There’s A Stephen King Fan Theory That ‘Matilda’ Grows Up To Be ‘Carrie’

Could two young pretty girls with fucked up families who possess the power of telekinesis actually be the same person? One fan theory circulating the internet says ‘yes’ and has the evidence to make a pretty decent case.

The argument

The theory is that after the events of Matilda take place Miss Honey decides that the memories of living in a house where Miss Trunchbull lived are too much and they should start over in a fresh place as a new family.

Miss Honey and Matilda move to Chamberlain, Maine and change their names to Margaret and Carietta, respectively. In order to come to terms with the trauma of her past, Miss Honey/Margaret becomes increasingly religious, causing Matilda/Carrie to become shy — especially concerning her telekinetic powers which she eventually stops practicing completely. Years later the two never talk about Matilda/Carrie’s powers and Matilda/Carrie begins to wonder if she had imagined them. This is where the events of the book Carrie begin.

The evidence

1. The stories are remarkably similar. Here’s a trailer that mashes up the two:

2. Both Miss Honey and Matilda had good reason to want a fresh start and to move on from their old lives. Matilda’s father was arrested by the FBI and is the kind of person would Matilda knew would always come back into her life if he thought he could get money or anything from her. Moving away and changing their names means that she could live in peace knowing he wouldn’t show up looking for her one day.

3. It’s a kids book/movie, so we don’t really feel the gravity of what happened to Miss Honey and Matilda, but it was actually pretty traumatic. They could both be suffering from PTSD which could account for the shift in personality they take in their new lives: Miss Honey becoming extremely religious and Matilda becoming subservient and shy.

What doesn’t fit

1. Matilda/Carrie survived one rotten family and came out okay, what would suddenly happen that would make her so subservient to Miss Honey/Margaret?

2. In the books, Matilda is British, though in the film adaptations she is American.

3. Matilda would actually be a prequel to Carrie as it was published in 1988. Carrie was published in 1974.

A final thought

The biggest stretch seems to be that Miss Honey suddenly becomes such a crazy person, but perhaps the theory could work without this. If something happened to Miss Honey, perhaps “Margaret” is Matilda/Carrie’s birth grandmother? Or she could be another relative of Miss Honey’s who adopts her, we all know she had at least one insane relative (Miss Trunchbull). Perhaps there are some other events that take place in between that account for the holes in this theory.

Clearly we need a new Stephen King book to bring it all together!