Sookie Stackhouse

Sookie Stackhouse is a fictional character from Charlaine Harris's Southern Vampire Mysteries novels. He first appeared in the book series, & later in the TV adaptation True Blood. The book series is a first-person account of Sookie's life as a barmaid & telepath in the town of Bon Temps, Louisiana. The first book in the series, Dead Until Dark, won the Anthony Award for Best Paperback Mystery in 2001. Portrayed by Anna Paquin in the show, the character appears as the main character in the first episode of the series called True Blood.
Sookie is the protagonist of the story, & the series depicts her every day life as he matures & leaves her sheltered life in small town Louisiana. He starts the books as a barmaid who is a telepath; there is & a focus on the every day life of modern vampires, such creatures having recently "come out of the coffin". Sookie has lots of experiences with such vampires, as well as others in the supernatural community, including shape-shifters, fairies & werewolves. In the TV show Sookie is introduced in True Blood as one of the local residents of the fictional town of Bon Temps, Louisiana. He lives along with her grandmother, & is in close contact along with her brother, Jason Stackhouse.
Contents [hide]
1 Relatives life
2 Telepathy
3 Living situation
4 Romantic relationships
5 Platonic relationships
6 Tv portrayal
6.1 Season 1
6.2 Season 2
6.3 Season 3
7 Bibliography
8 References
[edit]Family life
According to the novels, Sookie's telepathic powers manifested in the coursework of her childhood, & her parents initially thought about her to be mentally ill, going as far as to take her to a psychologist to "have her brain scanned every other month." However, Sookie (who is the narrator of the books & tales) mentions one incident when her brother asked her to "listen" in on a business meeting to discern the true intentions of a feasible client. He told her brother the man intended to cheat him, & her brother took her advice, indicating his unsaid belief in her telepathic ability. Both Sookie's parents died in a water when he was four, leaving her & her older brother, Jason, to be raised by their paternal grandmother.
As the series begins, Sookie describes herself as somebody with small living relatives. One of her few relatives is a great-uncle, but he has not seen him since he was a kid, because he had molested both Sookie & her cousin, Hadley, when the girls were young.
Sookie lives along with her grandmother well in to her twenties & they maintain a close relationship until the grandmother is murdered by a serial killer.
Finally, it is revealed that fairy blood runs in her relatives through her father's lineage. This might be part of what makes her pretty to supernatural creatures ("supes") & vampires in particular.
In the eighth novel, From Dead to Worse, Sookie meets her great-grandfather, Niall Brigant, who is a powerful fairy prince, & the grandfather of her friends, the fairy twins Claudine & Claude. It is also revealed that Hadley left a young son, Hunter, who is now two. He also possesses telepathic abilities. The origins of the telepathic ability are not clear, although an unrelated character states that it is not a fairy trait.
[edit]Telepathy
Sookie's telepathic abilities manifest when he is young. In her hometown of Bon Temps, lots of people think Sookie to be mentally unstable, while others deny the fact that he can read people's minds. Sookie says that people's thoughts are not formed in complete sentences, but in minimal words & pics. He describes some people as "broadcasters," meaning that their minds are simple to read.
Besides using telepathy to read minds, he can also communicate with other telepaths & use her power to perplex people. He makes use of her power to generate a vibrant noise that causes the killer (Drew Marshall/Rene Lenier) pain & makes him disoriented, sensations that confuse him while he is chasing her. Sookie also makes use of her ability to communicate with another telepath (Barry).
According to Sookie, both physical & eye contact make an individual's mind simpler to read. The minds of humans are simpler to read than other beings, though this varies depending on the individual. Sookie only gets impressions & emotions from supernatural beings unless the individual is intentionally broadcasting. Vampires are believed to be impossible for Sookie to read—which is partially why he begins dating vampire Bill Compton—but he finally gets occasional glimpses from them also. He keeps these glimpses a secret from everyone, however, as he is satisfied the vampires would kill her in the event that they knew.
The TV adaptation of the novels suggests telepaths are of extreme rarity. perplexing to the "supes" is an apparent immunity that Sookie has against supernatural powers of mental manipulation, such as the vampires' glamouring ability & Maenads' insanity infection.
[edit]Living situation
Sookie lives in the house left to her by her grandmother. While accidents & a fire leave the house in frequent need of repair, Sookie takes great pride in her home. Not long before Hurricane Katrina, Sookie takes in a housemate, a witch named Amelia Broadway, who was once her cousin Hadley's landlady. Amelia's witch mentor, Octavia Fant, later joins the household as well.
He supports herself by working as a barmaid at a local bar, Merlotte's, which is owned by local shape-shifter Sam Merlotte, & by occasionally utilizing her telepathic talents for the local group of vampires headed by Eric Northman. As the book series progresses, he works with vampires even higher up in the hierarchy, including the monarchs of several states. Despite her hard work, he constantly has funds worries.
In her free time, Sookie reads, suntans, watches tv, & occasionally attends local footy games. While Sookie's telepathy leaves her feeling incapable of getting a higher schooling (he is unable to concentrate when taking tests due to all of the other students' distracting thoughts), he is shown to be a bright & resourceful young woman. He also considers herself to be a great dancer, loves to expand her vocabulary along with her word-of-the-day-calendar, & appears to be more articulate than most of the Bon Temps residents.
[edit]Romantic relationships
Harris describes Sookie as a tanned, blue-eyed, & curvy blonde. Although he is young, fit, & good-looking, Sookie does not have lots of suitors until he meets Bill Compton. Being able to read her date's minds is a large turn-off & her reputation as a weirdo doesn't make her pretty to ordinary men.
Sookie finds herself interested in dominant men with supernatural abilities. Vampires & other "supes" are harder to read than humans, so being around them gives Sookie a refreshing break from the constant noise of other people's thoughts. Vampires appear immune to her ability.
Because of this relaxing blankness, Sookie can experience her first romantic relationship with Bill, a vampire. He introduces her to the complexities of vampire society in the United States. This leads to lots of difficulties for Sookie, & he experiences critical moments of doubt about their relationship: after he murders her child-molesting Uncle Bartlett, after he sustains injuries due to being involved in vampire conflicts, & after Bill abandons her to chase & kill human terrorists in Living Dead in Dallas. His infidelity together with his maker, vampire Lorena in Club Dead leads Sookie to break things off, but the final blow to their relationship is when Eric Northman, his boss, forces Bill to reveal to a shocked Sookie that Bill was ordered by the Queen of Louisiana to court her in order for the Queen to gain her loyalty. Though Bill swears that he did fall in love along with her over time & still does feel for her, a devastated & depressed Sookie tells Bill he is banished from her life.
At various points in the series, Sookie finds herself interested in other "supes," such as her boss & long-time mate Sam Merlotte, a true shape-shifter who can turn in to any animal he wishes. Sookie & Sam kiss over once, but Sookie is worried about the effect it would have on their business relationship — which is important to her because he is the only boss he has not had to quit on after reading his mind — so he has not pursued him further. He goes on a mission with the werewolf Alcide Herveaux & they are mutually attracted, but other people in their lives prevent involvement: Bill Compton & Alcide's violent ex-girlfriend Debbie Pelt. Werepanther patriarch Calvin Norris tries to court her, but they never create a relationship.
Sookie comes to look after the vampire sheriff of Area 5, Eric Northman in Dead to the World. Under a witch's curse, Eric's memory is altered which leaves him vulnerable & more pretty to Sookie than his ordinarily crafty self. At one point the amnesiac Eric offers to leave his position of power to be along with her. When the curse is removed, he forgets the events in the coursework of his amnesia & regains his memory from before the curse. He returns to his deep entanglement with vampire power politics, & their relationship appears to finish.
Sookie briefly dates the famous weretiger Quinn, beginning in Definitely Dead. However, that relationship becomes strained after he & his brother disappear at the beginning of From Dead to Worse. Sookie ends the relationship when he realizes Quinn will always put his half-sister Frannie & his traumatized & mentally unstable father ahead of her. He realizes this after his involvement in a takeover of the Louisiana & Arkansas vampire territories ends in the deaths of various Louisiana vampires he knows, the Queen of Louisiana, Sophie-Anne LeClerq who had already lost her legs.
In the eighth novel, From Dead to Worse Eric recalls the events that occurred while he was under the amnesia curse, & both he & Sookie are uneasy about what his restored memory might mean to how they relate to each other. Due to multiple blood exchanges, Sookie discovers that he & Eric have a blood bond that lets them feel each other's emotions. This bond makes Sookie uncomfortable with the access that Eric has to her mind, & he seeks to discover a way to weaken the bond.
In the ninth novel, Dead & Gone, Eric Northman tricks her in to a vampire marriage to him for her own protection. He's strong feelings for Eric. At the finish of the book, Sookie's great-grandfather, Niall, tells her that, “The vampire is not a bad man, & he loves you," but he leaves before specifying which vampire he meant, leaving Sookie filled with doubt.
In the tenth novel, Dead in the Relatives, Sookie admits that he is in love with Eric, & he admits the same to her. They appear to be involved in a actual relationship although Sookie contemplates the future of their relationship.
[edit]Platonic relationships
Sookie's mind-reading ability appeared more like a curse than a gift to her while he was growing up, & so he struggled to make & retain friends. He is, however, able to become friends with the elegant & daring Tara Thornton & the good-looking but dim JB du Rone in the coursework of high school; he maintains these three friendships in to adulthood.
As an adult who is better able to shield herself from the thoughts of others, Sookie becomes better able to establish additional friendships with people like Sam Merlotte, the witch Amelia Broadway, & supernatural beings like Eric's second-in-command, the vampire, Pam. & though he's never called them friends, he worries about Bubba the vampire & fellow mind-reader Barry the bellboy as well.
Sookie considers fellow barmaid Arlene Fowler to be a mate in the coursework of their first few years working together at Merlotte's. This changes when Arlene joins an anti-vampire organization & Arlene finally betrays Sookie to them.
[edit]Television portrayal
Main news story: True Blood
In the HBO series True Blood, based on the The Southern Vampire Mysteries, Sookie is portrayed by Academy Award-winning actress Anna Paquin.[1]
The third season of True Blood began airing on June 13, 2010.
See also List of True Blood episodes.
This section may need to be wikified to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. help by adding relevant internal links, or by improving the section's layout. (August 2010)
[edit]Season 1
In Season 1, Sookie meets Bill Compton, the first vampire to visit Bon Temps since vampires 'came out of the coffin'. He is instantly drawn to Bill, as he is to her. After Bill is killed by the Rattrays & is saved by Sookie, the three bond over their curiosity about each other. Bill quickly deduces that Sookie is over human & Sookie discovers that he cannot listen to Bill's thoughts.
The following night, the Rattrays come for revenge on Sookie (Unusual Love). They would have beaten her to death, but Bill intervenes. He saves her life, but Sookie is badly injured so Bill gives her his blood which heals her. After he is healed, he begins to have sensual dreams about Bill, which is a side effect of consuming vampire blood.

Paquin at an event
Sookie & Bill continue to get to know one another. One night, he goes to Bill's house in order to give him the phone numbers of some vamp friendly contractors & he is confronted by two vampires, Malcolm, Liam & Diane. The vampires terrorize her & try to bite her until Bill states that 'Sookie is mine'. After this assault, Sookie is terrified & worries about her safety, & he decides not to speak to Bill any more. When he tells her Gran about her decision, her Gran points out that Sookie is not enraged at Bill but is in lieu afraid because for the first time in Sookie's life, Sookie cannot tell what somebody thinks of her. Sookie & Bill then become friends.
Sam Merlotte, who has always had a romantic interest in Sookie, takes advantage of the stress in her relationship with Bill by asking Sookie out on a date. He takes her to the Descendants of the Glorious Dead [of the Civil War] meeting at the Bon Temps church, & then out for pie where he kisses her. After Sam yells at her for dating a vampire, Sookie takes a cab home, arriving home later than planned. He arrives home & sees blood on the kitchen floor. Sookie then turns on the light & sees her Gran dead in the kitchen, the victim of a violent knife assault (Sparks Fly Out). Bill arrives in time to comfort her & Sam follows soon after him, a situation that causes tension for all two of them.
Grieving for her grandmother, Sookie is unable to keep the thoughts of others out of her head, forcing her to listen to how the whole town thinks that its her fault her Gran died, & how they think Bill killed her. After her grandmother's funeral, he seeks Bill out for comfort & the three have sex for the first time (Cold Ground).
After their night together, Sookie feels more able to cile