" in Annie Wilkes, he (Stephen King, author's remark) has created his most monstrous of monsters. Ultimate Evil as Ultimate Banality".
(www.stephenkingnews.com/books/misery.html).
How can you best describe Annie Wilkes? Obsessed, eccentric, emotionally unstable, mentally ill, perhaps bi-polar manic-depressive or even schizophrenic. All of these terms aptly describe Stephen King's Annie Wilkes.
She is a diverse and enthralling character. Although loathing immediately comes to mind when thinking of Annie the very nature of her character makes you want to discover more about her. What evil will she next inflict on Paul Sheldon?.
Living alone, her house is situated in a depopulated area miles from town. Annie Wilkes is not a normal woman. She lives her life vicariously through Paul Sheldon's Misery novels and it's main character Misery Chastain. Even her pet pig is named Misery.
Annie is a large woman and not feminine in manner at all. Wearing either large cardigans that hide her shape and wool skirts in dull colours or jeans and flannelette shirts her hair is brown and short and un-styled. She never wears make-up.
Annie first appears to us in the book when she rescues author Paul Sheldon from the wreck of his car that has skidded off the road during a storm. It is when she drags him from the wreck and then carries him to her car that we get some indication of her strength. .
On first appearance she is very non-threatening and even appears as the mothering, nurturing type. Soft voiced and smiling, to Paul Sheldon she seems a nice caring woman who has rescued him from an almost certain death in the freezing conditions.
As he drifts in and out of consciousness in his lucid moments she identifies herself as a trained nurse but most importantly "she is his number one fan". Feeding, shaving and tending his injuries she constantly encourages him to take his Novril to help with the pain. Ten days after his rescue Paul wakes from his coma and becomes aware of some frightening realities:.