Carrie

Roughly an hour before the town is overrun in fire and death, Chris and Billy return to The Cavalier, unaware of the extent of the destruction they have unleashed. Billy tears off Chris’s shirt; she retaliates by punching him, but this does not deter him. He beats her up with the intention of raping her, and they descend “into a red, thrashing unconsciousness” (267). Over the music of the bar and their own exclamations, neither hears the explosions and sirens outside.

They later awaken to one of Billy’s friends, who alerts them to Carrie’s destruction of the town. Chris is worried that someone will connect their prank with the destruction, but Billy allays her fear, suggesting that they could run away to California (though he has no intention of taking her). When they leave the bar, Billy experiences the projection of Carrie’s presence in his mind and sees her standing nearby. Billy tries to run Carrie down in his car as her presence fills both his and Chris’s minds, but Carrie redirects the car into The Cavalier: Billy and Chris die on impact, and their bodies burn in the resulting fire. Carrie collapses soon after, the extraordinary use of power having worn out her heart, wanting to turn and look at the stars before she dies.

As Sue stands amidst the destruction at the town’s center, she has a sudden series of insights that she can’t explain. She knows Tommy is dead, that Carrie is responsible, and that Carrie’s mother is dead after having stabbed Carrie. She can feel Carrie’s presence in her mind, but there “were no pictures in her head, no great white flashes of revelation, only prosaic knowledge” (276). Driven by an urge she can’t name, Sue makes her way to The Cavalier, realizing that Carrie’s last act was for her mother: “Momma wanted her to be the Angel’s Fiery Sword (279).

An excerpt from the White Commission interrupts the narrative, offering a transcript of their interview with Sue. Sue is on the defensive, believing the Commission to be looking for a scapegoat. They hint at Sue’s culpability, noting that she was the only one drawn to Carrie. Sue denies that Carrie was focused on calling her, but she cannot be certain.

The narrative resumes with Sue closing in on The Cavalier and coming across a dying Carrie, whose crumpled body reminds her of roadkill. Carrie’s presence in her mind fades in and out as Carrie’s consciousness wavers, but as Sue approaches, the “essence of Carrie” becomes clearer (289). Sue recognizes Carrie’s wish to look at the stars and gently turns her to face the sky. When Carrie wakes, she speaks to Sue telepathically, and Sue finds she is able to respond in kind, this conjoining of minds causing Sue to experience a deep “compassion for Carrie” that “broke through the dullness of shock” (287). Carrie’s mind is exhausted—all she can think of is that she was tricked—and Sue witnesses all of the tricks that have been played on Carrie throughout her life. Sue reels at the relentless bullying, but she gains vital communion with Carrie, and they share “the awful totality of perfect knowledge” as Carrie’s tortured life plays out before both of their minds (287). Carrie then accuses Sue of trying to trick her, but Sue allows Carrie access to her memories, and Carrie learns that Sue never intended to cause Carrie harm. Carrie dies, her final thoughts projected into Sue’s mind and Sue fleeing the “frequency of the physical nerve endings” in terror (290). When she is far enough away from Carrie’s “frequency,” she feels “the slow course of dark menstrual blood down her thighs” (291).