Carrie White - Novel

Novel

Carrie White was born on September 21, 1963. Even though the setting is in May 1979, she is mentioned to be seventeen years old by Sue Snell, but she would be fifteen because of her birthday being in September. She is slightly chunky around the middle, with long, flat dark-blond hair. With pimples on her neck, back, and buttocks, she was considered unattractive and repulsive. However, she is described as having been very pretty as a younger child. Her dress is old and puritanical, because her mother will not allow her to buy normal clothes like other girls her age, believing them to be too provocative and outrageous. Carrie is shy, lonely and isolated; the closest thing she has to a friend at school is fellow student Sue Snell, who pities more than likes her. Carrie does, however, show signs of rebelling against her mother's religious fanaticism. Her mother throws her into a "prayer closet" whenever she misbehaves, but by high school Carrie has begun smuggling teen magazines there and reads them in secret. Later in the novel, she undergoes a profound transformation, both physically and psychologically.

Carrie's telekinetic powers are present throughout her life, usually evident in childhood incidents. She had closed a window and had dangled her own bottle above her crib when she was a baby. When she was three years old, she witnessed her teenage next-door neighbor sunbathing and asked about her breasts. Her mother scolded and physically abused Carrie for asking about such a matter. While she was inside her house, Carrie brought forth a hail of ice that smashed the bungalow. The chunks of ice were followed by a shower of rocks that plummeted onto the property, damaging it heavily while a table was almost sent toppling through the window.

In 1979, at the age of 16, Carrie has her first menstrual period in the shower of the school gym after a physical education class. Due to her mother's bizarre religious beliefs, she didn't even know what a period was, and believes she is bleeding to death. The other girls in the locker room, led by Chris Hargensen and Sue, taunt her mercilessly, and the humiliation brings out her telekinetic powers. Now aware of just how different she is from other girls her age, Carrie begins to practice and harness her power.

When Tommy Ross asks her to the prom, Carrie attempts to say no, even though she has a crush on him. Eventually, she says yes, and is nervous but happy. Her mother attempts to stop Carrie from going, but Carrie insists on trying to fit in. A talented seamstress, she makes her own dress, and is described as being beautiful as Tommy Ross escorts her to the prom.

At the dance, she gradually comes out of her shell, and even makes jokes while she converses with other promgoers. As she was accepted by the crowd, she begins to enjoy herself for once. Carrie and Tommy are even elected the prom's king and queen.