carrie by stephen king

CARRIEBY STEPHEN KINGPublished by Pocket Books

1974

Project by Alexander Elmore

AN INTRODUCTION Setting: Ewen High

School in Chamberlain, Maine.

The book begins with Carrie being bullied by her peers.

When she returns home, her mother beats her violently.

As the story progresses, Carrie starts to realize she can do strange things with her mind.

PROTAGONIST: CARIETTA “CARRIE” WHITE

Carrie White is a junior at Ewen High School in Chamberlain, Maine.

She is an outcast because of her odd family and very religious personality.

She discovers that she has telekinesis, the power to move things with her mind.

ANTAGONIST: MARGARET WHITE

Margaret White is the mother of Carrie White.

She is very religious and abusive.

She claims that Carrie is a devil’s child and that. everything that happens to her (including her period) is because Carrie is a sinner.

Margaret White beats her daughter, almost to death, many times throughout the course of the novel.

CENTRAL CONFLICT The central conflict of

the story is Carrie versus Society.

The people involved include: Carrie White, Margaret White, Sue Snell, Chris Hargensen, Tommy Ross and Mrs. Desjardin.

Possible solutions include: Stopping the bullies, inviting Carrie to a social event and removing Carrie from her mother.

MINOR CHARACTERS: SUE SNELL

One of the few characters who actually cares about Carrie and tries to help her.

She is one of the girls who taunts Carrie at the start of the book, but soon regrets it and decides to try and bring Carrie “out of herself.”

MINOR CHARACTERS: CHRIS HARGENSON

The main person who picks on Carrie and rallies the others to do the same.

In the novel she is the leader of a group of girls who call themselves the “Mortimer Snerds.”

MINOR CHARACTERS: MISS DESJARDIN

Miss Desjardin is the girl’s P.E. coach at Ewen High.

She breaks up the taunting when Carrie has her first period at the beginning of the novel.

At various points in the novel, she is the one who comforts Carrie and tells her not to be afraid.

CRITIC’S TAKE

Teen Ink:

“I finished the novel looking for something more…ending up repetitive and sometimes confusing”

http://www.teenink.com/reviews/book_reviews/article/472213/Carrie-by-Stephen-King/

The Guardian:

“It’s a really good story…a fairly good piece of juvenilia.”

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/may/24/rereading-stephen-king-carrie

MY TURN

Carrie, the debut novel from Stephen King, is an epic tale of ultimate revenge. I though it was fairly well-written and very creepy. Although it was a little shaky and did drag out parts of the story for too long, it is the perfect place to start for anyone who wishes to read Stephen King for the first time. Overall, Carrie is a great novel that I wouldn’t mind reading again.