Carrie is a story written by Stephen King and it talks about a young girl and the sudden discovery of here telekinetic abilities. She has been abused emotionally and physically by both her parents and peer. Therefore, when Carrie discovers her abilities she decides to take revenge on them. However, even when she think people will appreciate her, Carrie is humiliated during prom. This makes her angry and she end up killing everyone in her path and when she reaches home her mother tries to kill her. Although, Carrie manage to kill her mother but she dies scared and alone after her mother manage to stab her.
Carrie is among the bestselling novel of all times. However, King could not have written the novel were it not for his wife Tabby. The idea of Carrie came when he remembered an article about telekinesis and it said that if the power existed it would be strongest in adolescent girls. King first wrote the three pages of Carrie in the year 1973 and he crumpled them up and threw them in the dustbin. This is because he felt very disappointed in himself and he felt he could not write from a woman perspective. Moreover, he felt the story was disgusting and the main character was annoying, readymade victim. He also thought he was wasting his time on a novel he did not like and would not be able to sell (Beahm 124).
Luckily, his wife Tabby found the three pages in the dustbin and when King came home from home. She encouraged her to write the book. Tabby motivated King to write the book by guiding him through the world of a woman. She gave him tips on how to mold the characters and famous shower scene. Fortunately, after nine months the final draft was finished. After a year, the book became a hit because teen and adults who knew what it was to be an outsider could relate to it.
The novel address various themes: first, the need of love is addressed by Carrie who is very desperate for love. She does not get any love from her mother or teachers from school. Everyone look at here and see the fact that she is pathetic and disgusting. This situation makes Carrie to try as much as possible to make people love her but she does not get find love.
Fortunately, Tom Ross has best positive feeling towards her. Second, the theme of acceptance is address in the novel. Carrie tries to be accepted by her mother, teachers and schoolmates. Moreover, she wants to have a normal life and that can be achieved by people appreciating her thus, she sees the prom as a beginning of a new life. Carrie is portrayed as a young girl desperate for acceptance from all people. Third, need for protection is addressed in the novel. Carrie looks for a way to protect herself. This is because she does not get any protection from her mother and teachers. She only searches for real friends who can stand out for (Sears 67). However, this is not the case because no one seem to care expect from Tom and Sue.
Forth, the theme of revenge is portrayed in the novel. After Chris Hargenson is suspended from attending prom because of taunting Carrie. Chris is still furious with Carrie and she plans to revenge by pouring ping blood on her. However, things go even worse when Carrie is annoyed and she revenges by electrocuting them using her power. Fifth, religion is a theme that is highly addressed in the novel. Margaret White is extremely religious and uses it to force Carrie to believe and trust in things she not necessarily want to do. She also uses her religion to criticize Carrie. For instance, when Carrie tells her mother about her periods, Margaret does not comfort her but instead she screams at her calling her a sinner (Beahm 172).
Therefore, Margaret misuses religion to justify her behavior and how she treats Carrie. Six, theme bulling is shown in the story. Fortunately, both the positive and negative effects of bullying are portrayed in the story. For instance, Carrie is bullied in school but at the end of the story she revenges. Lastly, the theme of appearance is portrayed in the novel as teenagers in Carries school value about how a person dresses. It very unfair how Carrie was mistreated because of her appearance even when she wanted to be at peace with everyone.
The novel has some attractive side and positive moral value to the readers. The first strength of the novel is its theme because it is very interesting to read. The theme bulling is shown up from the beginning and it ends with massive tragedy. Thus, the reader can know the condition of bulling even from the beginning to the end. Even though these themes are attracting they also show some positive morals that can be caused by them to everyone involved in. However, it can be a weakness because of the bad things caused by the various themes as portrayed in the novel.
The second strength is the character in the novel. This is because they take major effect on the story and are attractive in delivering the positive moral of the story. For instance, Carrie character become more attractive because she is lonely, unpopular, bullied, and strong with super powers. In addition, she brings the climax to the story with massive tragedy. Sue character brings friendship value as it is seen when she changes her mind to help Carrie. Lastly, Miss Desjardin character has a good personality. This is because she shows positive relation between her and Carrie thus, upholding the values of love attention and support.
Beside the above strength, it has some weakness. For example, the first weakness of this novel is the plot. This is because the novel is confusing because of testimonies and throwbacks that come in the middle of the main plot. The second weakness is the description of Carriers mother personality. This is because she is a strong fanatic religious person yet she is evil to her daughter. Moreover, at the end of the story she tries to kill Carrie. Thus, her dramatic description is very bad and maybe she could be having a mental disorder.
Works cited
Beahm, George. Stephen King From A to Z: An Encyclopedia of His Life and Work. Kansas City: Andrews McMeel Pub, 1998. Print.
Beahm, George. The Stephen King Companion. McMeel press 1989 pp. 171173. Print.
Introduction to "Carrie" (Collector's Edition) King, Tabitha Plume 1991. Print.
King Stephen. Carrie. Anchor, 2011. Print.
Sears, John. Stephen King's Gothic. 1st ed. U of Wales, 2011. Print.
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