Carrie - Lesson 8 (Point of View)

Point of View in Carrie: At the novel's climax, there are many shifts of point of view and all are away from Carrie. The last time the reader sees Carrie, she and Tommy are crowned King and Queen of the 1979 Spring Ball at ten o-seven (169).

When the bucket of blood falls, the reader is hearing it from the point of view of the perpetrator: Chris Desjardin. Best of all - since she can't see what's going on, the action is left to her imagination - and the reader's.

The music inside came to a jangling, discordant halt. For a moment
ragged voices continued oblivious, and then someone screamed.

Then inside, the laughter began (171).

Showing the point of view from other characters raises the tension because the reader wants to know what's going on in the head of the main character. We don't get back to Carrie for quite a while, and this raises the tension.

Exercise: At the climax of your work, is there a chance to increase the tension by showing it from a minor character's point of view?