Was Cujo possessed?

[garygak]

My feeling is that because you really see the events unfold through Cujo's eyes that there is that drive to read more into it than is actually going on. Cujo is one sick puppy. He wants to be a good dog. But rabies is rabies is rabies.

[jellydonut25]

there's a concept in many of the Castle Rock stories that I rather like: that evil is one of those things that can never be stopped, can never be squashed, can never be killed...it's like a spirit that floats from person to person and can take possession of whatever it chooses to perform its deeds...kinda like the movie Fallen where the demon jumps from body to body...

that's kinda the way i always interpreted Frank Dodd/Cujo (though I'll be 100% honest and say that Cujo is the first SK book I ever read and I had no idea what all the Frank Dodd stuff was about...)

[Evil Queen]

After that it said the monster returned. My question is:was Cujo possessed or influenced by Frank, or was it all just rabies?

It was all the rabies, I think. The monster is an image each person has in their own mind of the evil that invokes killing & nightmares, whether it be a rabid dog or a mentally disturbed police officer. I don't feel it was Cujo's fault he contracted rabies, he was doing what any normal dog does, chasing rabbits. Although, maybe some of the evil came on to him when his mind was in the vulnerable, sick state of being rabid, that's why his killings were so savage. That's an interesting thought.

[Speedygi81]

Really up to anyone's interpretation...same goes for the ending of Cell, but Stephen usually has happy endings most of the time, in his own way, of course.

[cyborgdreamst8]

So yeah, in the first chapter it recaps an event from The Dead Zone about the police officer. After that it said the monster returned. My question is:was Cujo possessed or influenced by Frank, or was it all just rabies?

I must say, I never made that connection. By the end of the book I didn't even remember that line. Actually didn't remember it until just now when I read this. That is an awesome explanation. I am not sure I agree, but it's still awesome. I was pretty much of the opinion that the rabies opened him up to some kind of connection with evil that took him over and used him to terrorize and kill.

[chase1710]

there was definitely a connection between frank dodd and cujo, just read the scene with sheriff bannerman's death.

[King fan from trinidad]

I felt that king put the part with the killer and the monster in the closet in the story just to make us think some thing supernatural was happening when actually it was just rabies.