Cujo

Building on the momentum in the previous section of the novel, this section focuses largely on Donna. Her thoughts incite meditations on her position as a mother, her tenacity, and her looming fears. Here, King’s skill in writing specific points of view is essential. His sections from Donna’s perspective provide truth and reality not only to the exterior, horrific setting of Camber yard but also to her interior consciousness. Through intense development of Donna’s character, this section of the novel further establishes her position as Cujo’s protagonist and sets up the remaining trajectory of her character arc. While the previous section articulated Donna’s internal conflict (her fears of powerlessness), this section articulates her external conflict in the story: surviving the monster in Cujo.

King affirms Donna’s importance to Cujo structurally by using her point of view to present many of the novel’s key events. For instance, King describes Donna and Tad’s arrival at the Camber yard from her point of view. This mirrors the conclusion of her conflict with Cujo in the novel’s final pages, where Donna’s confrontation—and the eventual discovery of Tad’s death—is almost entirely from her point of view as well. The tale of Donna, Tad, and Cujo is thus a full circle that begins in the same way it ends, emphasizing the fable-like qualities of the drama. King’s choice to inhabit Donna’s point of view through most of this section allows him to create a sense of reality, urgency, and horror around the events. Using Donna’s adult senses, particularly as a mother keen on protecting her son, King builds the momentum in this section as her dreadful situation worsens. In this way, Donna is an important dramatic tool that King relies on throughout Cujo.

Consider Donna’s initial observations of the Camber yard and the evolution of her thought process as the scene evolves. King structures the scene not around visuals but around Donna’s audible observations: “The quiet struck her at once. It was so hot and quiet that it was somehow unnerving” (147). All she hears is birdsong and wind. As an intelligent, mature observer, Donna immediately recognizes that something may be wrong. King affords insight into his protagonist’s mind with meticulous detail, tracking Donna’s every thought: “I’d hear [Joe Camber] if he was working in the barn,” Donna thinks to herself (147). By describing the scene through Donna’s eyes (versus Tad’s childlike perspective), King creates dramatic tension and plays on anticipation for Donna to realize that she and her son are in danger. Soon enough, Cujo reveals himself—as Donna walks back to the car, confused about why she doesn’t hear any human activity on the Camber property: “[S]he heard a new sound. A low, thick growling [that was] seemingly directionless. It was nowhere. It was everywhere” (148). Cujo makes his presence known through sound (as elsewhere in the novel); however, the sound seemingly has no particular origin, emphasizing Cujo’s thematic presentation of the monster as a figure that is both everywhere and nowhere, inhabiting no one being but present in every being. Donna’s thoughts become fractured and abstract upon confronting Cujo for the first time; King writes them almost poetically, breaking up her thoughts in sections on the page as if they were in verse. This structure creates a horrific effect of its own, capturing the feeling of adrenaline and adding to the scene’s realism.

The narrative’s structure here is important to understanding King’s construction of scenes throughout the rest of the novel. He relies on characters’ inner thoughts to establish a specific setting, build dramatic momentum through their observations, and drive the scene toward a climax. Donna makes initial observations of the Camber property and Cujo—and realizes that she must fight to survive and save her son. This section of Cujo represents a turning point in the story. Whereas previous sections concerned characters’ relations and dramatic setups, this section sets a new tone. Now that the Trentons are at the Camber place, the stage is set for the primary conflict between Donna and Cujo, toward which previous sections built. The shared destiny of Donna, Tad, and Cujo is imminent. The remainder of the novel witnesses the tragic unfolding of their fates.