Carrie

"What happens if there are others like her? What happens to the world?"

Stephen King's novel Carrie has been seen many times in the Lost series. In A Tale of Two Cities, it's the book club book chosen by Juliet. In Not in Portland we see it on a nightstand in Juliet's sister's home. Also, Ben is reading it on One of Us, in a flashback, in preparation for the book club.

Some Key Points in Bullets:

• Carrie White is telekinetic.
• Who on the island is telekinetic? It seems Walt is, and maybe even Jacob or Ben.
• The novel purports that TK is genetic (p. 233) perhaps there is some sort of test for the gene, and this could be one of the things going on with the island.
• In the Room 23 V-cast we see a load of dead birds on the ground after something Walt has done. What if the birds smashing into walls and windows is only a side effect from what Walt is doing with his mind. Sort of like the town's people just "knowing" Carrie is behind what's going on.
• What if Jacob's cabin chaos is also a side effect of him using TK to try to communicate with Locke.
  
• Carrie makes the things in the town happen by picturing it in her mind. Could this be what happens in Room 23? The flashes on the screen allow the viewer to make things happen according to what the pictures suggest?

• Throughout the book, Carrie hears a constant inner voice. It drove her to practice her TK, it drove her to kill her mother, and it drove her to destroy her school and town.

• The town "knew" that Carrie was causing all of the things going on without anyone telling them or anyone really seeing her do it. It was like she was in their minds telling them what she was feeling and doing. It was like they were able to hear her inner dialogue in their minds.
  
• Could this be how Ben tells Harper what he wants her to do, or how he communicates with the others when he is captured?
• The book has a lot of blood in it. It's all stemmed from blood, from Carrie's first period , to pig's blood flowing over her at the prom, to the blood of the town that flows when she begins her reign of terror and destruction. Carrie's blossom into womanhood and with it her ability to become pregnant is the catalyst for all that happened in the story.
  
• Carrie's mother thinks that womanhood is dirty, conception is dirty, and as a matter of fact viewed her own pregnancy as terminal cancer before she knew better.
• To Carrie's mother, sex as painful, sinful, bad, and dirty.
• Ben feels that Alex (having sex) becoming pregnant would be catastrophic, as all pregnant women on the island die.
• We see Kate struggle with having sexual relations with Sawyer as she thinks she is pregnant.
  
• For the longest time Jin was very protective of Sun showing her body too much, as if it was sinful or shameful for a woman to do that.
  
• The Prom was to be a new start for Carrie. Almost everyone viewed her differently (like Roger Linus and his new start on the island?).
  
• The chaos in town was very reminiscent of the chaos in Jacob's cabin when he and Locke go there. Is Jacob like Carrie, and if so does he lose control of what he is able to do when he gets upset?
  

Losties Versus Carrie:

• Juliet- She proclaims that Carrie is her favorite book. Is this because she identifies with Carrie on some level?
  
• She was sent to the island as a new beginning. She was told by Ben that she was needed but was lied to about how long for, and also as to the circumstances of her stay. This is like Carrie, who was led to believe the prom would be wonderful, but was then subjected to pig's blood on her head and ridicule just like always, even though that was not what was intended.
  
• The kids at the prom sort of adopted a mob mentality and in their hysterics resorted to laughter at Carrie because that's what they had known in the past. Is this what Juliet being branded was all about? She was just a victim of what the inhabitants knew to be the thing to do in crisis?
• Walt- He seems to be telekinetic, and so was Carrie.
  
• Is this what makes him special, or does it make him an outcast. Is his "specialness" what makes his step-father wary of him.
  
• Is he unable to control the things that he is able to do (the birds), like Carrie was at the end of the book?

• Ben- Like Carrie, he is the sort of person that would invite ridicule if he were in the real world. One of those strange, maniacal people that no one really gets. I wonder if he didn't take over power and make everything "his", would one of the bodies in the pit have been him, rather than he being a huge cause of all the chaos that went on the day of the purge.
  
• In a way I wonder if the purge as an idea was fine for him, like Carrie making her mind stronger and practicing her TK (flex). As she got more upset though, it sort of got out of her control, until the chaos from the prom just really led to her destruction. It started happening and she just couldn't and wouldn't stop it. I wonder if the purge became like that? An ultimate revenge for Ben against his father that just sort of spiraled out of control, but he wouldn't and couldn't stop it.
• Jacob- Like Carrie, it seems that whoever or whatever Jacob is, he has some weird abilities that allow him to do the things that he can do. Is he telekinetic?
• He seems to cause all of the stuff in his cabin to fly around, and catch on fire. He makes his cabin hop around the island, and he can't be seen by everyone. I'm going on the idea here that it is indeed Jacob that is making all of this happen and not actually someone else like Locke or Ben (whether willingly or unknowingly by them).

Final Bullets:

• I sort of want to say Carrie White is telekinetic and so is Walt...the end. I want it to be as simple as that, but I also re-read this book before Season 4 began. We now know there is a heck of a lot more going on on that island than people being able to move things with their minds.
• What if it really is that simple though? Maybe Stephen King was onto something when he writes about TK being genetic. Maybe having the TK gene in combination with getting near the island, and being exposed to electromagnetism makes Desmond get unglued in time. Could this be what Ben is trying to get a handle on?
• Wiki has quite a lengthy entry on Psychokinesis (aka Telekinesis), and often lumps teleportation into the theme and term of TK.
• I'm also curious as to why this book in particular is Juliet's favorite. What about that story strikes a chord with her? Don't get me wrong, it's a great book, but in my experience for something to be your "favorite" you really need to identify with it on a deeper level.
  

Coming Soon: VALIS by Philip K. Dick