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Natural phenomena such as tides and weather symbolize entrapment by forces outside of one’s control. Paul initially associates the pain in his shattered legs with a childhood memory of jagged pilings which are routinely covered and exposed by tidal movement. The Novril pills (and Annie, as their provider) act as the moon which pulls the tide of relief over the pain of the pilings—but inevitably, the tide goes back out after a time, and Paul has no control over its return.
Similarly, Paul imagines Annie’s volatile shifts in mood as an immutable cycle, like seasons in the natural world. Like the weather, Annie’s psychosis expresses itself in emotional highs and lows. On the occasions where her mood darkens rapidly, Paul thinks of her as “Hurricane Annie,” emphasizing the violent and destructive behavior that inevitably results from such sudden anger. Paul’s survival is dependent upon Annie, so while her moods are often unpredictable, he frequently feels trapped by their sudden shifts.
Finally, the literal change of seasons that Paul witnesses through the guest room window plays a vital role in determining his fate. Paul realizes that the car he crashed will likely be discovered when the snow melts in spring, and when that happens, Annie will see no other choice but to kill him. In Paul’s mind, then, the approach of the spring thaw becomes synonymous with unavoidable death.
Natural Phenomena Quotes in Misery
The Misery quotes below all refer to the symbol of Natural Phenomena. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Part 1, Chapters 1-13
Quotes
The pain wasn’t tidal. That was the lesson of the dream which was really a memory. The pain only appeared to come and go. The pain was like the piling, sometimes covered and sometimes visible, but always there. When the pain wasn’t harrying him through the deep stone grayness of his cloud, he was dumbly grateful, but he was no longer fooled—it was still there, waiting to return.
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Part 1, Chapters 29-36
Quotes
He looked around quickly, chin down on his breastbone, eyes crafty and frightened. Although he knew it was too soon to be feeling any relief, he did feel it—having the pills, it seemed, was even more important than taking the pills. It was as if he had been given control of the moon and the tides—or had just reached up and taken it. It was a huge thought, awesome…and yet also frightening, with undertones of guilt and blasphemy.
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Natural Phenomena Symbol Timeline in Misery
The timeline below shows where the symbol Natural Phenomena appears in Misery. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part 1, Chapters 1-13
...beach his mother and father took him to as a child, where he watched the tide go in and out, covering and revealing a jagged piling. He feels his pain is...
(full context)
...on his own again. Dreaming, Paul realizes his pain stems from the piling, not the tide: it’s always present, but it’s occasionally obscured. Gradually, he understands there are two pilings: his...
(full context)
...back into him regularly feeds him pills. Paul associates their bitter taste with the high tide which covers the pilings of his pain. He begins to remember his life. He is...
(full context)
Annie brings Paul’s pills, and he compares her to the moon pulling the tide in over his pain. The drug is a heavy pain-killer called Novril. He suspects that...
(full context)
...town, and she had actually hoped to pick up Paul’s latest novel: Misery’s Child. A snowstorm was coming, but it had veered south. Paul wonders why Annie did not take him...
(full context)
Paul’s awareness splits between Annie’s story and his own recollection of the storm. He had finished a new novel in his room at the Boulderado Hotel. There would...
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Still in the flashback, Paul remembers driving drunkenly into the worsening storm. Rather than stop for shelter, he drove on into a fateful skid, flipping his car....
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...the soap off the wall, ignoring Paul’s pleas and threats to scream. He feels the “tide” of medicinal numbness is the farthest out it has ever been. Finally, Annie gives Paul...
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Part 1, Chapters 14-28
...he could have made a copy of the novel. He thinks of Annie as a natural disaster .
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...panic—will certainly kill her “rare [African] bird” rather than risk imprisonment. He concludes that, when spring comes, the authorities will discover his car and Annie will be compelled to murder him....
(full context)
Part 1, Chapters 29-36
...a poor judge of quality. Paul thinks of her as an unpredictable climate, full of storms. Ignoring his instincts, Paul chides her for getting angry, in the hopes that this will...
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...she is out of the room. He falls unconscious and wakes 14 hours later to snowfall.
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Part 2, Chapters 1-6
...at being woken up, since sleep is the only thing that temporarily brings relief—“like a tide which cover[s] the rock of grief.” Colter insists he has heard scratching sounds at the...
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Part 2, Chapters 7-17
...excited about this Misery book than any of the others. But things change when the rain comes.
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Part 2, Chapters 18-20
...help, Paul realizes he will need to kill Annie to get away from her. A storm comes, followed by a frost that freezes the yard. Paul can hear Annie’s neglected pig...
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Part 2, Chapters 21-23
Annie’s good news is that Paul’s car is gone. Offhandedly, she remarks that the spring run-off got rid of “that Pomeroy dirty bird” but a car is much heavier than...
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...police were still “out to get” her, Annie dumped Pomeroy’s body where she knew the spring melt would carry him downstream.
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Having discovered the storm has washed Paul’s car away, Annie is pleased that he can finish her book. Driving...
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