CARRIE

Independent Novel Essay

Megan Karmark
Mr. Hardy
EL 20/ Pd. 2
December 18th, 2013

The genre of my book is suspense/horror, and this genre is a very popular one. Most people find these types of books interesting to read. The novel Carrie, by Stephen King is by far the most intriguing book I’ve ever read. This novel has a new level of scary. It’s a page-turner; you can’t put it down. This book also has very interesting characters.

King’s novel contains fascinating and striking characters, the most remarkable one being Carrie. In the book, she begins to discover her powers of telekinesis. This is not good because she finally has a way of physically getting back at the people who teased and poked fun at her. She has thoughts of harming and even killing the people like that. All this leads to the night she used her powers to wreak havoc on the town. Another important character is Carrie’s mother, Margaret White. Margaret is an insanely religious person, and thinks that anything people do is a sin. Margaret berates and abuses Carrie everyday for the sins the child may/may not have committed, and she would often make Carrie repeat passages out of her many religious books (or hits Carrie with them). She would also scratch or otherwise hurt herself in order to compel Carrie to agree with her. Additionally, Margaret would lock Carrie inside of a kitchen closet so she could “pray for forgiveness”. Carrie stayed in the closet for hours until her mother decided to release her. The novel not only has captivating characters, buts it’s a very suspenseful read.

This novel is a page-turner; you can’t put it down. The book got me interested after I read the first few pages. King recites passages from books, talking about telekinesis, or what other characters think about Carrie. The idea that there’s major complication between Carrie and her mother, makes you want to keep reading. Carrie’s mother beats her and fights with her, sometimes for no reason. The story is leading up to the big night, prom night, where trails of bad events pile on each other. It gets more into Carrie’s telekinesis, as it gets closer to prom night, where we learn that Carrie has had enough and wants revenge on the people who have wronged her. The events that take place make you want to keep reading and find out what happens at the end . . . The quote from the novel, “ . . . we know that on prom night, a stress situation arose, causing the terrible events which we now begin to discuss,” gives the reader little information about the “terrible events” that are to come, making it rather suspenseful. The suspense in the novel is just a warm up for all the blood and gore