we have always lived in the castle essay questions

We Have Always Lived in the Castle

By shirley jackson, we have always lived in the castle essay questions.

How is sisterhood portrayed in the novel?

Sisterhood is portrayed as an unbreakable bond in We Have Always Lived in the Castle . Merricat’s chief motivation throughout the novel is keeping Constance in isolation with her because she longs to be close to her, while Constance seemingly immediately forgives Merricat for murdering their family and even risks going to jail for the killings herself.

How are male and female roles within the family portrayed?

Male roles within the Blackwood family tend to be linked to money and the logical, rational outside world, while female roles are tied to the home and a less rational form of magic. For example, Charles interrupts the Blackwood sisters’ isolation and is deeply concerned with the family safe, while Merricat uses her witchcraft to attempt to send him away and regain her isolation with Constance.

Does Uncle Julian differ from other men in the Blackwood family? If so, how?

Yes—unlike most of the men in the novel, he never tries to establish himself as an authority figure over Constance or Merricat. Instead, he seems comfortable letting Constance lead the household. He also shows little care for money or social norms, unlike other male characters.

What is the significance of the novel’s title?

The title romanticizes the Blackwood property by elevating it to the level of a home for royalty, and also suggesting that it is a site of heavy fortification and security. It also references Merricat’s childish nature and tendency to daydream—living in a castle is the sort of thing a young girl would fantasize about. The word “always” goes along with the sense of timelessness that appears in the end of the novel, when Merricat and Constance are fully isolated.

How do the Blackwood sisters respond to loss in the novel?

The sisters respond to death and other forms of loss in a very muted, almost emotionless manner. Despite living with Uncle Julian for years, they barely mourn him and quickly move on from his death. When the house almost burns down, Constance is more concerned that Merricat missed dinner than she is with the restructuring that she will have to do to her life.

Does Merricat show remorse for killing her family?

Though for the most part Merricat seems not to feel guilt for killing her family, there are several small moments that suggest she might feel a small degree of remorse. For example, one morning she wakes up and thinks she can hear them calling her, which is unusual considering that six years have passed. This moment suggests that her family are present in her mind more than she acknowledges.

What do the preserves represent?

Food is a common source of female power in the novel. The preserves, created by generations of Blackwood women, represent the generational roots of this power. Ultimately, they are key to allowing Merricat and Constance to live in full isolation since they provide them food without having to leave the house.

Why does Jackson mention that Charles resembles John Blackwood?

Charles's physical resemblance to the sisters' father parallels his ideological and thematic resemblance to the patriarch of the Blackwood family. Like John, Charles is chiefly concerned with money, and he also attempts to control Merricat.

What is the significance of the scene in which Merricat envisions dinner with her dead family?

The scene reveals the reality of what happened the night of the murders: Merricat was punished by being sent to bed without dinner. This experience seems to have scarred her psychologically, since she still dwells on it six years later. Since the reader doesn't know why Merricat was punished, it's difficult to gauge to how outlandish her reaction is.

What is the significance of the novel's final line?

The final line of the novel ("We are so happy") indicates that Merricat has finally been victorious in converting Constance to her worldview and life of happy isolation. Though Constance has always been wary of outsiders, she considered leaving the house earlier in the novel, much to Merricat's concern. At the end of the novel, Merricat no longer has to worry about "protecting" Constance and can live happily ever after with her in their house.

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
• Character List

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
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to We Have Always Lived in the Castle
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
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• We Have Always Lived in the Castle Bibliography

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.

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We Have Always Lived in the Castle

51 pages • 1 hour read

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Chapters 1-4

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Chapters 8-10

Character Analysis

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Summary and Study Guide

We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a contemporary gothic novella written by Shirley Jackson. It was first published in 1962. It is narrated by Mary Katherine Blackwood, known to her family as Merricat, and tells the story of the misfortune that befalls the secretive Blackwood family when the outside world encroaches and Merricat’s peculiar values are put to the test. In this story, Jackson underscores themes of rebellion versus conformity in a world of class, murder, cooking, and even a dash of witchcraft. This summary refers to the Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition, published in 2006.

Plot Summary

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Blackwood Manor is a large family estate that houses a peculiar trio: 18-year-old Mary Katherine “Merricat” Blackwood , the protagonist; her older sister Constance; and Uncle Julian. The other Blackwoods were murdered after ingesting arsenic-laced sugar. Constance takes care of Merricat and Uncle Julian, who survived the poisoning but uses a wheelchair ever since. Uncle Julian, who is obsessed with the murders at Blackwood manor, relitigates them at every turn while getting no closer to an answer. What he knows is that the poisoning itself happened six years earlier while the family was having dessert. The sugar was poisoned with arsenic, and it was used to sweeten the blackberries for dessert. Constance doesn’t take sugar, so she didn’t eat any while Merricat had been sent to her room early without supper as punishment. The rest of the family, however, consumed the dessert. Merricat’s parents John and Ellen, her aunt Dorothy (Julian’s wife), and her younger brother Thomas died. Constance was accused of committing the murders. Though tried, she was eventually acquitted.

The story is told from Merricat’s point of view , and she describes a weekly schedule of unerring regularity. Constance now has agoraphobia and obsessively cooks and pickles foods from the family’s garden. Uncle Julian uses a wheelchair, so neither he nor Constance leave the family’s property. Merricat secures the essentials for their survival by walking into town every week for supplies and library books. Though Constance was acquitted, the townspeople still strongly believe she’s guilty, and there’s palpable dislike for the Blackwoods. Merricat is often taunted ruthlessly when she journeys to town, both by children who sing a crude nursery rhyme about her and by the gossiping adults. The Blackwoods only connection to the surrounding village is through regular visits from Helen Clarke and the town’s doctor, who regularly assesses Julian’s health. Merricat buries items all over the Blackwood estate to protect the property from townspeople and bad spirits. Her thoughts often turn to murder and mayhem, especially when her rigid schedule is undermined. She is often shocked and disturbed when Constance suggests a change in the usual routine or curiosity about the outside world.

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Soon, their cousin Charles Blackwood arrives, undermining Merricat’s rigid schedule. Now that Charles’s father (Julian’s brother) has died, lifting the extended family’s stonewalling of Merricat and her sister, Charles is free to do as he pleases. He claims he has arrived on a charitable mission to help the Blackwoods. Constance welcomes Charles and the change he brings. However, Uncle Julian is befuddled by Charles’s presence, and Merricat perceives him as a purely malevolent presence, a “ghost” haunting Blackwood Manor. As she creates various passive charms and spells to get Charles out of the house, Charles begins to assess the monetary value of every little trinket in the house and keeps asking about the locked safe and the rumored fortune held within. The conflict escalates between Merricat and Charles, and Charles finally makes the fatal error of suggesting to Merricat that she will be sent to bed without her dinner. Soon after, Charles’s pipe starts a fire in a wastepaper basket that burns the top floor of the house down. The firefighters arrive, as do many of the villagers. The strangers form into a mindless and unaccountable mob, and after the fire has been put out, the mob begins throwing rocks at the windows of Blackwood manor. They rush the house, breaking furniture and dishes, their actions fueled by years of pent-up frustration and fear of the Blackwoods.

During the destruction, Uncle Julian dies of a heart attack while both Constance and Merricat hide in the woods until the destruction is over. Charles, ever greedy, attempts unsuccessfully to carry away the safe but eventually disappears. While hiding, Constance admits she has known all along that Merricat is the murderer. Merricat admits to the crime and says she placed the arsenic in the sugar bowl because she knew Constance wouldn’t eat any. After the mob leaves, Merricat and Constance move into the ruins of their home. They clean the kitchen and seal off the rest of the house, salvaging what they can from the debris. Additionally, they end up wearing Uncle Julian’s old clothing and no longer go into town for anything. The pair live quietly in the house, making do with what they have. Constance previously stored a large supply of canned goods in the cellar, so they have food. Moreover, the townspeople eventually feel guilty for their actions, so they journey to the manor, which is now covered with ivy, to make amends. At night they leave food on the porch in baskets along with apology letters. Though the townspeople feel guilty, they’re also afraid of the girls now more than ever. Constance and Merricat use this fear to their advantage, living a life of isolation that Merricat calls “happy.”

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An Ultimate Guide to We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Instead of focusing on paranormality, Jackson conveys a “vast intimacy with everyday evil, with the pathological undertones of prosaic human configurations: a village, a family, a self”. The novella disinterred the wickedness in normality, cataloguing the ways in which repression tips into psychosis, persecution, and paranoia, into cruelty and its masochistic, injury-cherishing twin.

Set in a secluded town, the novel chronicles the lives of the Blackwood sisters, Merricat and Constance, who are both outcasts in their community. Despite the antagonism they face from the townspeople, the sisters are able to find comfort in each other and in their ancestral home, where they live in relative seclusion.

Through the character of Merricat, Jackson examines the psychological impacts of isolation and persecution. Merricat is an eccentric and paranoid young woman who has been ostracized by the townspeople, who view her as a witch. Due to her isolation, Merricat's mental state begins to deteriorate, leading to an increase in her paranoia and delusions. Despite this, she remains fiercely protective of her sister and their home, and is willing to do whatever it takes to keep them safe from the outside world.

Jackson's incorporation of Gothic elements, such as the eerie and dilapidated Blackwood estate and the supernatural beliefs of the townspeople, adds to the novel's atmosphere of unease and isolation. The novel also explores the consequences of societal persecution, as the townspeople's mistreatment of the Blackwood sisters ultimately leads to tragedy.

Genre and Narrative Conventions

Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a work of gothic fiction, known for its eerie and uncanny atmosphere. The novel explores themes of isolation and madness through the eyes of the protagonist, Merricat Blackwood, who is haunted by the double of her dead father. The Blackwood family's remote, crumbling house serves as a symbol of their own decay and isolation, adding to the novel's gothic mood. Jackson also uses elements of the supernatural, such as the mention of Merricat's ability to "put things right" with her mind, and the use of symbols, such as the black cat, to depict the relationship between the natural and the unnatural.

The risk of nature’s revolting is challenged through the construction of Merricat as the embodiment of sympathetic magic — naturalising the unnatural. Particularly, she confronts nature’s anger through raw and natural elements: soil and leaves being scattered, fire being lit up. Jackson thus marries magic — characteristically an evil and unnatural power, with prehuman elements, so as to avoid readily vilifying Merricat. The fire aforementioned symbolically incinerates the female stronghold and feminine power, preventing it from being invaded.

The distinction between reality and fantasy is also blurred, which only adds to the sense of unease. The house symbolises both the physical and mental isolation of the Blackwood sisters, and the way in which they have cut themselves off from the outside world. By characterising Merricat as the antithesis of her sister, Jackson also highlights the themes of repression and rebellion, which are central to the Gothic genre.

Constance Blackwood is characterised as hypersensitive and afraid, whereas Merricat Blackwood, the fable’s first-person narrator, is attuned to “nature, to the rhythm of the season, and to death”. As the culprit in the unresolved crime that takes centrality in the narrative, she challenges patriarchal institution and the law of proprietorship, acting as the antithesis of a docile, domestic woman. Merricat’s ingenuous and defiant voice helps foreground the disintegration permeating the story. 

Isolation and Persecution

  The novel's isolated setting and its exploration of the psychological effects of isolation and persecution on the main character, Merricat, highlight the ostracisation of those who exhibit ‘otherness’. The protagonist and her sister Constance, who is afflicted by an anxiety disorder, are strongly attached, and their isolation is a defence mechanism against the social norms and rules propagated by their community.

 The tragic consequences of the townspeople's treatment of the Blackwood sisters further underscore the theme of the dangers of societal persecution. The novel suggests that isolation can lead to madness and self-destruction, as the Blackwood sisters are unable to cope with their isolation and gradually become more and more isolated from each other and from reality.

 Female self-sufficiency, Jackson suggests, specifically women's forceful establishment of power over their own lives, threatens a society in which men hold primary power and leads inevitably to confrontation.

Supernatural, Magic and Witchcraft

In "We Have Always Lived in the Castle," magic and witchcraft are presented as a means of coping with and resisting the difficulties and isolation faced by the main characters. For Merricat, her practice of sympathetic magic can be seen as a way of trying to exert some control over her circumstances and to find a sense of agency in a world that often seems unfair and unpredictable. By engaging in magical practices, Merricat is empowered to create some sense of order and meaning in her life, and to connect with a world that is beyond the narrow-mindedness and judgment of the villagers. Magic and witchcraft characters’ resistance and subversion of the expectations and norms of their society.

Jackson also uses the supernatural to represent the otherness of characters. The ghost in Gothic literature often manifests as a phantasmic spectre of a “Madwoman in the Attic” (a term coined by Gilbert and Gubar and the title of their work), an outcasted woman. However, in Castle , this role is filled by  Charles – a masculine presence – who is always referred to by Merricat as a ghost. By replacing the madwoman with a male ghost, Jackson enables the preservation of female power and subverts the relationship between men and women.

Power and Masculinity

The novel provides a critique of the causes and consequences of female victimisation and alienation (which have been explored briefly in the previous section). Jackson subverts masculine authority from the outset of the novel, which has already suffered a defeat at the hands of the protagonist through her poisoning. This poisoning has resulted in a transfer of power from Blackwood men to Blackwood women. The victim, John Blackwood, is a patriarch who "took pride in his table, his family, his position in the world" (p. 47). His preservation of wealth and material possessions is represented through the narrator’s description of the ways "he used to record the names of people who owed him money, and people who ought, he thought, to do favors for him". Acts of altruisms are replaced by quid pro quo transactions; John views all loans as financial investments and benefits the town’s scarcity of resources. Jackson establishes John as the archetypal patriarch and proprietor that dominates society.

 Julian, John’s brother, is characterised as the antithesis of John, dependent on his brother's charity and subject to his authority. He is emasculated by the lack of authority and the failure to accumulate private wealth. In a society that defines wealth as a male prerogative, Julian is outcasted, rendered both legally and symbolically powerless. His invalid state confirms that financial failure for men leads to powerlessness, dependency, emasculation. However, whilst his emasculation ensures the empowerment of Constance and Merricat, his insistent denial of Merricat’s existence is a reminder of her invisibility to the Blackwood men

Womanhood and Domesticity

Jackson uses Gothic tropes to marry the sanitised domestic space with psychological entrapment and horrors. Merricat and Constance “have always lived” in the castle, suggesting a sort of entrapment within the space. After her opening describing her character, Merricat remarks on the day to day life inside the structure with Constance and her family:

We always put things back where they belonged. We dusted and swept under tables and chairs and beds and pictures and rugs and lamps, but we left them where they were… Blackwoods had always lived in our house, and kept their things in order… and so our house was built up with layers of Blackwood property weighting it, and keeping it steady against the world (Jackson 421)

In this passage, the collective “we” is inescapable. The narrative reads almost like a cleaning manual, dusting and sweeping various locations. Jackson’s use of domestic imagery alludes to the duties of female members in the Blackwood family – constantly working to maintain the order of the household and its façade, but lacking power and involvement.

 This depiction of domesticity is juxtaposed against Merricat’s rebellion, which culminates in her subversion of the Blackwood patriarchy. By establishing Constance as the head of the family through the murder, she replaces masculine power with feminine power. Constance and Merricat are contrasted in Jackson’s initial depiction, where Constance represents the domestic and traditional, and Merricat represents the creative and unrestrained. This depiction, however, is challenged through Jackson’s deconstruction of the domestic. Domestic tasks are portrayed as creative tasks instead of mundane, repetitive routinely chores. Constance, despite being relegated to the domestic sphere, discerns creativity. Similarly, Merricat’s rebellion is paired with self-imposed rules and insistence on routine, which helps Jackson further eradicate binary oppositions and rigid characterisations.

Idea to Explore:

The annihilating fire that transforms the Blackwood mansion into ““a castle, turreted and open to the sky”. Guiding notes:

Despite that the castle image is Gothicised, the structure is still filled with domestic bliss.

The fire exacerbates their isolation from the world and entrapment; they are more so contained in their home’s blackened walls.

However, the two are not bothered. Merricat remarks, “We were going to be very happy”

Their “great many things to do” become commonplace domestic tasks such as cleaning fragments of the former home, and barricading  themselves—literally and figuratively—against the outside world.  

Class and Wealth

In Shirley Jackson's "We Have Always Lived in the Castle," the theme of class and wealth is evident in the hierarchy and distinction between the wealthy, aristocratic Blackwood family and the poorer, working-class townspeople. The Blackwood family's history of wealth and privilege is portrayed through their large, grandiose mansion and their pride in their family's legacy and proprietorship of the town. This distinction is further emphasized by the antagonism between the Blackwoods and the townspeople, represented through representations of the Blackwood’s proprietorship and snobbery towards others, resulting in persecution and isolation. The family is conscious of their snobbery towards the village, and simultaneously conscious of the role persecution plays in confirming their elevated self-image. The forewords of the novella refer to this double confession of culpability, a typical feature in Jackson’s texts. She propounds that, to revel in injury is a form of exultation, and to suffer exile from conformist groups, is not an implicit moral victory, but a form of bohemian one-upmanship.  

Merricat is aware of such animosity:

“The people of the village disliked the fact that we always had plenty of money to pay for whatever we wanted; we had taken our money out of the bank, of course, and I knew they talked about the money hidden in our house, as though it were great heaps of golden coins and Constance and Uncle Julian and I sat in the evenings, our library books forgotten, and played with it, running our hands through it and counting and stacking and tumbling it, jeering and mocking behind locked doors.”

The reference to “money hidden in [their] house” and the archaic equivocation to “great heaps of golden coins” allude to the economic disparity between the people and the Blackwoods, which results in class antagonism. Private property is a falsifier of economic relations, and the mansion symbolises the family’s ability to accrue wealth. The perceived prestige attached with the Blackwood family’s ownership of property and wealth creates divisions within society and fuels conflict.

Authorial Intent: What is it saying?

A Brooding Examination of Persecution and Paranoia  

Jackson's narrative is heavily steeped in the motif of small-town New England persecution. Yet, she cleverly repackages this persecution, transforming it from a broad social critique to a deeply personal fable. Central to this narrative is the character development of the Blackwood sisters. Constance is depicted as hypersensitive and fearful, while her younger sister Merricat, the novella's first-person narrator, maintains a close bond with nature, the changing seasons, and the concept of death.  

Merricat, implicated in a central unresolved crime, dares to defy patriarchal institutions and the law of proprietorship. She symbolizes the antithesis of the docile, domestic woman, her defiant and innocent voice echoing the thematic disintegration that permeates the narrative. This voice serves as a stark contrast to Constance's fear, demonstrating the psychological complexities and contradictions within the two main characters.

Sympathetic Magic: Marrying the Natural and Unnatural  

Jackson's narrative also delves into the relationship between the natural and the unnatural, drawing heavily on Gothic tropes. Merricat, portrayed as the embodiment of sympathetic magic, challenges the risk of nature's rebellion, thereby naturalizing the unnatural. She confronts nature's fury with raw, elemental forces: the scattering of soil and leaves, the ignition of fire. By aligning magic—an inherently unnatural power—with prehuman elements, Jackson effectively prevents the reader from outright vilification of Merricat.

The symbolism of fire is particularly poignant in this context. It serves as a metaphorical barrier, safeguarding the female stronghold and feminine power from potential intrusion. This underscores Merricat's unconventional strength and her defiance of traditional gender roles.

Unveiling Class Antagonism: The Blackwoods and Their Pride  

Class antagonism is another critical theme that Jackson explores in the novella. The Blackwoods' proprietary attitudes and their disdain for others lead to their persecution and isolation. The family is painfully aware of their snobbery towards the village, recognizing that this persecution only serves to cement their elevated self-image. Jackson argues that this reveling in injury is a form of exultation, suggesting that suffering exile from conformist groups is not just a moral victory but also a form of bohemian oneupmanship.

In-Depth Analysis of the First Chapter

The first chapter of the novella sets the stage for the drama that unfolds. Here, Merricat Blackwood is introduced as an 18-year-old living with her sister, Constance. Right from the outset, Jackson establishes the role of sisterhood in replacing heterosexual romance and patriarchal structures. Merricat's narrative provides an intriguing the juxtaposition of innocence and evil, reflecting her ideological escape from reality through magic. She imagines being “born a werewolf”, emphasising her existence as the foreign ‘other’, and the description of her “the two middle fingers on both [her] hands [being] of the same length”, representing physical abnormality, further highlights her otherness.   

The Blackwood family is portrayed as stagnant and dull, “never much of a family for restlessness and stirring”. The stagnated state of the family parallels the inanimacy of objects, “the books and the flowers and the spoons”. Framed using a polysyndeton, with the conjunction “and” being repeated, Jackson’s description of the family’s possessions connotes excess and abundance. The family takes care to preserve their material possessions, which are “dusted and swept under the tables and chairs and beds and pictures and rugs and lamps”, but “left them where they were”. The lack of utility of these furnitures renders them mere signifiers of wealth, or falsifiers of economic relations. Their wealth is preserved and transferred through patriarchal lineage, and marriages help the family accumulate further wealth and economic capital. Marital relations, and by extension, the Blackwood wives, are commodified in Merricat’s narration, with their identity being attached to their “belongings”, which help build up with “layers of Blackwood property”. 

The wealth of the Blackwoods are preserved and transferred through patriarchal lineage, with marriages serving as a means to accumulate further economic capital. The commodification of the Blackwood wives is evident in Merricat's narrative, where their identities are reduced to their "belongings," which contribute to the "layers of Blackwood property."

The gendered description of “the men [staying] young and [doing] the gossiping and the women aged with grey evil weariness” establishes the chasm between the lives of men and women. The passivity of the women standing “silently waiting for the men to get up and come home” demonstrates the drudgery and monotony of domestic lives. Women are disempowered by the laws, which act as patriarchal institutions that deprive them of proprietary rights. Merricat expresses her admiration towards The Rochester house, “the loveliest in the town”, which “by rights it should have belonged to Constance”. Their mother, despite being “born there”, lacks proprietary rights and is unable to transfer ownership to Constance. The binary language in Merricat’s narration — “disliked” and “liked”, establishes a childlike sense of injustice.

The theme of entrapment, a staple of Gothic literature, is evident in the depiction of Constance and Uncle Julian. Constance's inability to venture “past her own garden” is juxtaposed with Uncle Julian's physical immobility. In postmodern literature, the “garden” symbolises liminality — the in-between space between the confines of the domestic space and the public sphere. We may infer that Constance desires access to the outside world but fears the hostility of the townspeople. Merricat, on the other hand, is empowered by “the simple need for books and food”, representations of her needs, both spiritual and physical.

Similar to The Lottery, Castle also uses a cliched description of “the sun … shining” in a “fine April morning” to unveil the co-existence of good and evil. The “false glorious promises of spring … showing oddly through the village grime” create foreboding malevolence; Jackson eradicates binary oppositions by marrying natural imagery with references to beauty’s falsity.

Thematic ideas explained:

Evil in Normality: Jackson unravels the sinister aspects hidden within everyday life, focusing on the progression from repression to psychosis, persecution, paranoia, cruelty, and masochism.   Persecution and Paranoia: The narrative underlines the motif of small-town persecution, illustrating how societal persecution can tip over into personal paranoia. Defiance of Patriarchy: Through the character of Merricat, Jackson challenges patriarchal institutions and the traditional image of the docile, domestic woman.

Sympathetic Magic and the Natural vs. Unnatural: Jackson illustrates he relationship between the natural and the unnatural, with Merricat representing sympathetic magic, which naturalizes the unnatural.

Class Antagonism: The theme of class antagonism is represented through the Blackwood family's snobbery, leading to their isolation and persecution.   Gothic Tropes and Entrapment: Jackson's use of Gothic tropes, such as physical and psychological entrapment, is highlighted through the characters of Constance and Uncle Julian.

Coexistence of Good and Evil: The narrative explores the coexistence of good and evil, often revealed through seemingly ordinary circumstances.  

Key Symbolism

 Shirley Jackson's Gothic novel 'We Have Always Lived in the Castle' features an array of symbols that reflect the genre's traditional themes of isolation, decay, and psychological turmoil. A strong understanding of Gothic tropes will enable a deeper understanding of how Jackson represents the invisible forces that shape the experience of her female characters. The conventions of female Gothic writing are deployed to interrogate the position of women within family structures as claustrophobic, oppressive and combative. The novel has been referred to as a Radcliffean Gothic (named after Ann Radcliffe, one of the earliest Gothic writers), particularly in its use of vulnerable heroine and malevolent Gothic spaces.  

The symbols used in the novel include ubiquitous Gothic motifs such as the decaying mansion, reclusive characters, and ominous natural elements. This section will explore a few elements that may be missed by many VCE students in their studies of this new addition to the text list.  

About the Genre: What is Gothic Literature?

Gothic literature is a genre of fiction that originated in England during the latter half of the 18th century but has transformed over the centuries. The genre has evolved from Romantic-era Gothic, characterized by supernatural elements, to the more psychological Gothic of the 20th and 21st centuries. Despite its evolution, Gothic literature typically involves eerie and mysterious scenarios that evoke sensations of fear, dread and suspense in the reader. While Gothic literature can vary in content and style, it is unified by a general preoccupation with death, darkness, hauntings, and entrapment.

Features of different sub-genres of Gothic Literature can be seen in various parts of Jackson's novel: for instance, supernatural elements such as omens, reminding us of the Romantic era, and the Uncanny - referring to the similarities between Charles and John, reminiscent of the psychological Gothic. Also, the text replaces monstrosity, visceral horror, and violence with psychological terror, paranoia, and psychosis, which is a common Postmodern Gothic feature.

Evocation of the Supernatural

One of the prominent features of Gothic literature is its evocation of the supernatural, and Shirley Jackson's "We Have Always Lived in the Castle". References to hidden secrets, curses and spells in the novel allude to the supernatural. However, unlike so many gothic writers, Jackson’s version of the supernatural represents a preferable alternative to life for her characters. Sympathetic magic - imaginative power - empowers Merricat, and allows her to escape the constraints to patriarchal power. The supernatural "life on the moon" represents an alternative economy to the exploitative and oppressive capitalist system of their town. The sisters eschew modernity and choose instead to reside in a dilapidated castle, which smells of "smoke and ruins", 'turrets and open to the sky". The upper level is unsuitable for habitation, thereby limiting their living space to the kitchen and living area. They opt for familiarity with their former dwelling and lifestyle over the formidable challenge of reintegrating into society, forging a novel sense of tranquillity within their private realm.

Even the novel’s setting and atmosphere are subjected to the will of the characters. No rogue spirits or hostile creatures haunt the woods surrounding the Blackwood mansion – only Merricat, who roams them as comfortably as if they are her bedroom. She sleeps on a bed of leaves beneath the tree and walks without fear because she has power and agency in this world. If anything haunts the grounds of her family property, it is her. She is the haunting. 

The environment and ambience portrayed in the novel are intricately tied to the actions of its characters. While no malevolent entities or otherworldly beings lurk amidst the foliage enveloping Blackwood manor, Merricat herself roams freely as if it were her sanctuary. Fearlessly wandering through the woods and taking up residence beneath a verdant canopy, she exerts control over her surroundings with ease. Indeed, if there is any presence that might be considered eerie on this familial estate, it is none other than Merricat - for she embodies an ethereal essence all her own that permeates every inch of space around her.

Murder and Madness

Evil seems to be domesticated and interiorised as madness in the novel, with most of its horror emanating from within Merricat's mind. Jackson's evocation of seemingly disturbed psychological states and association of these states with acts of violence is representative of her critique of societal norms and morality. A history of trauma and abuse is implied through the sisters' frequent references to the poisoning incident and their eventual isolation from society. Merricat's homicidal thoughts and anxieties are presented as an understandable response to the trauma and abuse she has endured, rather than a manifestation of inherent evil.

   “Their tongues will burn, I thought, as though they had eaten fire. Their throats will burn when the words come out, and in their bellies they will feel a torment hotter than a thousand fires.”  

The novel portrays evil not as an external entity but rather as a domesticated and internalised form of madness that is prominently displayed in Merricat’s antagonistic relationship with the townspeople.

However, to subvert the male-centred narrative that associates these states with innate female 'hysteria', Jackson also focuses on the hallucinations and mental instability of Uncle Julian. The psychologisation of terror is herein revealed through the ambivalent psychological dimension that destabilises Julian's perception of reality.

Adolescence and Trauma

Traumatised adolescence and its location within dysfunctional family units are implicitly explored through Jackson's Castle, enabling an examination of Merricat and Constance's experiences. As an 18-year-old girl, Merricat has endured a significant amount of emotional and psychological trauma, which has ostensibly shaped her hostility towards the villagers.

There are no explicit references to her transition from childhood to maturity, yet the novel's folklore elements invite reading through a lens of initiation, where Merricat's withdrawal into ritualistic behaviours and her obsession with magical practices serve as coping mechanisms to such transition.

   “It’s spring, you’re young, you’re lovely, you have a right to be happy. Come back into the world.”  

   “I could not breathe; I was tied with wire, and my head was huge and going to explode; I ran to the back door and opened it to breathe. I wanted to run; if I could have run to the end of our land and back I would have been all right, but Constance was alone with them in the drawing room and I had to hurry back.”  

Through Merricat's traumatic adolescence, Jackson highlights the impact of family dysfunction on mental health and development. Her fear of Constance leaving (e.g., panicking as Helen Clarke invites Constance out) and controlling personality are symbolised by the regimented routine of her weekly grocery outings, whereby she fulfils her role to ensure their self-sufficiency without a paternal presence.

Unreliable Narration

Gothic fiction, including Shirley Jackson's writing, frequently employs the use of an unreliable narrator as a tool for projecting the protagonist's emotional instability. This instability is often linked to Gothic themes of persecution and punishment and can manifest in forms bordering on madness or paranoia. In "We Have Always Lived in the Castle," Merricat vacillates between her internal reality - where she imagines taking revenge against those who have wronged her family - and presenting a veneer of normalcy during external interactions with others.

   “I never turned; it was enough to feel them all there in back of me without looking into their flat grey faces with the hating eyes. I wish you were all dead, I thought, and longed to say it out loud. Constance said, “Never let them see that you care,” and “If you pay any attention they’ll only get worse,” and probably it was true, but I wished they were dead.”  

The portrayal of Merricat serves as an incisive commentary on gender roles that restrict women's power within society since her isolation stems from these constraints imposed upon her.

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We Have Always Lived in the Castle

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

The narrator, Mary Katherine Blackwood (known as Merricat) introduces herself and reveals that all of her relatives are dead, except for her sister Constance . She then begins her story some time earlier, on the day she brought home the library books that still sit on her shelf, long overdue.

It’s Merricat’s job to go into town for groceries, but she doesn’t like having to face the villagers, who are hostile towards her. The Blackwoods’ land is closed off from the outside world with a fence, and the villagers have always hated the Blackwood family. Merricat hates the villagers in return and often wishes them dead. When she enters the grocery store, everyone goes silent until the owners have helped her and she leaves.

On her way home, Merricat goes into Stella ’s café to show that she isn’t afraid. Jim Donell follows her inside to pester her, insisting he’s heard that she and her sister are moving away, which Merricat denies. Joe Dunham comes in, too, and Merricat has to endure their sly insults until Stella tells her to go home. On the way home, the Harris boys chant a rhyme at her about Constance poisoning her with a cup of tea.

Merricat returns home, where Constance welcomes her and begins making lunch while their Uncle Julian looks over his papers, which detail the death of the rest of the family six years earlier. Then they prepare for tea, as an old family friend named Helen Clarke is coming to visit. It becomes clear the Constance isn’t used to interacting with people other than Merricat and Uncle Julian.

When Helen Clarke arrives, Merricat greets her and finds that she’s brought her friend Mrs. Wright . Over tea, Helen Clarke urges Constance to reenter the world, and Constance’s openness to this idea worries Merricat, so she smashes a pitcher in the kitchen.

Uncle Julian comes into the drawing room and begins to discuss the night that the rest of the family was poisoned with arsenic at their dinner. Julian himself also ate the arsenic, but in a small enough quantity that he survived, though it has affected his memory. Mrs. Wright can’t help showing her fascination with this topic, despite Helen Clarke’s disapproval. Julian details the reasons why Constance might have been guilty or might have been innocent. She was tried for murder but acquitted. Constance and Merricat enjoy his performance, and eventually Helen Clarke forces Mrs. Wright out the door.

The next day, Merricat senses that a change is coming in their lives, so she chooses three magic words that will prevent it coming until the words are said aloud. Uncle Julian’s health seems bad that day, and after Dr. Levy comes to examine him, the sisters and Uncle Julian sit in the garden and talk about the day of the poisoning. Uncle Julian reveals that he and his wife felt that the sisters’ father resented the financial burden of their presence in the household.

On Sunday, Merricat and her cat, Jonas , wander the property. Merricat checks on various items that she has buried as magical protection for the house. She finds that a book she nailed to a tree has fallen, and she takes it as a terrible omen. After lunch, Merricat sees a man coming up the steps of the house. She thinks he’s one of the many people who come to try to gawk at Constance and take souvenirs from the house because they’ve heard about the poisoning. However, Constance lets the man into the kitchen and introduces him as their cousin, Charles Blackwood . Merricat is upset that she has let him in, so she spends the night in her hiding place by the creek with Jonas.

The next morning, Merricat returns to the house. Though she says that Charles was a ghost, Constance insists that he spent the night in their father’s bed, which is proved when Charles comes downstairs and meets Uncle Julian. He tries to make friends with Merricat, but she refuses to speak to him. Uncle Julian wants to write about Charles’s perspective on the trial, but Charles doesn’t want to talk about it.

While Merricat and Constance clean the house, Charles tries to get closer to Merricat through Jonas, and Merricat plots how to get rid of Charles. She eats dinner with the family because Constance wants her to. At dinner, Charles offers to take over the job of getting groceries in town, and Constance is grateful to him.

The next day when Charles goes into town, Merricat takes her father’s gold watch chain out of Charles’s room and nails it to a tree. When Charles finds it, he’s enraged that she would damage something so valuable. He threatens Merricat while Constance is out of the room.

Under Charles’s influence, Constance begins to think that she has done wrong by keeping the family isolated from the world. Merricat asks Charles to leave, but he refuses, so she breaks the mirror in his room. Uncle Julian has also begun to mistrust Charles, and he hides his papers in a box.

On Thursday, while Charles tries to fix the back step, Merricat tries to wipe out Charles’s mark on the house. She breaks her father’s watch, which Charles has claimed, and fills his room with wood and dirt. Meanwhile, Charles digs up the silver dollars she’s buried in the woods. She cleans out her shelter by the stream to get rid of his influence, and when she returns home, Charles is furious about the state of his room. He wants to punish her and is exasperated by Uncle Julian’s delusions—it becomes clear that Julian believes Merricat died during Constance’s trial. Eventually Merricat runs away and goes to the deserted summerhouse, where she imagines her dead family showering her with words of praise and indulgence.

When Merricat returns to the house, Constance, Charles, and Uncle Julian are eating dinner. Merricat goes upstairs and tips Charles’s burning pipe into the trash can, then joins them at the dinner table. Before long, Charles smells smoke and discovers that his room is on fire. He runs for help while Uncle Julian goes to collect his papers. Merricat and Constance shelter on the porch, hidden behind some vines. Firemen arrive along with a crowd of villagers, who would like to see the house burn down. Charles is most concerned about getting the safe out. Once the fire is out, Jim Donell, the chief fireman, throws a rock through the drawing room window, spurring the villagers to storm the house and begin destroying it from inside.

Merricat and Constance try to run to the woods, but the villagers surround them, taunting them. They only stop when Dr. Levy and Jim Clarke announce that Uncle Julian is dead. Merricat takes Constance to her shelter by the stream, where they acknowledge for the first time that Merricat poisoned their family.

When Merricat wakes up the next morning, she knows that everything will be different from now on. She and Constance discover that only the ground floor of their house is left. The kitchen is littered with broken china, glass, and furniture, but Constance manages to make breakfast anyway. When they eventually get up the courage to look at the rest of the house, they find that the drawing room and the dining room are both a mess. Merricat shutters these rooms and they close the doors forever. They clean the kitchen and the front hall, and lock the front door.

Before long, Helen and Jim Clarke turn up at the door, calling for the sisters and claiming that they want to help. Merricat and Constance hide, and eventually the Clarkes leave. Merricat covers the kitchen windows with cardboard so no one can see in. Later, Jim Clarke returns with Dr. Levy, who wants to make sure they’re not hurt. Merricat and Constance sit at the table behind the covered windows until the men leave. Constance apologizes for the night before when she reminded Merricat why their family died and she promises she’ll never bring it up again.

Over time, the sisters create a new pattern for their life. Merricat always makes sure the front door is locked, and she barricades the sides of the house with junk to prevent people from getting into the garden. People use the path through their front yard now, and sometimes children play on the lawn. Constance wears Uncle Julian’s old clothes, and Merricat wears tablecloths. They plant a rosebush on the spot where Uncle Julian used to sit in the garden.

The villagers begin to leave food on the porch in the evenings with notes apologizing for various items they broke the night of the fire. Merricat never strays past the garden anymore, and she and Constance often sit at the front door and watch the people outside. One day, Charles arrives with another man, who says he’ll pay Charles for a picture of him with one of the sisters if he can get them to come out. 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. They feel they have little to fear anymore, and they are happy.

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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. (2020, December 13). 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 , 13 Dec. 2020, ivypanda.com/essays/family-in-we-have-always-lived-in-the-castle-by-shirley-jackson/.

IvyPanda . (2020) 'Family in "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" by Shirley Jackson'. 13 December.

IvyPanda . 2020. "Family in "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" by Shirley Jackson." December 13, 2020. 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." December 13, 2020. 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." December 13, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/family-in-we-have-always-lived-in-the-castle-by-shirley-jackson/.

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