down Carrie moves to Florida to start a new life thanks to the help of Sue who drives her halfway. Carrie was kept alive in this version, because a TV show was meant to follow after it, but the show never made it on air.
2013 Carrie Remake
The positive to mixed 2013 remake brought a few elements from the book into Carrie's story. Carrie also has the ability to effortlessly levitate. After the prank is pulled on her, she kills the majority of everyone inside and then sets the school ablaze, she then lifts herself up into the air after sparing the lives of only a few and flies out of the gymnasium to take on the entire town. In the ending, she seemingly dies after burying herself alive by bringing down her house with her own telekinetic power. However, when Sue Snell, after she learned from Carrie that she was pregnant with an unborn daughter belonged to both Sue and Tommy, leaves a flower at her desecrated grave, the tombstone cracks. Suggesting that Carrie maybe have in fact survived the night of the Prom and disappeared, never to be seen or heard from ever again.
Portrayals
Carrie White was portrayed by Sissy Spacek in the original movie, and was portrayed by Angela Bettis in the 2002 remake. In the 2013 film she is portrayed by Chloe Moretz.
The Rage, 1999 Sequel
In the poorly received sequel to the 1976 film, Sue Snell ends up becoming a school counselor. And Carrie's father Ralph White long before he was killed at a construction site years later, had another family including another daughter named Rachel, who also had telekinesis.
Personal Information
Race: Human
Birth: September 21, 1963 (1985 in the 2002 movie remake and 1995 in the same 2013 remake)
Died: May 28, 1979 (novel, 1976 movie, 2013 movie (though the post-credits ending leaves Carrie's fate unknown), and musical only, but lives on and redeems to a new life with the help of Sue Snell in the 2002 movie)
Star Sign: Virgo
Age: 16-17 (At death, in novel, 1976 movie, 2013 movie (though the post-credits ending leaves Carrie's fate unknown), and musical only)
Eye Color: Hazel in the 1976 film/2013 remake. (Brown in novel and the 2002 TV movie)
Hair Color: Dirty blonde (novel) Strawberry blonde (1976 movie and 2013 movie) Brown ( 2002 TV movie) Family:
Ralph White - Father (deceased)
Margaret White - Mother (deceased)
Rachel Lang - Half-sister (The Rage: Carrie 2 1999 movie only)
Gallery
Trivia
- She shares a similarity to the dog Max from the movie Man's Best Friend. They have both been abused throughout their life and always sought retribution.
- She also shares this similarity to Matilda Wormwood from the Roald Dahl book Matilda as they have both been tormented throughout their life and both use their powers to get back at them. However whilst nearly everyone tormented Carrie it is only certain people who have tormented Matilda: her father, her mother, her brother and her headmistress.
- She also shares similarities to Alessa Gillespie from the Silent Hill videogame series as Carrie and Alessa possessed psychokinetic powers, have been tormented at their schools by their cruel classmates, and both have psychotically religious mothers. It turns out these similarities were intentional, as Alessa is a direct reference to her.
- She shares a similarity to It and a doctor who is the villain in The Pied Piper. They are all telekinetic.
- She also shares a similarity to Aggie Prenderghast, both being treated as outcast, both having telekinesis and both used their powers against those who offended them.
- She is not killed in the second adaptation and it is hinted that she lives in the 2013 adaptation as well.
- She is also somewhat similar to Lucy from Elfen Lied as they both are tormented by students and angrily murdered them as they laughed, using forms of telekinesis.
- She also shares this similarity to Willow Rosenberg from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a girl judged unsightly and humiliated daily by Cordelia Chase, the queen bee of her campus like Chris Hargensen. Willow also obtains a telekinetic power by becoming a witch. Her friendship with Buffy is possibly comparable to the relation between Carrie and Sue Snell as far as these last tries to restore her self-confidence in her and is in a way her guardian angel. However, Willow is neglected and not abused by her parents. Another difference, she was considered like the most studious among the campus contrary to Carrie who is ignored on all spheres. Later, Willow becomes a lesbian. When her girlfriend is murdered, Willow becomes a temporary dark version of herself, vengeful and empowered, similar to Carrie when humiliated in the prom. Interestingly, Willow has a veinous face like Rachel Lang in the sequel. Others females characters on the show are also inspired by Carrie. The relationship between Amy Madison and her mother is similar to Carrie and her mother from the 1976 film because the father left the family home. The mother becomes psychotic, obsessed by her youthful age and often humiliating her daughter.
- Another villain from Buffy, Drusilla is depicted in her former human life as a pious, shy and virginal girl like Carrie, haunted by her medium power and considered herself as The Devil's gift. Becoming schizophrenic and vampirized, she has a comportment similar to Margaret White. Another medium, Cassie Newton is depressed by her own power and has cut all relationships.
- In the 2013 remake, Carrie White mentioned that she inherited her telekinetic power from either her father Ralph, or from her great-grandmother Sadie Cochran, was the mother of Judith Cochran, the mother-in-law of John Brigman, the grandmother of Margaret Brigman. Sadie, like her great-granddaughter, was telekinetic. She died of heart failure at the age of 66, possibly from straining herself with her own powers.
- She shares many traits with Elsa from Frozen. In order of events, both of their parents were deceased, they were depressed of their own powers (Elsa's ice powers and Carrie's telekinesis), they cut all relationships after humiliation striked upon them (Elsa's powers were revealed and Carrie's 'first experience' was filmed), they caused a traumatic disaster to their hometown (Elsa made an eternal winter in Arandelle and Carrie set her hometown aflame), and they were both responsible for the death of someone close to them (Elsa froze Anna's heart and Carrie telekinatically stopped her mother's heart). Interestingly, the main difference is how Elsa's powers froze things, while Carrie's telekinesis destroyed and set things on fire. Another thing is how the death of that someone had to do with the heart.