The Importance Of Picnic Day In Carrie

Throughout the novel Carrie flashbacks the happy moments that no longer exist after the death of her father. One of which is her memory of the picnic day in which she uses a variation of similes and metaphors that represent perfection to her like the warmness after the cold and the bedtime story, every child’s favorite.

Picnic Day was Daddy’s invention and Momma tried it with Richard once but I wouldn’t let her. Picnic Day was as good as when the teacher says class is going to be outside under the sycamore tree because it’s the first warm, sunny day after the cold winter. Picnic Day was as good as peeling the skin off an apple in one long curly strip. Momma would make fried chicken and start packing the wicker basket the day before Picnic Day.

Besides being able to trace the grounds of anger in Caroline’s personality, one could also trace the symptoms of this anger. Some of which are; Nervousness, lack of concentration, self-resentment, and the tendency to conspire, plot and take revenge. Through the undeviating choice of words, Caroline’s nervousness is explicitly revealed when she repeats the words “I’m so nervous” more than once (Flock 33 & 102), and implicitly divulged through the juvenile similes she uses. To clarify, Carrie tries to express her inner anger, and thus nervousness, through her similes “The second bell rings almost as loud as my heart is beating” and “I’m concentrating on my heart which is beating in my chest like a bird flapping its wings against a cage, trying to get free” (Flock 34). Even though the similes used are highly referential, they also express the innocence of the eight-year old girl and how what she is going through exceeds her durability. As a matter of fact, lack of concentration accompanies Carrie throughout the novel; this is made clear through her repetition of “I swear” trying to prove that it is the first time for her to hear such things while actually it is not. She says “When on earth did we learn multiplication? I swear I have no idea how an x between two numbers is supposed to change what they’re worth”, also when she says “I swear I didn’t even hear the bell ring” (Flock 36). Caroline’s lack of concentration leads to a discernible deterioration in her level at school and her lack of interest in learning. Nevertheless, through the stream of consciousness, one can trail how Carrie’s anger leads to her self-resentment and continuous self-blame; she always blames herself for what she says and does in a burdensome way which adds to her misery and widens her inner conflict like when she says “ What did I just say…for goodness sake.