The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty - Essay Example

The deceptively simple story focuses primarily on Regan, the 11-year-old daughter of a movie actress who is residing in Washington, D.C.; the child of which is possessed by an ancient demon. The situation is then left up to a small yet determined group of humans to somehow rescue the young girl from this unspeakable fate. “Purposefully raw and profane, this novel still has the extraordinary ability to shock us into forgetting that it is ‘just a story’. The Exorcist remains a truly unforgettable reading experience.” – Stanley Wiater. The book tells the story of what happens when the actress finds her child behaving most peculiarly; after extensive medical examinations and visits to the psychiatrist, the mother decides that the child is possessed, and the child then begins talking in strange voices, shrieking and committing obscenities and violently abusing herself and anyone who approaches her.
The Exorcist explored areas and realms of fear in numerous different ways. The clash between good and evil was depicted incredibly emotionally and graphically in this novel, and the significantly obvious religious motives in the film caused incredible controversy among most of the overall audience, while the Catholic Church embraced the strength of the film’s religious overtones.
The perhaps most explored forms of fear which are depicted take place between Regan and herself – Regan and Regan with the demon speaking from within her; such as when she speaks a language that both her mother and the priest claim, quite obviously, she would never have known.
At first, the priest does not want to do an exorcism, although the mother pleads with him, telling him that she has tried everything else and “somebody please help me.” There are numerous fears depicted in this novel, some of which are so subtle that they may often be even unrecognizable entirely to the reader, such as the fears emitted by the priests. Both men come off as incredibly strong, faithful individuals, but when Priest Karras hears Regan tell him of his mother’s death, he becomes incredibly frightened. He asks Regan’s mother as he’s leaving the house whether there was any way Regan could have known of his mother’s death, to which she replied, “Not at all. Why’d you ask?” “It’s not important good night.” Responded Karras. This shows how although Karras is fearful, understanding, and realizing for sure at this point that Regan is possessed, he does not want to put any further strain on the mother, and rather than telling her, he leaves and consoles himself, understanding now what he has to do.
The exorcism itself is incredibly lengthy, and unexplainably ruthless, putting Karras to most likely the greatest challenge and testament of his life. Each person in the novel is put through their test of fears and strengths, although all end up with positive resolutions. There is certainly a significant validity to the exploration of such fears as these, and in regards to whether or not the novel ‘goes too far’; depends on the reader’s opinion. I believe that the novel does not go too far but rather shows an occurrence in life – whether based on an actual event or not – which must be taken with great seriousness and understanding. The issue of faith, strength, and belief in a higher power are all explored heavily in this novel, and yet each exploration is truly helpful in its way. When Karras reenters Regan’s bedroom near the end of the novel, sees Merrin’s face down on her bed, and realizes that he is dead, he loses control, grabbing Regan and throwing her to the floor, shaking her and nearly strangling her in his fury. This is quite truly one of the most intense, fear-depicting points of the novel when Karras screams to the demon in Regan “Take me! Come into me! God damn you! Take me! Take me!” The demon then manipulates itself from Regan into Karras, and, with his last anguished cry, Karras then throws himself out of the bedroom window, falling to his death on the concrete steps at the bottom of the house.
The joining together of people to rescue this little girl from her unspeakable possession is another issue of great significance; whether or not these people can withstand the troubles and their fears and triumph as the result of overcoming it all and saving her. Throughout all the trials and misfortune in this novel, they do in the end come out victorious, in an emotional saving of Regan; although only through the death of two brave men do they do so.
The Exorcist remains a truly unforgettable reading experience and is even more horrifying to learn that it was based on an alleged documented event. The fears depicted in this novel truly bring together a feeling of great emotion and seriousness, regardless of one’s overall personal view of the novel itself. Although some claim that the novel went ‘too far, in all actuality, what it did was bring about certain issues that may otherwise not have been spoken about at all, being informative and incredibly serious on such a basically otherwise taboo subject.  Read More