| Shirley Jackson, We Have Always Lived in the Castle |
| Arsenic poisoning, the key to a family fatale in which most of the Blackwood family died shortly after eating dinner. Only three survived – Constance, Mary Katherine, and Uncle Julian. Although Uncle Julian was the worse for the upsetting repast, his stomach forever more would be delicate, and most of his time would spent in a wheel chair. Shirley Jackson’s, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, written in 1962, tells the story of a rich family on the hill plagued by disasters of the man-made kind. Some brought on by the family themselves, and some brought on by their fellow towns people. The story depicts some of the finer qualities of humanity including greed, jealousy, and eccentricity.
Early in the story it is made clear that not much love exists between the town, and the Blackwoods. On Thursdays, Mary Katherine, a.k.a. Merricat, goes to town for groceries and library books. She describes the town as grey, “unchangingly grey,” and “the only one who managed to keep hold of any color at all” was Stella, who ran the coffee house. Stella was “round and pink and when she put on a bright print dress it stayed looking bright for a little while before it merged into the dirty grey of the rest.”On her way to groceries Merricat speaks of main street, “I always thought about rot when I came towards the row of stores; I thought about burning black painful rot that ate away from inside, hurting dreadfully. I wished it on the village.” Tell us Merricat, How do you really feel about the town? “I wished they were all dead and I was walking on their bodies.” Not well adjusted is our Merricat.
As mentioned earlier the tragic event left Uncle Julian a bit under the weather permanently. He can’t quite seem to keep his train of thought, and constantly works on his notes detailing the deadly dinner. When those few townies that are friendly come for tea, Uncle Julian treats them to a vivid description of the grizzly event. I won’t tell you anything here about it, you must read it to find out more.
Merricat’s older sister, Constance, does the cooking and cares for Merricat and Uncle Julian. She is also the one accused of the murder, but acquitted. Constance has an expanded knowledge of herbals, so therefore would not possibly stoop to using something as mundane as Arsenic for a poison. She runs the household, but never goes to town. She can’t face the town people and the rumors. Cousin Charles has come to see her. Are they kissing cousins?
As antisocial and maladjusted as the remaining Blackwood family appears to be, they probably would have continued to coexist with town. The visit of their cousin Charles upsets the perilous balance. Jackson insinuates a number of reasons for Charles visit, but leaves it up to the reader to determine his reasons and intent. Could it be love, could it be guilt, or could it be greed?
Jackson writes a marvelous story of the bizarre and strange. Her strengths include setting the scene, and descriptive phrases. Do not expect the modern horror story with lots of blood and gore, but be prepared for a psychological tease. Who are the villains, the town folks, the Blackwoods, or Cousin Charles? This book was written in the early sixties, and cultural norms were being tested. Does this book represent a story of that time? Society did not look favorably on those that were different. Did Jackson see normal society as dull and grey?
BGS 5/4/2008
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