What Does Carrie White Symbolize

In Carrie, Stephen King examines humiliation in the society at that time as an instigator of anger. Carrie White is an ideal example of humiliation in the novel. This character has a tragic history. Her story is a tale about social isolation, peer pressure and religion. Carrie is usually angry because she wants to have a normal life, but she cannot because she is afraid of her mother who has strange religious views. Margaret views Carrie as the embodiment of sin in the flesh because she has sex with her husband before marriage. Margaret is very religious, so she refers to the Bible and this is a religious illusion. Thus, Margaret becomes very cruel towards Carrie believing that she does this for Carrie's own sake.

Isolation is

the main reason of Carrie's anger and misery in her life. According to an online critical article by JoAnn Grif Alspach, titled Loneliness and Social Isolation "loneliness is characterized as a lack of social intimacy or as a deficiency in social relationships. Loneliness is often described as a subjective feeling of isolation, not belonging, or lacking companionship". Loneliness is considered as "the psychological embodiment of social isolation" (Steptoe 5797). Carrie has a very difficult childhood without any friends or relative to love her. She is isolated from the whole world because of her mother who wants that Carrie becomes fanatic Christian like her. When Carrie does something ungodly, her mother beats her with a holy Bible and puts her in the closet where Carrie prays for forgiveness. This prayer closet is a symbol for Margaret's repression, power and mind control over Carrie. It also refers to Carrie's world of loneliness and shows her disability to escape from her mother's prison.
At home, Carrie's misery reflects her anger from her mother. Margaret prevents Carrie to live a normal life. Carrie is not allowed to take showers at school because her mother believes that showers are ungodly. She is not allowed to wear jeans or short skirts or tops as they are also ungodly. Margaret prevents Carrie from fashion, celebrities, listening to rock music or even sleeping with a pillow. According to Margaret red color is devil's color, so Carrie cannot wear this color. Carrie does not have a boyfriend because of Margaret's belief that the boy wants only to have a sex with the girl and this is a sin. Thus, Carrie is treated with no respect at home; she is stripped of her individuality by her crazy mother. Here, Carrie contrasts with Lord of the Flies. In Lord of the Flies, the kids are responsible for themselves on the island. At the beginning they interacted with each other and then separated. But in Carrie, she has her so crazy religious mother who prevents her from interacting with other people.
At school, King instigates Carrie's anger throughout the badness of her appearance and her peers' maltreatment.

King describes Carrie as being "a frog among swans" (4) in relation to the other girls at school. Carrie is not attractive. She is a girl of sixteen with pale skin. She has short and colorless flat blonde hair. She is chubby at the waist and has a lot of pimples on her face and back. Physically, Carrie has a lot of flaws. At school, Carrie is made fun of on a daily basis. She is an outcast and teased by cruel bullies and by the other popular classmates. She is at the bottom of the social pyramid. She is considered the target of humiliation. "Carrie white eats shit" (King 4) is written on a desk in the school to give an example of Carrie's

maltreatment.
The story of humiliation that spurned anger starts with having her first period at school.

Carrie is "completely innocent of the entire concept of menstruation" (King 10). Carrie believes this is a punishment for disobeying her mother who has told her that showers are ungodly. When Carrie's first period has come, Chris encourages the other girls to throw towels at a frantic Carrie and this makes her very angry. Chris hates Carrie because of her arrogance, pride and lack of empathy. When Margaret has known this incident, replied that "You are a woman now"(King 27).She forces Carrie to pray in the closet for her sins. Here, Carrie faces the conflict that reflects the difficulty of trying to become a member of a group. Her appearance and flaws, resulting from the crazy actions of her mother, will not permit her to be a normal girl. The conflict in Carrie is man versus Society and man versus self. For example, Carrie has a conflict with her peers who reject her, and she has to deal with her own

insecurities.
King has used symbolism and metaphor to instigate anger and sarcasm in his society indirectly. Carrie White is a symbol of the embarrassment, weakness and teenage in American culture. At the same time, the groups of Carrie's peer are metaphors of the various kinds' authority relationship American teenager encounter teachers, parents, and even friends. Blood is a very important symbol in this novel. Blood in the shower scene refers to different things. Firstly, it represents the birthing of carrier's telekinesis. Secondly, it represents transformation from a girl into a woman and this makes Margaret very angry. From religious views menstruation is seen as a curse and a sin. According to Journal of Biblical Literature," the very nature of the woman's illness is that her body lacks the appropriate boundaries and unnaturally leaks its contents into the world"(Moss 515). In the Christian tradition, menstruation was considered God's punishment for Eve who makes man fall from the Garden of Eden.