As we read more into the story, we learn that Annie Wilkes is not just a friendly ‘do-gooder’. She has intense anger issues, problems with control, and displays extreme paranoid tendencies. Forensic psychologist Reid Meloy said that ‘Wilkes personality is a virtual catalogue of mental illness’. Meloy also believes she suffers from bipolar disorder. I feel that this is relevant not only to the story but to the feeling of repulsion towards Annie Wilkes. The unpredictability of her character makes the reader feel at unease, and the instability of this creates dislike towards her because she is hard to trust. As she deviates from the social norm throughout the whole book (e.g. Keeping Paul captive, murdering children and other men, hobbling Paul),
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The removal of a body part is something that no one in their life time wants to endure (especially by someone else on purpose). Again, linking this to Kristeva’s theory of abjection, the removal of a body part is something that reminds us of our own mortality. If someone else can take away this body part, who is to say they cannot take away your life? The whole situation with Annie Wilkes; keeping Paul captive, not letting anyone know where he is, hobbling him, the Thumbectomy; killing a rat with her bare hands and sucking the blood from her fingers; it is all abnormal. It’s not something that happens in day to day life, it is all enough to repulse …show more content…
His writing, his power, his masculinity are conflated, and Annie has control of all in this novel of horror’
Lant views the ‘hobbling’ as something sexual, a metaphor of his manhood, and by Annie cutting off his leg, she is taking his manhood away from him. In my opinion, King had Annie cut off Paul’s leg to increase her threat, and therefore increase the feeling of repulsion to the reader. I do not think that this is anything sexual. Annie is in love with the control she has over Paul, so when Paul misbehaves by trying to escape she has to ‘punish’ him to reinforce her dominance. Again, when Paul misbehaves over the typewriter, she cuts off his thumb, to teach him to not complain
The removal of a body part is something that no one in their life time wants to endure (especially by someone else on purpose). Again, linking this to Kristeva’s theory of abjection, the removal of a body part is something that reminds us of our own mortality. If someone else can take away this body part, who is to say they cannot take away your life? The whole situation with Annie Wilkes; keeping Paul captive, not letting anyone know where he is, hobbling him, the Thumbectomy; killing a rat with her bare hands and sucking the blood from her fingers; it is all abnormal. It’s not something that happens in day to day life, it is all enough to repulse …show more content…
His writing, his power, his masculinity are conflated, and Annie has control of all in this novel of horror’
Lant views the ‘hobbling’ as something sexual, a metaphor of his manhood, and by Annie cutting off his leg, she is taking his manhood away from him. In my opinion, King had Annie cut off Paul’s leg to increase her threat, and therefore increase the feeling of repulsion to the reader. I do not think that this is anything sexual. Annie is in love with the control she has over Paul, so when Paul misbehaves by trying to escape she has to ‘punish’ him to reinforce her dominance. Again, when Paul misbehaves over the typewriter, she cuts off his thumb, to teach him to not complain