Margaret White

**Margaret Brigham-White**, best known as **Margaret White** is the main antagonist of Stephen King’s first horror novel, Carrie.

She is the seriously mentally ill and abusive daughter of John and Judith Brigham, the granddaughter of Sadie Cochran, the step-daughter of Harold Allison, the wife of Ralph White and the mother of Carrie White.

## Novel

### Backstory

Margaret lived with her parents, John and Judith Brigham in Motton, Maine until 1960 when she moved to Chamberlain with Ralph White.

The two were married on March 23rd, 1962 shortly after but on April 2nd, 1962 Margaret was admitted to Westover Doctors Hospital for a suspected miscarriage. She last wrote to her mother on August 19th, 1962 and later became pregnant on December of 1962, though she was convinced that she was afflicted with "cancer of the womanly parts". Her husband died on February of 1963 and she gave birth to her daughter, Carrie White alone in her house on September 21st, 1963.

On August 17th, 1966 her house was deluged with stones from the sky which were brought on by Carrie's telekinetic power after she punished her particularly hard.

### Personality

Margaret had a serious mental problem that made her devote her life to being a Christian who believed everything was sinful even sexual intercourse including within marriage. Her disorder was most likely a form of untreated schizophrenia that worsened as she aged and as a result of her untreated condition Margaret lived a life of isolation and solitude. She had no friends or contact with any other relatives but was stable enough to hide her deepest problems from the outside world and keep a full-time job working on the speed iron and folder down at the local Blue Ribbon Laundry in downtown of Chamberlain, Maine. Margaret ultimately became extremely co-dependent on her daughter, Carrie who was trapped within the unhealthy and sick world Margaret had created for them both. Though Margaret had love for her daughter her illness warped her perspective on reality and prevented her from loving Carrie in a responsible positive way. Margaret occasionally had wild fits and broke into loud rants and tantrums if she ever caught Carrie doing something that she considered a "sin" which was basically anything that didn't have to with the Bible.

Over time, Margaret berated and abused Carrie every day for sins the child may or may not have committed and she would often make the child repeat passages out of one of her many religious books or hit and beat Carrie with them. She would also scratch, punch, pull out her own hair or otherwise hurt herself in order to compel Carrie to agree with her and obey her ridiculous rules. Additionally Margaret would even lock Carrie inside of a small closet filled with religious icons so she could "pray for forgiveness" whenever Carrie displeased her. So Carrie had to stay in the closet for hours on end until her mother decided to release her. It seemed as if Margaret punished Carrie for her own personal sins and took her own inner pain and frustration out on her own daughter. In all continuities Margaret finally went off the deep end and tried to murder Carrie when she returned from the prom after killing her peers as revenge for a cruel prank involving pig's blood.

As Carrie walked home destroying the town of Chamberlain in her path Margaret met her tragic end when Carrie used her hidden telekinetic powers to kill her mother. Carrie slowly stopped her heart giving Margaret a heart attack. Carrie did this in self-defense for stabbing her with a butcher knife hitting an artery. The knife caused Carrie's death because of Carrie's blood loss and Carrie's body shut down.

### Biography

Margaret was a heavy-set woman with white hair pulled in a tight bun she always wore black clothing and sported rimless bifocal glasses. In her early years Margaret's father, John Brigham was killed in a brutal gun battle and several years later she opened a fundamentalist church group. Margaret also disliked her mother, Judith Brigham and her new husband, Harold Allison because Margaret believed that both were living in sin.

In 1960 she met the equally religious Ralph White. For some reason both viewed any form of sex even marital intercourse as sinful. One night they had premarital sex and Margaret became pregnant. The two were married on March 23rd, 1962 but on April 3rd Margaret fell down the stairs and suffered a miscarriage. She was admitted to Westover Doctors Hospital. Ralph told Margaret that they "slipped" and promised it would never happen again. However one night in December of 1963, Ralph tried to seduce Margaret and she kicked him out of the house. After Ralph came back hours later after heavy drinking at a roadhouse in Chamberlain Ralph forced himself on Margaret and both engaged in intercourse in an "unearthly" form of marital rape. Margaret liked and loathed the event. A while later her daughter, Carrie White was conceived and Ralph was killed in a construction accident. Ralph's accident took place 7 months before Carrie's birth. At only a few months of age Carrie's powers already began to manifest as she cradled her bottle above her crib using only her mind. The event was witnessed by Margaret who attempted to kill Carrie as a result. Margaret practically chastised Carrie from right to wrong and began teaching the child that everything that one can think of is a "sin" a result of her abnormal beliefs. Margaret's constant scolding continued from Carrie's childhood to her teenage years. All the while Carrie was repeatedly teased and bullied by her classmates at every school she ever attended. When she told her mother, however Margaret would scold her again for believing the others were right in "God's eyes" telling her she was committing a sin or throw her into the closet. Furthermore when Carrie was almost 3 years old she conversed with a young girl next door about her breasts Margaret became very unhinged and started to scratch herself, howl and scream shaking violently she grabbed Carrie and shoved her back in the house to give her a harsh reprimand for associating with their young neighbor. She also threatened Carrie with a butcher knife. As a result of this rocks and hail fell on different parts of the White's house that day. No one could explain how it happened but somehow Margaret knew. Carrie experienced her first period at age of 15 and Margaret had never discussed menstruation with her prior to the incident. That same day she was contacted through a telephone about Carrie's ordeal from school and began to violently beat Carrie when she returned home from work. Margaret then tormented, slapped, pushed, pulled and threw Carrie into the closet and Carrie became vulgar with her mother. Then when Carrie told her that she was invited to the prom Margaret became incensed and threw tea at her. She then told Carrie that boys only wanted "sex" from young girls like herself. Carrie however had heard enough about everything being sinful. She wanted a new beginning and saw the prom as a part of that change. Margaret still did not want Carrie to go and began slapping her. Margaret ordered Carrie to go to the closet to pray but Carrie refused. Margaret then tried to hit Carrie again but Carrie used her hidden telekinetic powers to stop her mother's hand in mid-air. Margaret then deduced that "Satan" had began his work on Carrie but the girl made it clear that it was her power and not Satan. When prom might arrived Margaret and Carrie got into another argument about the prom. Margaret suggested that Carrie should burn her prom dress and pray for forgiveness with her but Carrie refused. Margaret then started to scratch and punch herself in the face but Carrie used her power to slide her mother out of the room. After that she left for the prom while Margaret loudly prayed in another room. Margaret and Carrie did not see each other again until much later in the evening when Carrie returned home dripping with pig’s blood from head to toe Margaret had finally lost her sanity and managed to hide the knife under her dress. When Carrie saw her mother and vice versa both were shocked to realize that one wanted to kill the other. Margaret then told Carrie about how she considered on killing herself after having intercourse for the first time, her miscarriage and how Carrie was conceived due to marital rape.

She took out her knife and told Carrie that she tried to kill her twice before during the first few years of her life but didn't because she was "weak". As Carrie fell on her knees Margaret stabbed her child in the shoulder with the knife. Carrie returned the attack by using her powers to slow her mother's heart to a crawl. She spoke to her mother saying that she would give her darkness and send her to "whatever God lives there". While Margaret attempted to recite the Lord's prayer her heart came to a complete stop. Carrie then left the house afterwards.

## 1976 Film

    Margaret White is portrayed by Piper Laurie in the 1976 film. She has auburn hair and a small frame.

Margaret is shown to be very religious and very creepy. Her clothes and her hair are very witch-like and she has a very religious background. Margaret is very evil and abusive to her daughter, Carrie White. She locks her in the closet and orders her to pray for "forgiveness" when she learns about the shower incident because she says it is a "curse" for Eve's disobedience offering Adam the fruit and creating the original sin. When Carrie reveals that she has been invited to the prom Margaret tells her not to go which forces Carrie to throw her on to the bed. Margaret first discovers Carrie's telekinetic powers when she slams all the windows shut trapping her in and Carrie tells her she is going to the prom. For the mere reason of having telekinesis she then tells her she is a witch and that witches should die according to God. After Carrie returns home from the prom Margaret then tells Carrie that before she was born she was raped by her father, Ralph White and after gaining her trust she stabs Carrie in the back. Margaret then makes a crazy and wicked smile as she follows Carrie down the stairs ready to kill her as though she on some sort of mission. Before she has the chance to do it however Carrie sends a group of knifes pinning her against the doorway and killing her instantly thus ending her life once and for all.

She then screams in pain and agony as Carrie crucifies her so that she won't recover from her attack and continue to try to kill her. While this happens she then shows a creepy smile after letting out a big painful and death scream Margaret dies. Her death then causes Carrie to destroy the house with both of them in it before killing herself on the way.

## Trivia

* She shares similarities to Mrs. Carmody from The Mist and Barbara Lang from *The Rage: Carrie 2* as they are all deeply religious.

* She also shares similarities to Dahlia Gillespie from the Silent Hill series as they are both fanatically religious and they both abused their own daughters.

* She is also similar to Ed Gein's mother, Augusta Gein who inspired Norma Bates from *Psycho*.

* Despite being the main antagonist she wasn't revealed to be the true villain until the very end.

* Like Barbara Lang she too suffers from mental illness however unlike Margaret, Barbara is more laid-back as she does not abuse her daughter, Rachel Lang as much as Margaret abuses Carrie White.

* Her death in the 1976 film and the 2002 remake won The Golden Chainsaw Award in Dead Meat’s kill count.

* Piper Laurie's portrayal of Margaret earned her nominations for The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and The Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress in Motion Picture.

* Margaret's religion is suggested to be of her own making consisting mostly of elements from fundamentalism but takes some Catholic and Orthodox concepts like sainthood this is made clearer in the 2013 remake when Carrie suggests that her recount of the fall of man is non-Biblical and in fact overemphasize sexual immorality with which Margaret is fixated on.

* In the novel Margaret has hallucinations of a mysterious "Black Man" and a burning "3-lobed eye" both are references to the horrid deity, Nyarlathotep from The Cthulhu Mythos by the author, H.P. Lovecraft or simply the demonic wizard, Randall Flagg under one of his many known aliases.