summary
Doctor Louis Creed gets a job and he and his family move near Ludlow, Maine from Chicago. He becomes best friends with his old neighbor , Jud Crandall, who's lived in Ludlow his whole life. A few weeks later, a bicyclist that was hit by a car is brought into the hospital where Louis works on him. He dies of a bashed in head and Louis begins seeing him in his dreams, warning him of going beyond the Pet Sematary. He doesn't let it worry him.
Later, when Louis's family leaves to see the grandparents for Thanksgiving, their cat, Church is hit by a car. Louis puts him in a bag and is led by Jud, no questions asked, beyond the Pet Sematary where they bury him. The next day, Church returns home alive, but is not quite the same. His family never knew what happened.
Several months later, Louis's young toddler, Gage, runs into the road before and gets hit by a semi truck. After the funeral, Louis digs up his son's body despite the warnings and buries him up past the Pet Sematary. The resurrected Gage sneaks into Louis's room that night and steals a scalpel from his bag. He kills his mother, Rachel, and Jud. Louis kills Church and injects Gage with his lethal medical chemicals, killing him. He burns down the Crandall house and carries his wife up to the Pet Sematary to bury her, claiming that he had waited too long with Gage. She returns to him.
Later, when Louis's family leaves to see the grandparents for Thanksgiving, their cat, Church is hit by a car. Louis puts him in a bag and is led by Jud, no questions asked, beyond the Pet Sematary where they bury him. The next day, Church returns home alive, but is not quite the same. His family never knew what happened.
Several months later, Louis's young toddler, Gage, runs into the road before and gets hit by a semi truck. After the funeral, Louis digs up his son's body despite the warnings and buries him up past the Pet Sematary. The resurrected Gage sneaks into Louis's room that night and steals a scalpel from his bag. He kills his mother, Rachel, and Jud. Louis kills Church and injects Gage with his lethal medical chemicals, killing him. He burns down the Crandall house and carries his wife up to the Pet Sematary to bury her, claiming that he had waited too long with Gage. She returns to him.
Themes
Grief - Experiencing the loss of many people along the way, including family members, moves the story along as to what step next Louis should take. Everyone else in Ludlow is affected too. The wendigo feeds on the grief of Louis, driving him more insane.
Resurrection - Instead of the wondrous miracle of the Raising of Lazarus, Stephen King uses resurrection as the wendigo's way of spreading cannibalism. Evil - The wendigo drives Louis to bury his family members, which spreads more and more evil throughout he world. The book ends with Rachel being brought back because the reader can expect the situation to only get worse; the evil continues on. |
Quote
“When they’re watching a horror movie, everyone in the audience knows the hero or the heroine is stupid to go up those stairs, but in real life they always do [...]”(228).
The hero or heroine knows that what they are doing is stupid, but curiosity gets the better of them. They can't help but investigate the unknown.
The hero or heroine knows that what they are doing is stupid, but curiosity gets the better of them. They can't help but investigate the unknown.