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Analyzing Stephen King Characters
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OK Nick I will have to disagree with you on this. First and fore most he did it just right. Carrie had come to like and trust Tommy, Other then her humiliation one thing and one thing only could have pushed her over the edge. That is killing the only person who showed her any kindness. Yes I know we know he did it at the behest of Sue Snell, but Carrie didn't know and never will.
mrbooks wrote: "OK Nick I will have to disagree with you on this. First and fore most he did it just right. Carrie had come to like and trust Tommy, Other then her humiliation one thing and one thing only could ha..."In my mind, Tommy went out with Carrie because Sue wanted him to. He was indifferent... probably didn't like her. Then as he got to know her and looked past the ugly clothing, etc he saw that she was actually pretty... even beautiful. He started to like her a lot. I think if Tommy had survived the humiliation he would have been heartbroken for Carrie, would have stood up for her, might have intercepted and deflected her anger. It was almost too easy to take him out of the equation from the very start. It would have created a more difficult problem for King, but maybe a more complex resolution. BTW, this belongs on the Carrie thread. I'm going to past it there too.
Differences between Carrie White and Harold Lauder...Carrie was assaulted with tampons in the shower, and, in the end, she gets pig's blood dumped on her at the prom. Somewhere amidst of all this abuse, Carrie realizes she's telekinetic. Seriously, us guys have known idea what getting your period for the first time is like, which can be traumatizing enough, and on top of that, Carrie gets ridiculed for it. My daughters would say that would make anyone go a little loco.
Also, Carrie doesn't fit in for a variety of reasons. Most of them, though, are a result of her mother's awful treatment of her. She dresses frumpy (she wears a girdle, ugh) and is socially awkward to the extreme.
Now for Harold Emery Lauder; Harold’s strongest emotion toward Stu is jealousy, which as we all knows is the root of all-evil. His personality doesn’t win Fran over, either; he reacts rather casually to the death of his own parents. When Frannie leaves the scene where they meet, “she knew Harold would be watching her jiggling buttocks, storing up the footage for whatever X-rated movie played constantly in his head, and that made her angrier, sadder, and more weepy than ever” (Uncut Version 242). Thus, why should anyone feel empathy towards this character…which his behavior is consistent with a serial killer; Ted Bundy.
While we are analyzing characters, I'd like to mention Susan Norton from "Salem's Lot. This is my favorite King, but the more times I reread it, the less I like Susan. She acts like a child. She basically falls in love with Ben upon first meeting because he is "famous" and notices her. The interactions between her and her mother are ridiculous, and despite being necessary to begin the real action, her approaching Barlow herself and also putting Mark in danger is just stupidity.Does anyone else think she is a very, very flawed character?
I believe that Susan Norton is highly structured and extremely logical. Thus, She believes there is an explanation to everything and does not believe in the unusual and the unfeasibility of vampires. Think about it for one second…who would believe that vampires exist and be in their hometown….Now moving forward….Although, Susan was going alone to the Marsten House to prove to Ben and Matt that vampires do not exist. She also brought a picket and a gold crucifix “just in case” even though she did not believe in it, which provides evidence she is intelligent and may secretly believe that they may be correct.
Now as far as Ben Mears goes, he is an author just like S.K, which I believe that provides evidence that Big Ben is cool and exotic, which Susan is totally attracted to, like a magnet… So a little of egocentricities in the story…
Now here is the irony of the whole thing… Susan rejected her mom with small town values, and so she ends up a fallen victim to the vampire, which can also be seen as the victory of her dear old mom with those small-town values. They suck out all of the life with her ambitions and hopes and leaves her dead-in-life; in the same old town, the one that she hoped to leave someday with her true love Ben Mears; A.K.A…S.K in the flesh…….
Ben wrote: "The same may apply to Carrie Whites mother, since her mothers warning that "They're all gonna laugh at you" turned out to be true."Damn... I'm glad we'll be reading Salam's Lot soon because I guess Susan needs to be revisited. I've been in love with her for years.
I can not in good conscience say that Susan Norton’s mom was comparable to Carrie’s White mom since Carrie’s mom was so ultra religious; it was to a point that her beliefs were unhealthy, reprehensible and irresponsible..: so the two are completely two different kind of people...
Kandice wrote: "While we are analyzing characters, I'd like to mention Susan Norton from "Salem's Lot. This is my favorite King, but the more times I reread it, the less I like Susan. She acts like a child. She ba..."Yes she is a flawed character, but in books as in life no one is perfect, they all have there flaws and I say thank god for that. Give me characters that are greedy needy and just a bit seedy.
Show me any girls mother who doesn't think there boyfriends are trouble at one point or another in there lives.
Sure, you can say Harold should have "grown up", but his parents practically ignored him and focused their attention on..."
Most people feel sorry for Carrie White, because she was brought up in a highly or should I say an overly religious household, certain important information was withheld from her.
They were raised and taught in different times. What was considered normal when Carrie went to school was quite different from when Harold went to school. Carrie