Gerald's Game
Published: May 1992
Genre: American, Classic, Fiction, Ghost, Horror, Literary, Literature, Media Tie-In, Political, Psychological, Suspense, Thriller
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Summary
Jessie Angela Mahout Burlingame and her successful and confrontational lawyer husband Gerald go from Portland to their isolated lake cottage near Kashwakamak Lake in western Maine for an unplanned love holiday.
Handcuffing Jessie to bed for lovemaking, a recent addition to their marriage that both parties find exhilarating is the title game.
However, after being shackled to bedposts, Jessie becomes hesitant and wants to be released, only to be disregarded by Gerald, who dismisses her complaints as part of their game.
Jessie strikes out; kicking Gerald in the chest, after realizing her husband is acting ignorant in order to rape her.
He had a deadly heart attack as a result of the shock. He passes away, leaving Jessie tied to her bed.
Jessie is initially shocked by her husband's death and fears being found semi-naked and handcuffed, but she soon realizes the situation is far direr: she and Gerald are unlikely to be noticed for several days, no one will think to look for them at the lake house, and all of the usual lake residents have left for the season. Jessie's life is in jeopardy if she does not manage to flee.
While Jessie furiously examines and dismisses plans, she hears whispers from The Goodwife or Goody Burlingame, a Traditionalist version of herself, who hinders her escape efforts by saying that everything would be great and that she should wait to be rescued; Punkin, a depiction of Jessie when she was ten years old.
Jessie abandoned Ruth Neary, a college roommate, after a conversation that came perilously near to revealing Jessie's background, and Nora, Jessie's former psychotherapist, after Nora questioned Jessie's connection with her father.
Following the guidance of these voices, Jessie understands that "Goody's" counsel to wait for rescue is based on a subconscious notion that she deserves to be imprisoned in this circumstance, even if it means death.
When Jessie investigates the source of this self-destructive idea, she recalls a long-repressed memory of her father sexually abusing her when she was ten years old during a solar eclipse.
Jessie's father duped her into believing she was guilty, leaving her with feelings of shame and remorse for the rest of her life.
In the aftermath of the assault, Jessie recalls an unexplainable episode in which she had a brief telepathic connection with an unknown woman.
Jessie's recollections prompt her to reflect on how unpleasant and controlling her marriage to Gerald was, causing her to believe she sacrificed her independence and fearlessness for the security of becoming Gerald's trophy wife.
When Jessie awakens from an imaginative battle with all of these people in a dark bedroom, she sees a tall, gaunt ghost that she initially misidentifies as the spirit of her long-dead father and calls "Space Cowboy" after a lyric from a Steve Miller song, "The Joker."
The depiction depicts her holding a wicker basket filled with jewels and human bones. Unsure if the figure is a hallucination, Jessie rejects it, remarking loudly that it is just made of moonlight, which causes it to vanish.
Her inner voices, on the other hand, believe the figure is genuine and will return to kill Jessie if she does not flee before the next night.
Jessie has a drink of water from a glass on the bedside table the next morning. Refreshed and encouraged by her own resourcefulness in obtaining the water, she renews her attempts to flee, first by attempting to break the headboard, then by attempting to slip off the bed and push it to the bureau where the keys are kept.
Jessie smashes the water glass and slices her wrist with a sharp shard to lubricate her flesh enough to get her right hand free from the cuff.
Inspired by her father's warning to her not to cut herself on the smoked glass panes they used as eclipse viewers during the eclipse.
She is then able to get out of bed, reach for the keys, and release her other hand, only to pass out from blood loss.
When she wakes up, it's nearly dark, and the Space Cowboy, who is now definitely real, has returned.
Jessie tosses her wedding ring at his box of jewelry and bones, convinced that this is exactly what he desired all along.
She approaches her car, still dizzy and weak from blood loss, and drives away, only to discover the Space Cowboy concealed in the back seat. Jessie is involved in a car accident and is knocked out.
Jessie is still recovering from her tragedy months later. An attorney at Gerald's legal office supports her in covering up the incident in order to shield herself and the law company from controversy, but Jessie believes this is another kind of burying her pain, just as she did years before with her childhood abuse.
To set herself free, Jessie writes to the actual Ruth, whom she hasn't talked to in decades, outlining what happened at the lake home and following events.
The "Space Cowboy" was Raymond Andrew Joubert, a serial murderer, and necrophile who had been living in and plundering lake cottages in the region.
At Joubert's court appearance, Jessie approached him, and Joubert mocked her "made of moonlight" assertion, acknowledging that the encounter had occurred and prompting Jessie to spit in his face.
Being able to address the guy who had formerly scared her helped her to confront the other manipulative men in her life, including her father and Gerald, freeing her of fear and helping her to cope with her past more honestly.
She apologizes for abandoning Ruth, admitting that Ruth faced her with a truth she was unable to accept at the time, and hopes they may rekindle their relationship.
Jessie is able to sleep without nightmares for the first time since her trauma at the lake home after writing the letter.
Useful Search Related Words & Keywords
Chained To The Bed, Glass Of Water, Handcuffed To The Bed, Heart Attack, Jessie Burlingame, Main Character, Short Story, Space Cowboy, Voices In Her Head
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