Margaret B. White

Margaret has a serious mental problem that made her devote her life to being a Christian who believes everything is sinful, even sexual intercourse, including within marriage. Her disorder is most likely a form of undiagnosed and untreated Schizophrenia that worsened as she aged. And as a result of her untreated condition, Margaret lived a life of isolation and solitude. She had no friends or contact with any relatives but was stable enough to hide her deepest problems from the outside world and keep a full-time job working on the speed ironer and folder down at the local Blue Ribbon Laundry in downtown Chamberlain. (In the movies she works a part-time job as a seamstress in a clothing store.) Margaret ultimately became extremely co-dependent on her daughter Carrie who was trapped within the unhealthy and sick world Margaret had created for them both. Though Margaret had love for her daughter, her illness warped her perspective on reality and prevented her from loving Carrie in a responsible, positive way. Margaret occasionally had wild fits and broke into loud rants and tantrums if she ever caught Carrie doing something that she considered a "sin", which was basically anything that didn't have to with the Bible.

Over time, Margaret berated and abused Carrie every day for sins the child may/may not have committed, and she would often make the child repeat passages out of one of her many religious books or hit and beat Carrie with them. She would also scratch, punch, pull out her own hair, or otherwise hurt herself in order to compel Carrie to agree with her and obey her ridiculous rules. Additionally, Margaret would even lock Carrie inside of a small kitchen closet filled with religious icons so she could "pray for forgiveness", whenever Carrie displeased her. So Carrie had to stay in the closet for hours on end until her mother decided to release her. It seemed as if Margaret punished Carrie for her own personal sins and took her own inner pain and frustration out on her daughter. In all continuities, Margaret finally goes off the deep end and tries to murder Carrie when she returns from her High School Prom after killing her peers as revenge for a cruel prank involving pig's blood.

As Carrie walked home, destroying the town of Chamberlain in her path, Margaret met her tragic end when Carrie used her hidden telekinesis to kill her mother. In the original story, instead of dying by being crucified by kitchen utensils, Carrie slowly stopped her heart, giving Margaret a Heart attack.