1. Sisterhood in the Novel:
a) Discuss the nature of the two sisters, Merricat (Mary Katherine) and Constance and their roles both in their household and in the novel. Although Constance is presented as the “good sister,” might there be some indications of deep-seated flaws in her personality? Analyze the meaning of Constance’s name in the story. Does she represent constancy? How so? You should also examine the character of Merricat: what does her strangeness indicate? What do you think Mary Katherine was like before the murders of her family members? Why is she the way that she is now?
b) Alternatively, you can compare and contrast the sisters to illuminate the meaning of these two closely bonded characters and study the nature of their relationship. How are the sisters alike and how are they unlike each other? Do they grow more similar over the course of the novel, and if so, how and why? What is the significance of their differences? How do they protect and support each other at various points in the novel? What are some of the ways in which their relationship is less than ideal? Ultimately, what does their bond of sisterhood really signify in the dark and twisted world of the novel?
2. Merricat as an Unrreliable Narrator:
What do Merricat’s narrations and comments indicate about her state of mind and personality? In what ways is Merricat Blackwood an unreliable narrator? How much of what she says is true? What makes her narration so unreliable: is it because she omits, hides and suppresses certain key facts or details? Or is she being deliberately deceptive and mendacious for some questionable or evil purpose? Or are her perceptions perhaps distorted and untrustworthy because of a mental disturbance? Or, finally, is her behaviour the result of some combination of all of the above? What does it say about Merricat’s character that she has such violent impulses and fantasies about others at times? Given her actions over the course of the whole story, why does Merricat make no confession and offer no regrets, as one might expect in a first person narration – does her lack of remorse indicate a lack of self-awareness or does it mean something else?
3. The Functions and Symbolism of Food Images in the Novel:
Nowhere in Jackson’s work is food more elaborately fetishized than in We Have Always Lived in the Castle, in which Merricat, Constance, and Uncle Julian have virtually nothing to do but inhabit their blighted house and eat the delicious meals that the older sister prepares for them, three times a day. Merricat comments, “We eat the year away. We eat the spring and the summer and the fall. We wait for something to grow and then we eat it.” What is the significance of all this food symbolism? Look at the descriptions and functions of food in narrative, and discuss what all of Constance’s excellent meals really signify in the world of the novel. Why is it significant that the entire family died while eating a meal? How does food undergird the domesticity of the narrative and its key emotional moments? What is the point of these images of food in understanding the characters as they evolve? Are there ways in which the food images undercut the story and raise disturbing questions?
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