Misery

Part 1, Chapters 1-36

Reading Check

1. He is in a car accident that Annie saves him from. (Part 1, Chapters 2-5)

2. A powerful pain reliever called Novril (Part 1, Chapter 4)

3. Annie says he is responsible for the mess after she broke the bowl because she was mad at him. (Part 1, Chapter 9)

4. Paul killed off Misery while she was in childbirth. (Part 1, Chapter 12)

5. His wheelchair and a typewriter (Part 1, Chapters 21-23)

6. She expects him to write Misery’s Return. (Part 1, Chapter 23)

7. He tells her she bought the wrong kind of paper. (Part 1, Chapter 29)

8. He leaves a bobby pin in the lock and a scuff mark on the door from his wheelchair. (Part 1, Chapter 34)

Short Answer

1. She forces him to form a dependency on her. (Part 1, various chapters)

2. He decides that because her personality forbids certain lines of thought, he will patronize her with flattery to manipulate her into treating him better. (Part 1, various chapters)

Part 2, Chapters 1-23

Reading Check

1. Annie Wilkes (Part 2, Chapter 1)

2. He gives her money from his wallet to pay her property taxes. (Part 2, Chapter 10)

3. Paul suspects she is self-harming because of her mental illness. (Part 2, Chapter 13)

4. He tells her he wants to finish the new Misery novel. (Part 2, Chapter 15)

5. He decides he must kill Annie. (Part 2, Chapter 19)

6. A long butcher knife from Annie’s kitchen (Part 2, Chapter 20)

7. She says she taped hair across the pages so she would know if it had been tampered with. (Part 2, Chapter 21)

8. Annie chops it off when she believes Paul is lying about how many times he left his room. (Part 2, Chapter 22)

Short Answer

1. Paul uses cheap workarounds to bring Misery back to life, but this makes Annie mad. He rewrites it so that Misery is buried alive to fit his previous novel. (Part 2, various chapters)

2. Annie’s scrapbook has news articles about Annie’s connection to various crimes. Paul suspects she is guilty of killing many people. (Part 2, Chapter 18)

Part 3, Chapters 1-48

Reading Check

1. He says her he can’t tell her because he is a bad storyteller. (Part 3, Chapter 9)

2. He screams, “Africa! Help me!” (Part 3, Chapter 12)

3. She stabs him with a cross and runs over him with her Lawn Boy, killing him (Part 2, Chapters 13-14)

4. She puts him on a mattress in the cellar. (Part 3, Chapter 16)

5. She wants to know the ending of Misery’s Return. (Part 3, Chapter 19)

6. He wants to take care of Annie himself. (Part 3, Chapter 29)

7. Paul uses an elaborate ruse to kill her. (Part 3, various chapters)

8. The two officers from before return and take him to safety. (Part 3, Chapter 48)

Short Answer

1. Misery is used as a pun in the novel for Paul’s relationship with the character that made him famous and his experiences with Annie. Paul is oddly invested in Misery’s outcome, although he killed her off initially to avoid having to write about her anymore. (Various chapters)

2. Paul’s plan to murder Annie includes all the things he has been thinking about and practicing. He practices lifting the typewriter, decides to tell Annie he would like to have a cigarette to light a fire, and hides lighter fluid to follow through with his plan. (Various chapters)

Part 4, Chapters 1-12

Reading Check

1. He hears Annie Wilkes saying, “Number one fan.” (Part 4, Chapter 1)

2. He is drinking too much. (Part 4, Chapter 3)

3. One million (Part 4, Chapter 3)

4. The story behind Misery’s Return—about Annie Wilkes and his captivity (Part 4, Chapter 3)

5. Annie (Part 4, Chapter 3)

6. Annie, but it is a delusion (Various chapters)

7. Next to her pig in the barn with a chainsaw (Part 4, Chapter 7)

8. A skunk and a boy (Part 4, Chapters 9-11)

Short Answer

1. He keeps seeing the image of Annie Wilkes, but he decides to keep on writing despite all he has been through. (Part 4, various chapters)

2. The physical embodiment of fandom, addiction, and the writing process (Various chapters)