we have always lived in the castle sample essay

We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Table of contents, quote bank for whalitc, essay 1 : “family is the cause of all the problems in we have always lived in the castle.’ do you agree, essay 2 : merricat and constance find safety in their ruined house, but they sacrifice their freedom. discuss..

Essay 3 : “In We Have Always lived in the castle the women are stronger than the men” discuss.
Essay 4 : In We Have Always Lived in the Castle the villagers are motivated by fear more than anything else. Do you agree?
Essay 5 : “The world is full of terrible people,” says Merricat. How accurate is Merricat’s assessment of the people around her?
Essay 6 : IN WHALTIC, the Blackwoods see change as a threat. Do you agree?
Essay 7 : Safety is ultimately restored for the Blackwood sisters, but at what cost? Discuss.
Essay 8 : Merricat and Constance are both the heroes and the villains in WHALITC. Discuss.
Essay 9 : The choices Merricat makes are always based on self-preservation. Do you agree?
Essay 10 : How does Jackson create an atmosphere of menace in We Have Always Lived in the Castle?

Shirley Jackson’s gothic novel WHALITC, set in a conservative and claustrophobic village, denotes the severe ramifications that oppressive societal expectations and conformist attitudes can have on the members of a nuclear family. While the plot revolves around the members of the Blackwood family, the cause of all the problems that plague them arise from the intense pressures of patriarchal standards placed upon the Blackwood sisters, contributing to the death of their family and the destruction of their house. However, it is also important to note the compounding effects that isolation can have on the demeanour and mental state of the characters and its contribution to the disasters of the novel. Through an analysis of the consequences of overbearing patriarchal values, expressed through the death of the family and the destruction of the house, in addition to the effects of isolation from the village, one can understand Jackson’s fable as an investigation into the complex web of relationships in a family which are often fraught with conflicts.

The two incidents in the novel that form the basis of plot – the death of almost all of the Blackwood family, and the destruction of the Blackwood estate – arise from the overbearing patriarchal nature that govern the family members. Indeed, the framing of the novel through the first-person narration of Merricat in her leading role in these events demonstrates the rebellion against the patriarchal and patrilineal characteristics of the nuclear family in the 19th Century. Firstly, her role in the poisoning of the family is construed within the symbol of food – an inherently female-oriented aspect of life in which the Blackwood women are seen to preserve “deeply coloured rows of jellies and pickles and bottled vegetables and fruit.” Through the use of polysyndeton, in addition to colourful imagery – “maroon and amber and dark rich green” – Jackson bombards the reader with the massive extent to which the women of the Blackwood family centred on food. In tying the value of food with the role of women, Jackson expresses the fundamental restriction of the women of the Blackwood family’s power and value when the male characters in the novel impose on their restrictions. This is displayed when Merricat is described as “a great child of twelve, sent to bed without her supper.” In portraying the oppressive nature of the male characters, in ironically inhibiting their access to their own creations, Jackson illustrates how patriarchal society inhibits the well-functioning of the members of a nuclear family. Therefore, when Merricat poisons the family through their meal, food becomes a symbol of female power and of liberation from the oppression of the patriarchal power dynamics of families in the 19th Century. While through morally unsound methods, Merricat harnesses food as an instrument to champion her rights and win her autonomy within the remaining household. Thus, it is a result of patriarchal dominance in the family that is the cause of the first disaster in the novel.

The second disaster – the burning and looting of the Blackwood estate – serves as another symbolic act of rebellion against the patriarchal forces and societal pressures that confine and marginalise the Blackwood family. Pivotal to this is the character of Charles, who, as a cousin to Merricat, comes back as a “ghost” to ‘haunt’ her of the patriarchal and patrilineal nature of her previous family dynamic. He is seen to be a shadow of John Blackwood, who “used to record the names of people who owed him money.” As Charles seeking the family wealth and estate by marrying Constance, these two male characters are reflections of each other through the theme of greed. In bringing this family member, the equilibrium of Merricat, Constance and Uncle Julian is thrown into disarray, in which Jackson highlights the ramifications of the social expectation of wealth as a male prerogative. The fundamental concepts of the family unit such as marriage are called into question, as Charles’ attempt to lure Constance into a relationship signifies the abuse of the patrilineal and patriarchal nature of families in the pursuit of money. As a result, the burning of the Blackwood estate serves as a instrumental tragedy in which fire can be interpreted as a ‘cleansing’ element which destroys the impurities and injustices that plague the Merricat and the family. Similar to the death of her family, the destruction of the house signifies a rebellion against all the traditional roles and expectations imposed upon them by not only their family but from society, standing as a cathartic release from the burden of the past. The “six blue marbles” that Merricat had used to protect the house “had no connection with the house we lived now,” indicating the new life that the fire has afforded them. Therefore, Jackson expresses the fact that oppressive patriarchal figures within the extended family can result in – given enough pressure – disastrous acts of rebellion.

While the inhibiting influence of male figures in the Blackwood family contribute significantly to the disasters in the novel, the impact of the isolation of the family is crucial to not only the deterioration of Merricat’s mental state but of the village’s increasing tension and animosity. Jackson commences the novel by portraying the dire consequences of the death of her family, through the narration of Merricat who reflects casually that she “likes [her] sister Constance, and Richard Plantagenet, and … Everyone else in [her] family is dead.” In opening with Merricat’s scattered thoughts in a journal-entry style, Jackson insinuates that the death of her parents are the cause for her eccentric mind, exacerbated by the pressures and tension from society. This stark antagonism is seen in Merricat’s fears of the villagers, who may “touch [her] and the mothers come at [her] like a flock of taloned hawks.” The ostracization of the family from the town results in the Blackwood family becoming a repository for the villager’s animosity and woes, exemplified through the menacing simile. Their position in the village becomes entrenched into one of antagonism as the murder of the family has no clear conclusion, leading to gossip and growing contentions. In expressing the oppression of societal conformity and of the deteriorating mental and physical state of the Blackwood sisters, Jackson highlights not only the gothic mood and themes of rebellion but the antagonism that arises from social segregation. Therefore, the woes of the novel lie not only within the Blackwood family’s gender power dynamic but in their social and physical isolation from society.

In conclusion, WHALITC examines the intricate web of family dynamics and the profound influence that it has on the lives of the Blackwood sisters. The novel presents the dire consequences of strained family relationships as a result of domineering male figures, exacerbated by their extensive isolation from society. Jackson therefore demonstrates the express need for family units to be resilient and respectful of all members’ voices and maintaining amicable relationships internally and externally.

we have always lived in the castle sample essay

We Have Always Lived In the Castle, Essay Example

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Introduction

Throughout the centuries, outsiders, pariahs, and misfits have been victimized for their wrongdoings, which has resulted in them becoming scapegoats for their community or families. These are usually individuals who have refused to conform to societal norms and have chosen unconventional lifestyles and beliefs to the disapproval of all around them. People have viewed these outsiders as an example of ‘misbehavior’ for defying social conventions but ironically have become new models for their communities in the process.

In this essay, I would like to analyze how Toni Morrison and Shirley Jackson use literary aspects such as allusions, symbolism, foreshadowing, tones, and epigraphs in their texts to show how an outsider strengthens the unified bond between community members.

Both the main characters Sula and Merricat, are scapegoats of their communities; all the ‘bad’ is projected onto them. Nevertheless, it is evident that these communities are better off with these outsiders as they served as a model for bad behavior. Thus, these protagonists played a pivotal role in creating a more unified bond within the community, which has banished them, as the more they adhered to their unique lifestyle, the more the community members would deliberately ensure that they do not resemble them in any way. Thus, the further they would detach themselves from what they perceived to be bad behavior through the lens of these two main characters, the more they would resolve their wrongful behavior which thus, created a more unified (yet homogenous) community.

Literary devices are the soul of a literal piece and give life to it. What devices to infuse or not are usually at the author’s discretion, and examples of these literary devices include; similes, metaphors, allusions, flashbacks, among many others. In this paper, we are going to place two books; “ Sula ” and “ We Have Always Lived in a Castle ,” under the lens, applying much scrutiny, whilst investigating the literary devices employed by the two authors of these great reads, as well as themes present, the books’ tones, genres, brief character analysis, setting of the stories and a lot more, in light of literal analysis.

Literary Aspects: “Sula” vs. “We Have Always Lived in a Castle”

Inked by celebrated American novelist Toni Morrison, the book “ Sula ” sets a perfect example of how literary elements are blended effortlessly into the book. On the other hand, “ We Have Always Lived in a Castle ,” authored by Shirley Jackson, provides a pedestal upon which most literal pieces in the 20 th century perceive to be the gold standards of writing. Both books tend to focus on stories of individuals who are labeled as rebels, outsiders, and pariahs in their communities. Their behaviors influence not only the community but also the champion for change. This is evident where the main actors Nel and Sula friendship survive the test of time. They are both misfits as they do not align themselves to the societal conventions as black women in the ’20th century. Another lot of misfits, according to Shirley Jackson’s book, are Merricat Blackwood and Constance, her sister, who gets isolated from the community and live outside the castle in solitude in their home. They get separated from society when they lost their family members after being poisoned by sugar in a breakfast cooked by Constance. Evidently, the protagonists in Morrison’s “Sula” include Hannah, Sula, and Nel, whereas in “ We Have Always Lived in a Castle ,” Charles gets portrayed as the chief antagonist, alongside the villagers, while Merricat comes across as the Protagonist. Both writers emphasize the roles of outsiders, pariahs, and misfits in community development. Given the negative records for development in communities, an outsider approaches issues before initiating development activities. However, an outsider can leave when faced with dilemmas in the communities where they live.

Form, Structure, and Style

First and foremost would be to decipher the narrator’s point of view. In the first book, “ Sula, ” the author has used a third-person narration approach. This effectively achieves omniscience while the reader is allowed to access the inner thoughts of each character. This proves to be extremely helpful since the readers are allowed to reserve judgment as the author judges them not either. For Shirley Jackson’s book, on the other hand, the story is given from a 1 st person perspective, with the person in question being Merricat, “Mary Katherine Blackwood.” Language enables authors to share their thoughts, feelings, and ideas in the novels. The language used in “ Sula ” by Morrison provides ample evidence through dialectics of identity about the anchorage, voyage, and ascent. The tone used in Morrison’s book is very straightforward, as she does not waste much precious time mincing words or using superfluous English; she prefers to adopt a simple and more direct approach. For “ We Have Always Lived in a Castle ,” the author uses a very frightening, at times sinister, and darkly humorous tone for the better part. Morrison also employs a lot of allusions, mostly biblical, like, for example, Eva in the book references Eve from the bible. There are also allusions to Shadrack, who is a biblical character known mostly for the incident where he walked through fire unscathed. Apart from this, Ham’s sons mirror the ideology that Africans are descended from Noah’s son, Ham. More to this, there is Jude, who draws similar traits to Judas, the disciple that famously betrayed Christ. There are also secondary sources where allusion applies as well, like the scriptures borrowing heavily from “ Chicken Little ” and the conspicuous epigraph linked to the play “ The Tattoo Rose ”; “Nobody knew my rose of the world but me […] I had too much glory. They don’t want glory like that in Nobody’s heart.” This epigraph is heavily linked with Sula’s facial birthmark, which many find that it looks like a rose. Morrison focuses on Hannah to reveal how outsiders, pariahs, and misfits act as scapegoats. The novel “ Sula ” by Morrison addresses how traditions affect social relationships. Morrison asserts that “Hannah’s companionships with ladies were, seldom and short-lived, eventually discovering what a hazard she was” (26). The language used by Morrison enabled the author to communicate the central ideas of the novel. For example, Hannah had brief affairs with men because she did not fancy the institution of marriage and practices that defined matrimony. Pariahs pursue various practices in an attempt to establish meaning and attain enjoyment. Through language, Morrison communicates events leading to Hannah’s reference as a pariah. A literary language is different from other linguistic approaches. The difference is brought out from the form of language employed in the novels by Morrison and Shirley. Through language, the authors communicate that misfits panic and are banished by adherents to communal practices when mutual objectives are disregarded due to individuals’ self-centered undertakings. For instance, Morrison asserts that failure to moderate irritability hindered Hannah from relating with community members. There is the light application of similes in” Sula, ” a simile which can provide evidence here is the softball of fur that was scattered will now create something new, a new change within Nel and maybe in the community as well. At that point, it shows that she felt different about Sula; she realized it was only with her that she was able to be more herself, more vulnerable. She realized Sula was not actually all bad as she had perceived her, so we see this ambivalence of good and bad and a hope for change.

Symbolism is heavily used by both authors in their books. In “ Sula,” for instance, birds are used to invoke the notion of flight. This evidently makes sense because Sula flees at a certain point in the book. Flowers are also used by the author intermittently to bring out certain points, such as Sula’s rose-shaped birthmark, which serves as the book’s epigraph. Apart from the above-stipulated examples, there is also the use of water, which was associated with demise in the book. For Nel and Sula, it represents Chicken’s drowning. Also, a townsperson is recorded as dying in the tunnel slides and hitting the ice. In “ We Have Always Lived in a Castle ,” foreshadowing is evident where the revelation that Merricat is the real killer/ poisoner by comparing her to a werewolf, a deadly creature.

The Role of An Outsider in Community Formation

Often, outsiders have different cultures, class, lifestyle and their geographical locations are diverse. An outsider visits and settles in a community due to the need to engage in development works. Outside figures embrace their actions by not shying away from partaking in practices that are frowned upon by others. The friends Sula and Nel are raised from very different and diverse backgrounds. The story is based majorly on the friendship of these two individuals. Nel has grown in a household that she finds pretty suffocating and orderly. This is because Nel’s mother, although not necessarily controlling and unloving, is described as someone who views everything systematically and believes in social norms and order. Nel’s mother also demands a lot of respect, is often very strict with her children, and follows all social conventions, which Nel finds disturbing.

On the other hand, Sula is from quite an unorthodox background. Her grandmother Eva is said to have cut her leg up to cut her family, and she also burnt her son to relieve herself of his childish habits of dependency. Sula’s mother is also labeled as a misfit in society as she tends to sleep with multiple men in the Bottom. Although the background of both Nel and Sula seem quite distinct and unique, they are quite close to each other. Their relationship seems to be one of equality and honesty. Sula and Nel tend to find peace in each other when at one time, they are stressed and dig a hole, and they buried the trash. This action was symbolic of them together trying to get rid of bad things in their lives.

In Shirley’s book, Mary Catherine goes out and does errands as her sister never gets out of the house; she goes out to the garden but not beyond the family estate. However, the community is not fond of her. The uncle relays the history of the family, but he does not have many visitors to give the story.

Mary Catherine loves the sister but seems very regretful of not being friendlier to the uncle, the uncle is called Julian. Apart from this, she hates the town’s people and loves the isolated life, and she wants to do this through magic. In addition to magic, she wants to kill people and shutter people away in order to keep her privacy. Mary Catherine cares too much about her older sisters, and Constance takes care of their family so much, she is sometimes tempted by other people to relate to the external environment outside the isolation. Constance creates an environment for both the sister and uncle. Isolation is distinct in that they are comfortable with this life and are not bothered by it, and they are happy about it. The town’s people have a mob mentality which initially in the study was suppressed until it had an opportunity to escape.

The community hates this family because six years prior, the family that lived in this house were poisoned, and the villagers thought that Constance killed the parents and the rest of the family. The Blackwoods are thought to be poor, yet the rest of the villagers seem quite poor. Mary is 18 but does not behave her age; the way that she behaves makes her sound 13 and feels as if she is a child, and this is likely the consequence after the tragic experience of the death. This death really lets them live in a bubble, and this makes them very stuck in constant stages and past time. They do not want to relate to the world and overcome their very past. They seem to be hunted by their past and their mistakes and also their isolation from other people. Everyone believes that Constance killed their family, as she was taken to court and questioned, but was acquitted innocent of the crime. Mary goes to the town twice a week to get vegetables, and the children taunt her with songs of the sister being a murderer; she constantly gets people staring at her. There are “no trespassing” signs everywhere, which make her feel extremely unwanted, and like an outsider.

Back to “ Sula,” the book has several misfits who act as scapegoats in society. Hannah, Sula’s mother, serves as a scapegoat for Sula when she comes back from college and decides to sleep around as her mother did in the past. The community also uses Shadrack as a scapegoat, as they take their dear lives with the influence of Shadrack, who acts as a leader. Shadrack was a bitter man. He is a man from war, and the fight both shook him and also messed him up. Sula also used her family background as a scapegoat for her actions. This is because her family was unsystematic, and they never did follow the social conventions of society. The grandmother burned his son because she was tired of his dependency on her as a parent, and she could not keep up with his childish behavior. Sula’s mother is also one who sleeps around and therefore does not provide a role model to her daughter. Sula is also blamed for the divorce of Nel since she slept with Nel’s husband. Sula is also blamed for the poor condition of living of the family as they had lost the family’s breadwinner. In the context of the book, it is keen to note that Nel was not a woman as empowered as women today and therefore may have faced difficulty looking for work in the Bottom as women and men did not get the same privileges. Sula is also responsible for the staleness in the friendship between her and Nel. This is caused by the infidelity between her and Sula’s husband. The impact of this infidelity was both financial and of friendship as they were not as close as they initially were, although they felt connected as friends. This is evident when Nel mourns for her friend when she dies.

Identity Reconciliation

The style used in Morrison’s novel enabled the author to convey information on how protagonists regain their identity. Morrison uses a third-person perspective throughout the novel. In the novel, Hannah reconciled her identity with that of the community by guiding Sula to observe decency. Although Hannah had revolted on the societal traditions, she regained identity through the family, which is the community’s basic unit. According to Morrison, “Nel, she remembered, always thrived on a crisis. The closed place in the water; Hannah’s funeral” (67). Hannah had endured challenging community aspects, which served as a lesson for Sula after the mother’s death. Hannah’s affirmation about love changed Sula’s perspective of the mother’s practices. Reconciliation with Sula enabled Hannah to reconcile her identity through the family. Thereby, third-person narrative enabled Morrison to tell a narration through characters not mentioned in the novel.

Morrison’s book takes the readers through a journey, from where Sula and Ne become friends, the blossoming of their relationship, to the point where Sula lies with Nel’s husband. After this point, the story takes on a spiral, breaking the relationship between the two girls, but more pertinent is Sula’s failure to comprehend why her affair with Nel’s husband, Jude was wrong. This was mainly because she perceived that the two ladies were free to share anything, even Jude. The climax is when Nel vents her anger on Sula, letting out all she had kept inside her, with there being a lot of tension as Sula attempts to explain the affair, although not satisfactorily. Eventually, Sula passes away, paving for the winding down of the story, “a falling away, a dislocation was taking place.” As much as scapegoating Sula brought people in the Bottom temporary relief, they now have to grapple with their numerous shortcomings. People start being less kind to one another and quit trying to better themselves.

In conclusion, literary elements such as language, structure, and style play an integral part in the text’s implication among readers. Shirley and Morrison apply these literary tools to help uncover the standout characteristics outsiders, pariahs, and misfits possess. These characteristics call for a great deal of attention from readers since these contribute towards society’s realization of its turning point towards advancements. Critical analyses of the two novels by Morrison and Shirley assisted in unearthing the mannerisms via which outsiders facilitate community development. Further, analysis has also helped ascertain that self-definition is detrimental for solitary individuals in order for them to reclaim their identity in society or family setups purposefully. With the help of analyzed texts, it is therefore evident that literary elements applied in both books; “ Sula” and “ We Have Always Lived in a Castle ,” have infinitely aided in the conveyance of the message that an outsider is integral, especially for establishing models for sorting out communal issues. Nevertheless, it is evident that these communities are better off with these outsiders as they served as a model for bad behavior.

Works Cited

Jackson, Shirley. We have always lived in the castle. Penguin UK, 2009.

Morrison, Toni. Sula. Sperling & Kupfer, 2012.

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Family in “We Have Always Lived in the Castle” by Shirley Jackson Essay

Introduction, family theme, role of the ‘castle’, the uncanny story, works cited.

We Have Always Lived in the Castle , written by Shirley Jackson and published in 1961, was the final novel of the author, representing several characteristics of her personality. As mentioned by Bartnett for the Guardian, the female characters of the novel are “yin and yang of Shirley’s own inner self – one, an explorer, a challenger, the other a contented, domestic homebody.” The novel tells the story of two sisters – Merricat Blackwood, who is characterized as headstrong and naïve, and her older sister Constance Blackwood, who avoids venturing any further than her garden. The main mystery behind the two sisters was that they were the remaining members of a large old family that died suddenly from poisoning. Thus, the topic of family is persistent throughout the novel, especially given the consequences that led to the death of almost all Blackwoods.

It is revealed that Merricat was the one to murdered her family, including parents, her aunt, and her brother, leaving only Constance and her uncle, who survived the poisoning of arsenic due to mere luck. Constance was the only family member whom Merricat truly loved, and despite her sinister actions, the author gave explanations for it by pointing out the oppressive nature of family relationships with regard to women. To get a deeper understanding of why Merricat had a chaotic and illogical attitude toward family life, the history and structure of the family as an institution should be considered.

Social rules and gender roles that exist within the family context are predominantly male-centered, which means that the power is usually patrilineal. For instance, the family name is generally passed down from fathers to sons who also have traditionally inherited the majority of the property. Daughters, however, we’re expected to follow family rules until they get married, when they had to come under their husbands’ rule. Therefore, there is a history of blatant oppression of females within the family context (Chae 262). Given the nature of family structure and power, it is not surprising that Merricat wanted to rid herself of the oppressive traditions that her family held.

The most negative aspects of masculinity in the novel are illustrated through the character of Charles Blackwood. He is obsessed with getting rich and thus tricks his cousins out of money under the disguise of pretending to help them. Charles even plans to make Constance his wife, which threatens the relationship between Merricat and her sister (Begonia). The marriage between Constance and Charles can not only ruin the sisters’ relationship but also severely damage the female-oriented family that Merricat wanted to preserve. Therefore, the institution of family and marriage is depicted in the novel as something that keeps women away from helping each other and maintaining solidarity. To a large degree, Jackson intentionally portrays marriage as a treat to familial relationships rather than a vehicle for strengthening them.

Familial relationships depicted in We Have Always Lived in the Castle are complex. Charles is already Constance and Merricat’s relative, which gives him the right to entire their house regardless of any efforts of preventing him from doing so (Lape 153). Merricat is always aware of the boundaries she must set for protection; she checks the fence that surrounds her property every week, uses talismans to safeguard herself from danger, has “hiding places” for escaping abuse (Jackson 76). Charles is very dismissive of her cousin’s practices and intends to take the power that she gained through murdering her oppressive family. He starts treating Merricat the same way in which her late family treated her in the past.

In contrast to Charles’ strive for money and power, Merricat is not interested in none of her financial inheritance. Rather, she places special importance on the cultural and historical value of the objects left behind by generations of Blackwood women who inhabited the castle. Canned food and chinaware have a special place in Merricat’s heart because they represent the contributions of Blackwood wives and daughters who were continuously oppressed by their husbands, fathers, and brothers. These objects show that women have always followed the stereotype of fulfilling their role of cooks for their families. Food is also a tangible symbol of women being crucial contributors to family dynamics when Merricat murders her family, food changes from the oppressive instrument to the beacon of liberation.

As mentioned earlier, Blackwoods’ family residence has always been of great value for Merricat and her sister, not from a financial but from a historical perspective. To Merricat, the house represented the nature and essence of its female inhabitants: “as soon as a new Blackwood wife moved in, a place was found for her belongings, as so our house was built up with layers of Blackwood property weighing in, and keeping it steady against the world” (Jackson 1). The house was indeed a castle that protected Merricat from the outside world, and she cherished its history in the same way as she cherished her freedom and control over her life after murdering almost the entire family. Despite Merricat’s disdain with the traditional roles that women had to play in their houses, she still enjoyed neatening and cleaning it as an homage to the hard work that she previously had to do: “on Mondays, we neatened […] carefully setting the little things back after we had dusted, never altering the perfect line of our mother’s tortoise-shell comb” (Jackson 42). As the novel climaxes with Blackwood’s estate getting caught on fire that destroyed most of the building, both Merricat and Constance are devastated from the destruction of the place that they held so dearly to their heart despite the oppression that experienced.

Seeing the treasured objects of Blackwood women’s history destroyed is a shock to the sisters because both of them valued the contributions of their ancestors. The author writes, “silverware that had been in the house for generations of Blackwood wives […] tablecloths and napkins hemmed by Blackwood women, and washed and ironed, again and again, mended and cherished” (Jackson 114). These lines illustrate the attachment sisters had to the house and the respect they had for it. Overall, by the numerous ways in which Merricat tried to protect her house and maintain its history, it can be concluded that the ‘castle’ played a significant role in the main characters’ lives. Importantly, it reflected the long tradition of hard work that Blackwood women had to do to make the house feel like home. Unfortunately, no one except for Merricat and Constance understood the value of that work.

In Gothic literature, the uncanny mode is used for providing a look at the darkest sides of humanity. To a large extent, the uncanny brings out the internal conflict that a character may experience because of (the) underlying external conflict (Kristinsson). In We Have Always Lived in the Castle , the uncanny is manifested in Merricat’s struggle to get away from the oppressive nature of her family by making a decision to poison her relatives with arsenic. Again, the literary mode relates directly to the key theme of the novel – male-dominated family structures.

The atmosphere that persists in the entire novel can be characterized as uncanny because readers get to know that the protagonist murdered her family and still manage to sympathize with her. Also, the fact that Merricat’s sister also knows about the intentional killing does not seem too over-the-top for readers because they understand that the novel speaks about the most negative characteristics of people, which is inherent to Gothic literature. The uncanny qualities of the protagonist contribute to the overall eerie atmosphere of the novel because her actions are a secret to nobody.

To conclude, family relationships in We Have Always Lived in the Castle as extremely complex. For getting herself and Constance away from the oppressive family dynamics, Merricat makes a decision to murder her relatives. However, in the course of the novel, her family ‘haunts’ Merricat through the figure of Charles, who wants to take power over the Blackwood money and property, thus illustrating the most negative aspects of male-dominated families. The ‘castle’ plays a unique role in the novel; it provides shelter and sanctuary for both sisters while still reminding them of the long history of women being oppressed in its walls. Jackson’s novel is uncanny in its attitude toward family life and the use of Gothic symbolism.

Bartnett, David. “ We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson – A House of Ordinary Horror .” The Guardian . 2015. Web.

Begonja, Lucija. Female Characters and Setting in Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Thesis, University of J.J. Strossmayer in Osijek, 2017.

Chae, Haesook. “Marx on the Family and Class Consciousness.” A Journal of Economics, Culture & Society , vol. 26, no. 2, 2014, pp. 262-277.

Jackson, Shirley. We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Penguin Modern Classics, 2009.

Kristinsson, Sebastian. “ The Split Psyche and the Uncanny in Scottish Literature .” Skemman , 2016. Web.

Lape, Sue Veregge. The Lottery’s Hostage: The Life and Feminist Fiction of Shirley Jackson. Dissertation, Ohio State University, 1992.

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IvyPanda. (2024, May 7). Family in "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" by Shirley Jackson. https://ivypanda.com/essays/family-in-we-have-always-lived-in-the-castle-by-shirley-jackson/

"Family in "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" by Shirley Jackson." IvyPanda , 7 May 2024, ivypanda.com/essays/family-in-we-have-always-lived-in-the-castle-by-shirley-jackson/.

IvyPanda . (2024) 'Family in "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" by Shirley Jackson'. 7 May.

IvyPanda . 2024. "Family in "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" by Shirley Jackson." May 7, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/family-in-we-have-always-lived-in-the-castle-by-shirley-jackson/.

1. IvyPanda . "Family in "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" by Shirley Jackson." May 7, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/family-in-we-have-always-lived-in-the-castle-by-shirley-jackson/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Family in "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" by Shirley Jackson." May 7, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/family-in-we-have-always-lived-in-the-castle-by-shirley-jackson/.

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We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Updated 06 December 2022

Subject Home , Writers

Downloads 28

Category Literature , Science

Topic House , Poison , Shirley Jackson

Shirley Jackson's final book, We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Tells the story of two twins, Constance Blackwood and Merricat, who lived in a massive house in New England with their Uncle Julian.

The family was plagued by envious neighbors

Who sang derogatory songs as they walked by.

They became the only survivors

After food poisoning killed the whole family.

Uncle Julian, who is a shell of his former self, survived the incident because he had taken a small dose of arsenic.

This literary marvel uses a vast variety of literary techniques to entice the reader. The plot, narrator’s point of view, setting, and symbolism among other elements are intertwined within the book much to the attraction of the reader. As such, this paper will dwell on the symbolism in this novel.

Symbolism of Evil

Evil is one of the most prominent elements symbolized by the author in various ways.

In one of the scenes, Mary discovers that one of her security had fallen from the tree.

Mary had three safeguards that symbolized different protections. The first protection was a buried doll with a rock on top of it that symbolized safeguard of Constance. As such, the buried doll protected her sister from any harm provided it was maintained in the same position.

The second protection entailed some silver dollars buried alongside the creek as a sign of the family’s fortune. Though they somehow did not concern themselves too much with the family fortune, the silver dollars were specifically buried to protect the same.

The third protection was a ledger nailed on the tree to symbolize the outside globe. Inscribed on the ledger were names of persons their dad owed money to. The ledger was specifically placed to protect the family from the outside world since it had some connection. As such, when the ledger fell, Charles Blackwood was able to enter their home.

All these safeguards are symbolic of evil within the society. When people resort to sorcery to protect themselves and their fortune, it must be compounded by evil (Jackson).

Another form of evil is illustrated as Merricat came across a nest of baby snakes, which she killed. In the conventional and contemporary world, snakes are illustrative of evil. For instance, even in the holy books, precisely the bible, snakes are portrayed as evil and therefore a danger to humans. When Mary kills the snakes, she might have awakened the bigger evil symbolized by their cousin Charles. The author utilizes the snakes to typify evil within the family and the society at large. Moreover, Merricat even deems Charles a demon further substantiating the above sentiments that evil was a prominent thing within this family.

Symbolism of the Current World

The entire novel is a symbol of the current world. The world that is full of greed, hatred, and selfishness among other evils. Just like Merricat killed his family, people murder their parents or siblings just to get hold of the family wealth. In the current society, greed has escalated to an undesirable level. The world is also full of individuals like Charles who only have an interest in wealth over family. As Merricat describes him, he is a demon striving to cause havoc within the household. As such, the author summarizes the current society through this novel and exemplifies the various evils within the society (Jackson).

In conclusion, symbolism is a common literary element used in many writings to link certain aspects of the society. In this novel, evil is typified through the snakes and Merricat’s safeguards. These components are an exemplification of the current society, which is full of evil. The author rightly demonstrates this element differently within this text.

Works Cited

Jackson, Shirley. We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Viking Press, 1962.

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We Have Always Lived in the Castle

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A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-4

Chapters 5-7

Chapters 8-10

Character Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Discussion Questions

Merricat is effusive in her self-description and in listing her many likes and dislikes. How does Merricat (and Jackson) use this to hide certain facts from the reader and to throw them off the truth?

How do the relationships of the Blackwood family resemble traditional family relationships? How do these similarities comment upon power roles and other dynamics within the traditional family structure?

The people of the village have never been hurt by Constance and her sister, so why do they hate and fear them? What do the Blackwoods represent to the village?

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The Theme of Isolation in We Have Always Lived in the Castle and Johnny Got His Gun

It could take just one second, one vulnerable mistake, one moment that could change one’s life in an instant. Two novels will share extraordinary aspects of isolation when two main characters tell their side of the story, and unfold their dark realities. The first novel where isolation is inevitable, is Shirley Jackson's 1962 publication of, We Have Always Lived in the Castle. This novel refers to the character Mary Katherine Blackwood (Merricat). A second novel that shares isolation aspects is Dalton Trumbo’s 1939 published work Johnny Got His Gun, with Joe Bonham as the leading character. While both Characters come from different cultures, their stories become incredibly similar, when working through isolation, and interactions with the outside world.

Before understanding what happened to these two characters, it’s most important to explain the positions both characters have in these novels. For Merricat, she secretly hides from her past and truth within the Blackwood family home, community, and what’s left of the Blackwood family. Mericart poisoned and killed her entire family, except for herself, her sister Constance Blackwood, and the dying Uncle Julian. For “Joe”, He is a soldier that gets hit by a Montar, which leaves him cutoff and stuck within his own body. With no face, no limbs, he can’t see, nor hear, Joe works through these obstacles, and finds a way to communicate.

One opportunity, or even one person can break the walls for Merricat and joe. Each of the characters are given a chance to break the madness within their minds when one person reaches into their dark, and brutal reality. For Merricat, she becomes challenged and isolated within her community. She knows that there are several people who know the truth. Merricat allowed her sister Constance to take the fault for the family murder. Both were acquitted, however lived with the truth regardless. Merricat fully feels the effects when cousin Charles comes to help sister Constance break free of the hold and introduce her to the outside world. Both the sisters have alienated themselves within the family home living very privately with Uncle Julian. Merricat says, “Blackwoods had always lived in our home, and kept their things in order; as soon as a new Blackwood wife moved in, a place was found for her belongings and so our house was built up with layers of Blackwood property weighing it keeping it steady against the outside world.” (Page1) Nobody in the community really liked the Blackwood family. So Merricat would get targeted when going into the village to retrieve groceries and books, She was targeted with every visit. Within the home Merricat was isolated as well. She was not allowed in certain rooms; she had certain rules, and duties she was made to attend to. When cousin Charles stayed and eluded her privacy and relationship with Constance, she felt there was no other way but to act again.se wanted Charles gone, so she set the house on fire, thus destroying the truth and history behind the walls of the Blackwood family home. Merricat acted out of isolation, and sought her opportunity for a complete do over. Joe on the other hand was not given such a choice.

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A Close Reading of the Best Opening Paragraph of All Time

From shirley jackson's we have always lived in the castle , of course.

One hundred and one years ago today, Shirley Jackson was born. During her lifetime, she wrote “The Lottery,” and The Haunting of Hill House , and We Have Always Lived in the Castle , the latter of which features what I consider to be the best first paragraph of all time, or at least of any novel that I have ever read. Here it is:

My name is Mary Katherine Blackwood. I am eighteen years old, and I live with my sister Constance. I have often thought that with any luck at all I could have been born a werewolf, because the two middle fingers on both my hands are the same length, but I have had to be content with what I had. I dislike washing myself, and dogs, and noise. I like my sister Constance, and Richard Plantagenet, and Amanita phalloides , the death-cup mushroom. Everyone else in my family is dead.

It almost seems like overkill to explain why this paragraph is so wonderful. It either strikes you or it doesn’t. You must have a certain sensibility to truly appreciate its charms. The rhythm is key. But let’s make an attempt, shall we?

It begins straightforwardly, with our narrator’s name—a somewhat old-fashioned way of opening a book, appropriate for our somewhat old-fashioned, or at least sheltered, perhaps even stunted, narrator. And what a name it is—a somewhat old-fashioned name, Mary Katherine Blackwood, evocative of witch trials and cultists, dense trees in far-away continents and Nancy Drew mysteries ( The Ghost of Blackwood Hall was published 14 years prior to We Have Always Lived in the Castle ). She tells us she is eighteen, but by the very next sentence, she already sounds younger, and she sounds younger still by the third (“I dislike washing myself” is a prim schoolgirl’s complaint—well, prim in tone if not in meaning). This too presages what will we come to discover about Merricat (for that is what she is most often called), who lives by a logic quite disconnected from that of the the adult world, i.e. the world of men, the world exterior to her cherished sororal bond, and who will aggressively reject all encroachments by same.

The real delight, for me, begins in that third sentence, which wiggles beautifully. First, we learn that Merricat wishes she were a werewolf, and so we know that she is a girl who wants magic, but a particular kind of magic—feral, earthy—and also power, and also transcendence. But it’s not only that she wishes she were a werewolf, but that with any luck at all the fact that two of her fingers are the same length would have made her one, but it hasn’t. She considers herself unlucky. She realizes that magic exists, but in this case it has passed her by. The perfect surreality of her matter-of-fact association—the length of her fingers to her potential as a werewolf—signals that Merricat is a magical thinker, and a confident one. We are entering a different world, Jackson is telling us, and it is definitively Merricat’s world. Submit to her logic or give up now. The third clause in that wiggly third sentence, I have had to be content with what I had , is almost ominous on second read—considering what exactly she’s done with what she has—but the prim stiff-upper-lipness of it is so fantastic. She is talking about not being a werewolf, remember. We all must make do with that particular shortcoming.

Next, two lists—who doesn’t love a good list?—of likes and dislikes, much like a child keeping track of her own opinions in her journal. The dislikes are slightly discordant. I would assume that a girl who dislikes washing herself would rather go in for dogs and noise, but Merricat is not simply an overgrown, magic-practicing tomboy; she is also a member of a family almost entirely cut off from society. Dogs and noise mean townspeople, and the townspeople do not care for the Blackwoods, or at least the Blackwoods who are left.

As for her likes: first we get a second pointed mention of Constance in twice as many lines, which should alert us to her importance. Richard Plantagenet, second on her list of likes, is rather more obscure. She could be referring to a number of people , including Richard the Lionheart, but she probably means the third Duke of York, whose claim to the throne (then-occupied by a weak and mentally ill Henry VI) was a primary cause of the Wars of the Roses. In 1460, the English Parliament compromised and declared that Richard would succeed to the throne after Henry VI’s death, but he was killed in battle by the Lancaster forces, and his son wound up becoming king instead. The mnemonic “Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain” is used to remember the order of the colors in the rainbow. So at any rate, now we know we’re dealing with a teenage girl bizarre and erudite enough to name a member of an ancient English dynasty, killed before he could achieve the goal he’d fought his whole life for, as one of her three favorite things.

The third favorite thing, of course, is a poisonous mushroom. This should set off certain alarm bells, especially when it is immediately followed by the revelation that everyone in her family is dead. I also count this revelation as a third mention of Constance.

It is coercive, this first paragraph. I find it impossible not to go on reading after reaching the end of it, yes, even now, when I am supposed to be writing this close reading for Literary Hub. One of my best writing teachers used to ask her class, after finishing a novel, to go back and read the first paragraph for the ways in which it predicted the rest of the text, or in the most skillful cases, taught us to read it. This paragraph is brilliant because of Merricat’s voice, and so is the rest of the book. It immediately teaches us who she is, and what this book is going to be like. That is, it gives us, in a few scant lines, a strong impression of an unusual character, and also presents all of the major themes of the novel: isolation, protective interiority, obscurity, loyalty (at least to Constance—who rings like a bell in Merricat’s mind), natural magic, poison, death, mystery. It plunges us immediately into the world that will occupy us for the next 150-odd pages, and also, in retrospect, pretty much gives away the ending. You’d think that wouldn’t necessarily be a quality of a good opening paragraph, but turns out not everything that makes this opening paragraph good can be close-read. Some of it, necessarily, is ineffable. Maybe even magic.

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We Have Always Lived in a Castle – 2023 Sample Essay

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Essay: Shirley Jackson – We Have Always Lived in the Castle

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It is undeniable that elements of secrecy, concealment and suspense are prevalent in Shirley Jackson’s novel We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Through the viewpoint of the main protagonist Mary Katherine Blackwood (fondly known as Merricat), Jackson’s narrative thread reveals undisclosed secrecies in the Blackwood household: the most prominent being that Merricat had poisoned, and subsequently murdered, the majority of her family. This essay intends to investigate both the manifest concealment strategies employed by the characters in the novel, alongside exploring the more latent secrecy in We Have Always Lived in the Castle: for example, the possibility that Merricat is repressing both mental illness and a sexual attraction towards her sister Constance. By therefore delving deeper into the Blackwoods’ history, not only are the more evident secrets disclosed through Jackson’s intelligent crafting, but the notion of repression can also be unsheathed in this novel.

It could be argued that the foremost driving force of We Have Always Lived in the Castle is the explicit build-up of suspense and tension. In Jackson’s novel, such crucially pertinent tension is present from the immediate outset. An example of this early suspense is when Merricat enters Stella’s coffee shop in the opening chapter. Merricat narrates, ‘Stella would see me pass if I did not go in, and perhaps think that I was afraid, and that thought I could not endure.’ (p. 2). Merricat’s fear in this line is particularly intriguing as it brings about questions of why she is afraid of a simply humble character and, more broadly, why she is frightened of the wider community. Moreover, Merricat later adds that ‘the people of the village have always hated [the Blackwoods].’ (p. 4). This declarative sentence undoubtedly draws the reader into a world of immense intrigue and suspense, understandably compelling them to discover the reason behind society’s disdain towards the Blackwoods. Additionally, as stated in the afterword to We Have Lived in the Castle by Joyce Carol Oates, we learn that ‘there are many household tasks that Merricat isn’t allowed to do, like help in the preparation of food or handle knives.’ (p. 150). In our analysis of Merricat, the fact that she is not allowed to undertake seemingly menial tasks casts doubt on her reliability as the protagonist, adding more suspicion to her veritable nature. Seeing as such anticipation and suspicion is introduced so early on in the text, it is clearly suggested that these ideas will be pertinent to the progression of the novel, thus playing a vital role in governing this text.

The principal secret in We Have Always Lived in the Castle, and the cause of the disgust towards the Blackwoods, is as a result of the poisoning that took place in their household. In the opening chapter, there is evidence of explicit animosity shown towards the family, yet the rationale behind this contempt is not immediately unveiled. However, despite the Blackwoods’ ultimate secret not being instantly introduced into the narrative, their confidential matters are revealed to us with haste. We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a 176-page novel and it is in only the second chapter that Mrs Wright remarks that it was ‘arsenic in the sugar’ which caused the death of the Blackwoods, with Uncle Julian adding that certain family members were ‘led inexorably through the gates of death’ (p. 31). If the most prevailing secret in the novel is therefore unveiled to the reader so quickly, this leaves the majority of the novel open for the discovery and development of further Blackwood family secrets. Similarly, for the majority of the novel it is believed that it is Constance who committed the murders, but this proves not to be the case when Merricat says that she is ‘going to put death in all their food’, and Constance replies with ‘the way you did before?’. (p. 110) Although the revelation that it was Merricat who committed the murders is rather delayed, there are strong inclinations that she is the guilty character through her questionable personality and unconventional actions. It is thus possible that the notion of gradual revelation is not heavily present in this novel, compared to the concept of an elusive and evasive narrator. The strategies of secrecy in We Have Always Lived in the Castle are indeed more concerned with what we do not know about the narrator and how the plot progresses as a result of such a notion. Such an idea provides us with doubts of whether Merricat, who is able to hide her most gruesome secret from the reader for so long, is capable of hiding darker and grislier secrets.

Throughout her narration, Merricat appears to be a particularly naïve and innocent character: she states in the opening that she is only ‘eighteen years old’ (p. 1). An example of her childish behaviour is displayed prematurely in the text, when she is walking back to the Blackwood property. She says that she ‘played a game’ when she did her shopping, and that ‘the library was [her] start and the black rock was [her] goal.’ (p. 5). Although eighteen years old is regarded as a relatively young age, the act of playing such youthful games on the fringe of adulthood sheds light on Merricat’s marginally aberrant characteristics. A conceivable reason behind her contentious nature is perhaps as a result of being so disintegrated into the rest of society. Being so spatially removed from the rest of the small New England town in which this story is situated, Merricat understandably has suffered as a result of her separation. The idea of the outsider being shunned by society is present in a number of literary works, one example being Stephen King’s popular novel Carrie. In this book, young girl Carrietta White is snubbed and rejected from her community as a result of her outlandish behaviour. John Sears wrote in his chapter entitled Carrie’s Gothic Script that ‘constitutive of Carrie’s ‘difference’ from others in the novel […] are her telekinetic and telepathic powers.’ This draws close parallels with Merricat in We Have Always Lived in the Castle, as both protagonists are excluded from society as a result of their erratic and mysterious behaviour, with secrets that they are inevitably concealing.

Regarding the notion of concealment in We Have Always Lived in the Castle, one aspect of Merricat’s personality which deserves to be investigated is her obsession with magic. Scattered along the narrative thread are numerous allusions to spells and illusion. For example, when Merricat is fiddling with a watch in the seventh chapter, she remarks that ‘one thing, at least, had been released from Charles’ spell.’ (p. 87). It appears that, by assuming that Charles is in possession of a certain spell, Merricat believes that both the rest of society and her family are against are in some manner or another. It is thus implied that her infatuation with magic is a form of defence mechanism, a way of concealing her dark secret pertaining to the murder of her family. It could be asserted that magic and illusion concern the masking of the inner workings of entities and actions, thus meaning that Merricat’s practicing of witchcraft is conceivably an attempt to draw attention away from her violent actions, disguising their disturbing reality.

It is not only magic and allusion to which Merricat shows a strong attachment in this novel. A recurring theme in Merricat’s narrative appears to be the idea of burial. Weaved into many areas of this novel, it is suggested that burial is another attempt on Merricat’s behalf to conceal to her macabre secret. Merricat describes the Blackwoods’ land as ‘enriched with my treasures buried in it’ (p. 41), and later expresses her wish to ‘bury something for Uncle Julian’ (p. 117). This could be interpreted as Merricat wanting to bury the shame of her murderous actions. On the other hand, the equilibrium of the Blackwood home, and particularly the two sisters, is fractured with the appearance of Uncle Charles. Merricat believes that ‘perhaps Charles was engaged in systematically digging up every inch of our land.’ (p. 88). Not only does Charles’ arrival create tensions within their family structure, but Jackson’s lexical choice of ‘digging up’ implies that Charles is present in order to unearth the raw and dark secrets of the Blackwood family which Merricat would rather stay buried.

The notions of magic and burial in the novel seem only childish and trivial compared to the darker traits that Merricat possesses. Behind her naïve and youthful tone, once angered Merricat voices her most intimate and sadistic desires. In a relatively disturbing stream of consciousness, Merricat wishes to ‘put death in all their food and watch them die.’ (p. 10). Similarly, when speaking about her own Uncle Charles, ‘[she] was thinking of Charles […] [she] could walk over him stamping [her] feet.’ (p. 89). If we take into consideration the notion that Merricat is suppressing or burying other ghastlier secrets, it could be contended that her explicitly violent thoughts are an act against both the hatred shown towards her by the neighbourhood, and a physical manifestation of her suppressed secrets.

Another secret which Merricat is potentially concealing is the possibility of sexual attraction towards her sister. Lynette Carpenter observed in her article ‘The Establishment and Preservation of Female Power in Shirley Jackson’s ‘We Have Always Lived in the Castle’, that there exists a ‘manifestation of a deeper bond between the two women’ (p. 33). Upon further reflection, this bond between Merricat and Constance appears to not be solely familial, but appears to have rather erotic undertones. Carpenter subsequently adds that Merricat ‘tempts Constance with the allusion of romantic happiness’ and that they happen to replace ‘heterosexual romance with sisterhood as their central emotional bond’. The concept of this more subtle secret being withheld from the reader also appears in the afterword to the novel, as Joyce Carol Oates writes that ‘we are witnesses to a naively repressed young woman’s voyeuristic experience of sexual transgression’. There is thus ample evidence that Merricat is dissembling a multitude of secrets, some on a slightly more personal and intimate level. The critic Matei Calinescu stated that ‘secrecy […] is usually defined as conscious concealment of meaning’. Upon taking this into consideration, it could be conceived that Merricat’s undisclosed sexual attraction towards Constance is not regarded as secrecy, as it is not intentionally concealed on her behalf, but unconsciously repressed – a secret which Merricat has yet to discover about herself.

As a result of a culmination of both Merricat’s unlawful behaviour and her erratic personality, it has been contested that Merricat suffers from a form of mental illness. Charles L. Crow stated in the book The History of the Gothic that ‘we understand Merricat’s strangeness from the first paragraph, in which she wishes she had been born a vampire, and expresses her love for Richard Plantagenet and death-cap mushrooms.’ This further accentuates Merricat’s mental fragility and, although the community initially shuns her sister Constance for the murder, the evidence regarding Merricat’s mental instability suggests that she is the genuine culprit. In the afterword to We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Oates comments on the fact that Merricat ‘behaves as if mildly retarded’. It is arguable that the word ‘retarded’ is perhaps a more derogative manner of describing Merricat’s personality, but upon further analysis it is certainly apparent that she is somewhat mentally unstable. Oates adds that ‘Merricat’s condition suggests paranoid schizophrenia […] and all things are signs and symbols to be deciphered.’ This idea of signs and symbols also appears in We Have Always Lived in the Castle, through Merricat’s employment of so-called ‘magic words’. Merricat says, ‘I would not forget my magic words; they were MELODY GLOUCESTER PEGASUS’. (p. 51). It is arguable that such words provide a form of solace for Merricat in repeating these words to herself, and thus are deemed even more atypical regarding the normal ways of comforting oneself. On the surface, Merricat’s repetition of her magic words appears to be peculiar and unusual, adding to the portrayal of the abnormal protagonist. Therefore, as a result of a melange of repressed secrets and an implied unstable mental condition, it could be contested that Merricat is not the character who can give us a true and pure representation of what happened to the Blackwood family, with the revelation not necessarily being veritable.

To conclude, Jackson employs varying techniques of suspense, concealment and secrecy in order to weave Merricat’s narrative into a stimulating plotline. By not immediately revealing the complex nuances of Merricat’s murderous past, Jackson establishes a rising and prominent whirl of suspense and tension which permeates throughout the text. This mounting suspense is followed with the revelation of the most pre-eminent secret which Merricat holds and has been concealing from the reader. However, it is proven that, although the killing of the Blackwood family is the central force of the book around which the plot orbits, Merricat holds secrets which she is not even fully aware that she possesses: a sexual attraction for her sister and the possibility of mental illness. Shirley Jackson heavily entwines these confidences into the plot of We Have Always Lived in the Castle, using such strategies to craft an intricate tapestry of suspense, tension and anticipation which is tinged with the acridity of concealed secrets.

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We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Shirley jackson, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Constance and Merricat have cut themselves off from the world almost entirely since the deaths of their family. Although Constance fears the outside world, the story takes place at a time of change, when she’s beginning to wonder whether it’s time to face society again. She is partially receptive to Helen Clarke ’s urging her to return to the world, though she’s also frightened at the prospect. Merricat also fears the outside world, but she feels just as much hatred towards it as fear. In other words, even as she wants to escape from the villagers, she also wants to kill them all.

Since Merricat unabashedly cherishes her isolation from the world, Constance’s ambivalence about isolation frightens Merricat. Merricat wants nothing more than to have complete possession of and control over Constance, and their continued isolation is key to this goal. Merricat frequently imagines going to live on the moon and taking Constance with her. The moon comes to represent her ideal life, and its most prominent characteristic is its removal from the world. On the moon, no one would bother the sisters, and Merricat could do as she liked, keep Constance safe, and never have to share Constance’s attention with anyone else.

The immediate conflict of the story centers on the threats to the isolation that Merricat cherishes—these threats consist specifically of Helen Clarke and Charles Blackwood . Both of these characters come to the house with the intention of removing the sisters from it. Helen Clarke argues that Constance should return to society, insisting that plenty of people still think of themselves as her friends. More to the point, she implies that it’s time for Constance to find a husband.

Charles seems to present himself as a potential husband; though he never says so outright, he quickly begins to discipline Merricat under the authority of “Constance and I,” and he undoubtedly seeks an honorable way to get his hands on the sisters’ money. In his refusal to bend to the strange way in which the sisters live, particularly the license that Constance gives Merricat to behave in whatever way she likes, Charles represents the rational, masculine, capitalist outside world. In fact, Charles doesn’t try to drag the sisters into the outside world so much as he tries to bring the outside world to their house and make them respect its rules and norms.

The sisters’ isolation ultimately amounts to a defense against living by these rules and norms. The outside world is ruled by men like Jim Donell , who hate the Blackwoods. The attempts of Helen Clarke and Charles to reincorporate the sisters into normal society are linked to a desire to make them conform to patriarchal standards and rules, particularly the valuing of marriage and money. At the end of the book, the sisters cut themselves off from the world entirely. Although they observe the people who linger outside, no one can see into the house. The sisters can watch the workings of society, but they choose not to adhere to it themselves, instead living happily by the rules that Merricat makes up herself.

Isolation ThemeTracker

Isolation Quotes in We Have Always Lived in the Castle

I must have known what she was going to say, because I was chilled; all this day had been building up to what Helen Clarke was going to say right now. I sat low in my chair and looked hard at Constance, wanting her to get up and run away, wanting her not to hear what was just about to be said, but Helen Clarke went on, “It’s spring, you’re young, you’re lovely, you have a right to be happy. Come back into the world.” Once, even a month ago when it was still winter, words like that would have made Constance draw back and run away; now, I saw that she was listening and smiling, although she shook her head.

“Merricat,” Constance said; she turned and looked at me, smiling. “It’s our cousin, our cousin Charles Blackwood. I knew him at once; he looks like Father.” “Well, Mary,” he said. He stood up; he was taller now that he was inside, bigger and bigger as he came closer to me. “Got a kiss for your cousin Charles?” Behind him the kitchen door was open wide; he was the first one who had ever gotten inside and Constance had let him in.... I was held tight, wound round with wire, I couldn’t breathe, and I had to run.

“In a tree,” he said, and his voice was shaking too. “I found it nailed to a tree, for God’s sake. What kind of a house is this?” “It’s not important,” Constance said. “Really, Charles, it’s not important.” “Not important? Connie, this thing’s made of gold .” “But no one wants it.” “One of the links is smashed.... what a hell of a way to treat a valuable thing. We could have sold it,” he said to Constance. “But why?”

“We should have faced the world and tried to live normal lives; Uncle Julian should have been in a hospital all these years, with good care and nurses to watch him. We should have been living like other people. You should...” She stopped, and waved her hands helplessly. “You should have boy friends,” she said finally, and then began to laugh because she sounded funny even to herself.

“We are on the moon at last,” I told her, and she smiled. “I thought I dreamed it all,” she said. “It really happened,” I said. “Poor Uncle Julian.” “They came in the night and took him away, and we stayed here on the moon.” “I’m glad to be here,” she said. “Thank you for bringing me.”

“She certainly wanted her tea,” I said to Constance when I came back to the kitchen. “We have only two cups with handles,” Constance said. “She will never take tea here again.” “It’s a good thing Uncle Julian’s gone, or one of us would have to use a broken cup.”

“If you let me go this time, you’ll never see me again. I mean it, Connie.... Take a last look,” he said. “I’m going. One word could make me stay.” I did not think he was going to go in time. I honestly did not know whether Constance was going to be able to contain herself until he got down the steps and safely into the car.... Charles looked back once more, raised his hand sadly, and got into the car. Then Constance laughed, and I laughed... and we held each other in the dark hall and laughed, with the tears running down our cheeks.... “I am so happy,” Constance said at last, gasping. “Merricat, I am so happy.” “I told you that you would like it on the moon.”

“I wonder if I could eat a child if I had the chance.” “I doubt if I could cook one,” said Constance. “Poor strangers,” I said. “They have so much to be afraid of.” “Well,” Constance said, “I am afraid of spiders.” “Jonas and I will see to it that no spider ever comes near you. Oh, Constance,” I said, “we are so happy.”

We Have Always Lived in the Castle

By shirley jackson, we have always lived in the castle quotes and analysis.

“My name is Mary Katherine Blackwood. I am eighteen years old, and I live with my sister Constance. I have often thought that with any luck at all I could have been born a werewolf, because the two middle fingers on both my hands are the same length, but I have had to be content with what I had. I dislike washing myself, and dogs, and noise. I like my sister Constance, and Richard Plantagenet, and Amanita phalloides, the death-cup mushroom. Everyone else in my family is dead.” Merricat, page 1

The masterful first paragraph of We Have Always Lived in the Castle introduces the reader to Merricat by showing what she values. Her age, 18, is significant since she oftens acts younger, and is also sometimes treated as younger by Constance and Charles. Her childish nature is underlined by her simple statements and dislike for “washing myself,” as well as the chilling nonchalance with which she speaks of the death of her family. Merricat’s affection for the creepy werewolf and poisonous mushrooms, along with Richard Plantagenet (a rumored poisoner himself) is an early hint that she is the killer, not Constance.

“I wished they were dead… I was never sorry when I had thoughts like this; I only wished they would come true.” Merricat, page 12

Appearing early in the novel, this line is an introduction to Merricat’s dark interior monologue and the frequent death wishes she places on others. Her elaborate fantasy of seeing all the townspeople in the store dead, even the children, foreshadows the revelation that she, not Constance, killed her family—including her 10-year-old brother. Merricat’s statement that she never regrets such thoughts can also be linked to her lack of remorse over the killings, though it also indicates that she understands on some level that these thoughts are wrong, indicating that she perhaps isn’t as confident in her mentality and past actions as she presents herself as being.

“Merricat, said Connie, would you like a cup of tea?/Oh no, said Merricat, you’ll poison me./Merricat, said Connie, would you like to go to sleep?/Down in the boneyard ten feet deep!” Villagers, page 22-23

The recurrent nursery rhyme that the villagers chant embodies the sinister girlhood behind the murders—though in reality Merricat, not Constance, is the guilty one. Merricat was only 12 when she killed her family, and is outwardly innocent (and, even at 18, childish) enough that she has successfully fooled the world into thinking she was innocent. The simultaneously childish and sinister nursery rhyme parallels Merricat’s nature.

“Sometimes I feel I would give anything to have them all back again.” Constance, page 32

This statement from Constance is highly unusual, since she never again outwardly expresses missing her family—even Merricat, the true murderer, seems to think of her deceased family more often than Constance does. Yet the statement indicates that Merricat and Constance’s relationship perhaps hasn’t always been as ideal as it seems, since Constance does miss her family. The fact that, at least by the time of the events of the novel, she seems to hold no resentment towards Merricat for killing their family, and even apologizes for reminding Merricat of her past actions, is a powerful window into Constance’s psychology.

“She told the police those people deserved to die… She told the police that it was all her fault.” Helen Clarke, page 53

This statement by Helen Clarke reveals Constance’s immediate response to the deaths of her family. Rather than mourning her family members, Constance immediately blamed herself (as she later does for the fire at the end of the novel.) (Uncle Julian suggests that Constance blamed herself because she thought her cooking had killed them, but her cleaning of the sugar bowl suggests otherwise, and the fact that she again blames herself for the fire indicates that this tendency is a sort of compulsion in Constance’s character.) Equally revealing is the fact that Constance said her family deserved to die, since she doesn’t seem to hold much resentment towards them otherwise (though she doesn’t mourn them much, either.) Constance perhaps said so to make herself the obvious murder suspect and take the fall for Merricat. Either way, the statement that her family deserved to die conplicates Constance’s seemingly kind, idealistic personality.

“‘Don’t you ever want to leave here, Merricat?’ ‘Where could we go?’ I asked her. ‘What place would be better for us than this? Who wants us, outside? The world is full of terrible people.’ ‘I wonder sometimes.’” Constance and Merricat, page 78

This exchange illustrates the differences in views of humanity and the outside world between Merricat and Constance. While Merricat embraces her solitude and isolation in the house and thinks pessimistically of the outside world, Constance regrets feeling compelled to remain in the house and considers leaving, believing she may be missing out on the outside world. This ideological conflict between the two sisters is the major source of suspense in the novel as the reader wonders whether or not Constance will remain isolated with Merricat.

“On the moon, Uncle Julian would be well and the sun would shine every day.” Merricat, page 108

This line is one of many of Merricat’s fantasies about the moon, where she imagines an idealized and isolated life. That her fantasy includes Uncle Julian being well is notable because she, after all, is the cause of his ill health—his physical and mental disabilities are the result of surviving the poisoning. Thus, the line suggests that Merricat may regret harming Uncle Julian, though she never outright expresses guilt for killing her family.

“I sat between Constance and Uncle Julian, in my rightful, my own and proper, place at the table... ‘Mary Katherine should have anything she wants, my dear. Our most loved daughter must have anything she likes… …‘You must never be punished. Lucy, you are to see to it that our most loved daughter Mary Katherine is never punished.’ 'Mary Katherine would never allow herself to do anything wrong; there is never any need to punish her.’ ‘I have heard, Lucy, of disobedient children being sent to their beds without dinner as a punishment. This must not be permitted with our Mary Katherine.’” Merricat, page 139

Through her fantasy of her family’s adoring behavior towards her, Merricat indicates the true reality of how they truly behaved towards her. This passage reveals the reason why Merricat killed her family: they punished her by sending her to bed without dinner. This reasoning is chillingly mundane, particularly because Merricat never reveals why she was punished in the first place, so the punishment may have been completely appropriate. Nonetheless, it’s clear that Merricat resented being punished so much that, along with being driven to murder, she still seems almost traumatized by the events years later. The statement that Merricat would never “allow herself” to do something wrong is especially revealing, indicating a possible motivation behind the rules that Merricat creates for herself.

"‘I am going to put death in all their food and watch them die.’ Constance stirred, and the leaves rustled. ‘The way you did before?’ she asked. It had never been spoken of between us, not once in six years. ‘Yes,’ I said after a minute, ‘the way I did before.’” Merricat and Constance, page 161

This exchange is the only time in the novel in which the sisters discuss the mutual knowledge that Merricat killed her family, and is the explicit confirmation of what the reader has likely already guessed. The fact that the sisters have never felt the need to discuss the poisoning before shows how much they love and care for each other. After all, despite missing her family, Constance has never asked Merricat to explain why she killed them, and it is she, not Merricat, who apologizes for even bringing the matter up later. The exchange thus indicates Constance’s disturbingly serene acceptance of all of her sister’s actions.

“‘Oh, Constance,’ I said, ‘we are so happy.’” Merricat, page 214

This statement, the final line of the novel, is chilling. Merricat has succeeded in convincing Constance to abandon the outside world, and the two sisters truly feel happy in their isolated home. In some ways, the sisters are more feared and hated by the villagers than ever before—though they bring the sisters food, this is partially because they fear their families being hurt otherwise, and there are rumors that the Blackwoods eat children. Yet while the sisters previously hid from the villagers in fear, they now laugh as they do so, delighting in being the cause of so much fear and mystique.

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We Have Always Lived in the Castle Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Where is the fire foreshadowed in the book?

In Chapter Six, Merricat goes to the summer house, somewhere she hasn't visited in six years. While there she explains that no one in her family liked the summerhouse, and her mother even asked to burn it down.... forshadowing a possible fire.

What is the dynamic between men and women through the symbol of nature?

I'm not sure about the nature part of your question. Through the dynamics of the Blackwood family and the town as a whole, Merricat’s world is split starkly into male authority and female power. The magic that Merricat practices and believes in...

I cant seem to find the page number for the quotes

I don't know what quotes you mean. Page numbers also differ from copy to copy.

Study Guide for We Have Always Lived in the Castle

We Have Always Lived in the Castle study guide contains a biography of Shirley Jackson, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

About We Have Always Lived in the Castle
We Have Always Lived in the Castle Summary
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Essays for We Have Always Lived in the Castle

We Have Always Lived in the Castle essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson.

Pearls in the Castle: Comparing Materialism and Gender in Fiction by Steinbeck and Jackson

Lesson Plan for We Have Always Lived in the Castle

About the Author
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Introduction to We Have Always Lived in the Castle
Relationship to Other Books
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We Have Always Lived in the Castle Study Guides & Sample Essays
Essay 1 : "Family is the cause of all the problems in We Have Always Lived in the Castle.'. Do you agree? Essay 2 : Merricat and Constance find safety in their ruined house, but they sacrifice their freedom. Discuss. Essay 3 : "In We Have Always lived in the castle the women are stronger than the men" discuss.
We Have Always Lived In the Castle, Essay Example
Literary Aspects: "Sula" vs. "We Have Always Lived in a Castle". Inked by celebrated American novelist Toni Morrison, the book " Sula " sets a perfect example of how literary elements are blended effortlessly into the book. On the other hand, " We Have Always Lived in a Castle ," authored by Shirley Jackson, provides a pedestal ...
We Have Always Lived in the Castle Essay Questions
Essays for We Have Always Lived in the Castle. We Have Always Lived in the Castle essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. Pearls in the Castle: Comparing Materialism and Gender in Fiction by Steinbeck and Jackson
Family in "We Have Always Lived in the Castle"
Introduction. We Have Always Lived in the Castle, written by Shirley Jackson and published in 1961, was the final novel of the author, representing several characteristics of her personality.As mentioned by Bartnett for the Guardian, the female characters of the novel are "yin and yang of Shirley's own inner self - one, an explorer, a challenger, the other a contented, domestic homebody."
We Have Always Lived in the Castle Study Guide
Key Facts about We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Full Title: We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Where Written: North Bennington, Vermont. When Published: 1962. Literary Period: Postmodernism. Genre: Gothic novel. Setting: A small New England town and its surroundings. Climax: the villagers tearing apart the sisters' house after it burns.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle
Works Cited. Jackson, Shirley. We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Viking Press, 1962. Shirley Jackson's final book, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, tells the story of two twins, Constance Blackwood and Merricat, who l... 622 words. Read essay for free.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle Summary
Charles begs Constance to let him in, but she doesn't. The moment he leaves they both laugh uproariously at his foolishness. The people who walk past the house always speculate about the sisters, and children are afraid of them. There's a rumor that the sisters eat children, and Merricat and Constance joke about it.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle Essays
These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Sh... We Have Always Lived in the Castle Material. Study Guide; Q & A; Essays; Lesson Plan; Join Now to View Premium Content. GradeSaver provides access to 2360 study guide PDFs and quizzes, 11007 literature essays, 2767 sample ...
We Have Always Lived in the Castle Themes
Family is an intensely fraught subject in this novel. On one hand, the only person in the world whom Merricat loves is her sister, Constance, and almost everything Merricat does is motivated by this love. On the other hand, Merricat has murdered her parents, her brother, and her aunt, and she lives with her uncle who survived the murders simply ...
We Have Always Lived in the Castle Essay Topics
Thanks for exploring this SuperSummary Study Guide of "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" by Shirley Jackson. A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to ...
An Analysis of We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
This analysis of We Have Always Lived in the Castle (1962), Shirley Jackson 's last novel, has a special emphasis on Mary Katherine (Merricat), the younger of the Blackwood sisters central to the story. Excerpted from Girls in Bloom: Coming of Age in the Mid 20th Century Woman's Novel by Francis Booth, reprinted by permission.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle
Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a great text studied by students for VCE English in the Reading and Creating unit of study.You can do...
The Theme of Isolation in We Have Always Lived in the Castle ...
The first novel where isolation is inevitable, is Shirley Jackson's 1962 publication of, We Have Always Lived in the Castle. This novel refers to the character Mary Katherine Blackwood (Merricat). ... All samples are real essays written by real students who kindly donate their papers to us so that you can use them for inspiration and simplify ...
We Have Always Lived in the Castle Study Guide
Published in 1962, We Have Always Lived in the Castle is Shirley Jackson 's final novel before her death in 1965. Told from the perspective of 18-year-old Mary Katherine "Merricat" Blackwood, it focuses on the lives of Merricat, her older sister Constance, and her uncle Julian in the wake of the tragic murders of the rest of their family.
A Close Reading of the Best Opening Paragraph of All Time
December 15, 2017. One hundred and one years ago today, Shirley Jackson was born. During her lifetime, she wrote "The Lottery," and The Haunting of Hill House, and We Have Always Lived in the Castle, the latter of which features what I consider to be the best first paragraph of all time, or at least of any novel that I have ever read.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle Summary
Essays for We Have Always Lived in the Castle. We Have Always Lived in the Castle essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. Pearls in the Castle: Comparing Materialism and Gender in Fiction by Steinbeck and Jackson
We Have Always Lived in the Castle: Chapter 1 Summary & Analysis
Themes and Colors Key. Summary. Analysis. The narrator introduces herself as Mary Katherine Blackwood (or Merricat) and says she lives with her sister, Constance. She wishes she had been born a werewolf. She doesn't like washing herself, dogs, or noise, but she does like Constance, Richard Plantagenet, and the death-cup mushroom.
We Have Always Lived in a Castle
Annotations, with assessor comments identifying the elements of the essay that work well, as well as identifying areas for improvement. Tips on how to approach the essay topic, with appropriate strategies for analysis and selection of relevant textual material. ISBN SE-D-23-Lived-in-castle. $ 3.95.
Essay: Shirley Jackson
We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a 176-page novel and it is in only the second chapter that Mrs Wright remarks that it was 'arsenic in the sugar' which caused the death of the Blackwoods, with Uncle Julian adding that certain family members were 'led inexorably through the gates of death' (p. 31). If the most prevailing secret in ...
sample essays for we have always lived in the castle? : r/vce
Merricat and Constance are both the heroes and the villains in We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Discuss. 'Isolation plays a significant role in shaping character's identity.'. Discuss. Thanks so much!! I had a lot on being different from society/ societal norms and if the sisters were successful in the end which kind of fits in many ...
We Have Always Lived in the Castle
The Relativity of Truth. Themes and Colors. LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in We Have Always Lived in the Castle, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. Constance and Merricat have cut themselves off from the world almost entirely since the deaths of their family. Although Constance fears the outside world ...
We Have Always Lived in the Castle Essay
In We Have Always Lived in the Castle, two girls Merricat and Constance poisoned their family members and drove out their cousin Charles Blackwood in order to pursue an isolated and elegant lifestyle. The themes of greed/human nature and role of female characters are present in both novellas. ... 10989 literature essays, 2751 sample college ...
We Have Always Lived in the Castle Quotes and Analysis
The masterful first paragraph of We Have Always Lived in the Castle introduces the reader to Merricat by showing what she values. Her age, 18, is significant since she oftens acts younger, and is also sometimes treated as younger by Constance and Charles. Her childish nature is underlined by her simple statements and dislike for "washing ...

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