Misery: Part 3, Chapters 23-33 Summary & Analysis

Paul drifts in a morphine stupor. Still looking at the grill, he starts to have an idea, but he falls asleep. Later, he wakes and “the boys in the sweatshop” of his imagination reinvoke the idea of burning something. Paul considers whether Annie was right about Fast Cars being “a bad book” compared to Misery’s Return. He grapples with the truth: the books he thought of as his “real work” failed to garner the critical attention he desired. Perhaps he never hated Misery, but the fact that she was more popular than him. There is lighter fluid near the grill. Paul would be devastated if Annie made him burn Misery’s Return, but he realizes the important question is how much it would hurt Annie.

Annie returns late in the afternoon, exhausted. Paul refuses her offer of another morphine shot, not wanting her to find the lighter fluid tucked into his underpants. She carries him back to his room and sets out some paper and pencils. Paul tells her he should be able to finish the book in under two weeks, and he asks her not to read anymore so the ending won’t feel fragmented. It will be, in his words, “very hot stuff.” Annie sleeps for the rest of the day. In the evening, Paul hides the lighter fluid behind a loose baseboard. He writes for four hours before turning in.

In chapter 37 of Misery’s Return, Geoffrey is waiting outside the tent of the Bourkas chief, whose hut is filled with torches. He intends to kill the chief when Hezekiah leads him out from inside the tent. The chapter is interrupted midsentence, as Paul hears an approaching vehicle. When Annie rushes in, he has already moved away from the window. She decides to trust Paul, closing the door but not locking it. Two state police officers exit the car: a large man who Paul calls Goliath, and a smaller plainclothesman he thinks of as David. Paul weighs his options but ultimately chooses to stay hidden, because he wants to take care of Annie himself. He alone knows how to hurt her.

Annie has been listening to the radio for news of the missing officer, whose name was Duane Kushner. Although his search for Paul has been reported, his disappearance has not yet been connected to Paul’s own. Paul listens as Annie invites David and Goliath inside. Annie answers their questions about Kushner with ease, claiming he seemed disappointed by her lack of intel. When asked what’s down the hall from the parlor, Annie says there is a spare bedroom and bathroom, inviting them to take a look. They decline, but they ask to see the barn. Annie permits this, asking them to say hello to Misery, her pig.

After the David and Goliath leave, Annie seems confused. She does not understand why Paul did not scream for help. He assures her that he wants to finish his book—this is true. She urges him on, having seen the officers share a look of unease. Paul keeps writing, pushing toward a climax with Misery’s life hanging in the balance. Three days after the police visit, a news crew arrives, but Annie chases them off with her shotgun. She scrapes gashes into her forehead, telling Paul this is what they want to see. The local police come by as well. Surprisingly, Paul feels a little bad for Annie, who is clearly being harassed. The next time the officers come, she tells Paul, they will have a search warrant.