A dispassionate news item at the very beginning of the book introduces its two main characters, Carrie and Margaret White. This matter-of-fact account segues into the visceral, emotional action that takes place in the locker room when Carrie starts her period. This incident not only sparks the action that drives the rest of the plot, but it also highlights the book’s main conflict between Carrie and Margaret by depicting a girl whose mother who would allow her to move about the world in such an uninformed way. This is just one example of the conflict between these two characters, who will continue their struggle of will until the very end even though their battle ensures their mutual destruction.

Another factual statement details Carrie’s telekinesis, which is both the source of her internal conflict and the signal that she has finally come of age. The news item foreshadows the significance of the rain of stones and links it to Carrie, who gains agency as the action rises and she continues to learn more about her powers, her ability to control them, and the role that they could play in escaping her current existence. At this point, Carrie knows about the curse of blood but has yet to learn the full implications of original sin, which is her mother’s primary motivation for making their world so small.

The sudden cessation of action in Section 7 provides a contrast from the flurry of activity leading up to prom, a transition for the characters to anticipate the evening ahead, and a calm before the storm of chaos ensues. Sue’s worry that her period is late is a far cry from the carefree, coming-of-age ritual that her peers are enjoying at prom, and her absence of blood foreshadows the blood that will soon spill during the climax. The run-off vote for King and Queen brings the evening to yet another halt and adds to the feeling of immense tension that also foreshadows the climax.

Once the winners are announced and the band commences, it is a fast crescendo to the drop of the buckets that transforms Carrie from a meek girl whom others bully into an avenging angel with a fiery sword. When the reality of the prank sets in, events unfold in the same brisk manner as they did before the prom but with sinister undertones that suggest the evening will climax again before it comes to a bloody and brutal end. The same decorations and dresses that everyone admired just an hour ago are now covered in blood, soaked in water, and bursting into flames. Once Carrie escapes the stares and laughter of her peers and collects herself outside, her desire for revenge and her powers increase at breakneck speed. She graduates from slamming doors and freeing electrical wires to dismantling fire hydrants and downing power lines. She is unstoppable, and it looks as if each act of destruction fuels her desire to invoke more as she weaves her way through the entire town of Chamberlain.

The action falls as Carrie embarks on the slow journey home where she enacts her most personal vendetta. The final standoff between a mother and daughter who are now mortal enemies ends in a flash of the knife that Margaret has brandished throughout the book; however, Carrie ends Margaret’s life and their conflict with one another in a quiet, anticlimactic way. Time passes slowly as Carrie drags herself to The Cavalier, the place of her final act of retribution and of her death. Her final moments are nearly as quiet as her mother’s, and it is only through death that she finally resolves her inner conflict. Sue’s journey to The Cavalier is similarly plodding, but once she arrives, she finds comfort in her ability to resolve Carrie’s feelings by showing Carrie once and for all that she bears her no ill will.

Carrie’s story does not end along with her life. The final, and briefest, part of the book sifts through the wreckage of her story and the events of prom night. In this denouement, several sources weigh in with different interpretations of what led to the events and who bears responsibility for them and resolves that the likelihood of another occurrence is low. However, the final letter reveals the opposite to be true, but the type of tragedy likely to unfold remains unknown.