Cujo
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| File:Cujo.jpg First edition cover | |
| Author | Stephen King |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Horror |
| Publisher | Viking Press |
Publication date | September 8, 1981 |
| Publication place | USA |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 319 |
| ISBN | 978-0-670-45193-7 |
Cujo (1981) is a psychological horror novel by Stephen King about a rabid dog. The novel won the British Fantasy Award in 1982,[1] and was made into a film in 1983.
Background
Cujo's name was based on the nom de guerre of Willie Wolfe, one of the men responsible for orchestrating Patty Hearst's kidnapping and indoctrination into the Symbionese Liberation Army.[2][3]
Stephen King discusses Cujo in On Writing, referring to it as a novel he "barely remembers writing at all". The book was written during a period when King was drinking heavily. Somewhat wistfully, King goes on to say that he likes the book and that he wishes he could remember enjoying the good parts as he put them down on the page.[4]
Plot
The story takes place in the fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine, the setting of numerous King works, and revolves around two local families. The narrative is interspersed with vignettes from the seemingly mundane lives of various other residents. There are no chapter headings, but rather breaks in between passages, which indicate when the narration switches to a different point of view.
The principal characters are the Trenton and the Camber families. The middle-class Trenton family have recently moved to Castle Rock from New York, bringing with them their four-year-old son, Tad. Father Vic discovers that his wife Donna has recently concluded an affair. In the midst of this household tension, Vic's fledgling advertising agency is failing, and he is forced to travel out of town, leaving his wife and son behind. The blue-collar Camber family are longtime residents; Joe is a shade-tree mechanic who dominates and abuses his wife Charity and their ten-year-old son Brett. Charity wins the state lottery, and uses the proceeds to inveigle Joe into allowing her to take Brett on a trip to visit Charity's sister, Holly, in Connecticut. Joe secretly plans to use the time to take a pleasure trip to Boston.
Cujo, Joe's large, good-natured St. Bernard chases a rabbit in the fields around the Cambers' house and gets his head stuck in the entrance to a small limestone cave where a bat bites him on the nose and infects him with an especially virulent strain of rabies. Cujo is succumbed to the disease, and becomes mad in one day. Soon after Charity and Brett leave town, Cujo attacks and kills their neighbor Gary Pervier. Joe goes to the Pervier home to check on Gary, only to find him dead. Before Joe is able to call authorities for help, Cujo attacks and kills him as well.
Donna, home alone with Tad, takes their failing Ford Pinto to the Cambers' for repairs. The car breaks down in Camber's dooryard and as Donna attempts to find Joe, Cujo appears and is ready to pounce. She climbs back in the car and Cujo starts to attack. Donna and Tad become trapped in their vehicle, the interior of which is becoming increasingly hot in the hot sun. During one escape attempt, Donna is bitten in the stomach and leg, but manages to survive and escape back into the car. She considers running for the Cambers' home but is afraid the door will be locked and she will be subsequently killed by Cujo, leaving her son alone, and abandons the idea.
Vic returns to Castle Rock after several failed attempts to contact Donna. He also learns from the police that Steve Kemp, the man with whom Donna was having an affair, is suspected of ransacking his home and possibly kidnapping Donna and Tad. In an effort to explore all leads, the state police send Castle Rock Sheriff George Bannerman out to the Cambers' house. When George gets there, Cujo attacks and kills him. Donna witnesses this, and realizes that Tad is dying of dehydration, and that she must act to save his life. She faces Cujo down with a bat, breaking it over his head and fatally stabbing him in the eye with the broken end. Vic arrives immediately afterwards, only to discover that Tad has died. Donna is rushed to the hospital, and Cujo's head is removed for a biopsy and his body is cremated.
The story ends several months later with both the Trentons and the Cambers trying to go on with their lives. Donna has completed her treatment for rabies and her marriage with Vic has survived. The book ends with Charity giving Brett a new, vaccinated puppy named Willie, and a postscript reminds the reader that Cujo was a good dog who always tried to do the right thing by his owners, and that it was the ravages of disease which drove him to violence.
References
- ^ "1982 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
- ^ March 1, 1976. Patty's Long Ordeal on the Stand [1] Time.com
- ^ August 14, 1981. Cujo: New York Times Book Review [2] New York Times.com
- ^ King, Stephen. On Writing, page 110, Hodder & Stoughton, 2000, ISBN 978-0-340-82046-9
