It is undeniable that elements of secrecy, concealment and suspense are prevalent in Shirley Jackson’s novel We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Through the viewpoint of the main protagonist Mary Katherine Blackwood (fondly known as Merricat), Jackson’s narrative thread reveals undisclosed secrecies in the Blackwood household: the most prominent being that Merricat had poisoned, and subsequently murdered, the majority of her family. This essay intends to investigate both the manifest concealment strategies employed by the characters in the novel, alongside exploring the more latent secrecy in We Have Always Lived in the Castle: for example, the possibility that Merricat is repressing both mental illness and a sexual attraction towards her sister Constance. By therefore delving deeper into the Blackwoods’ history, not only are the more evident secrets disclosed through Jackson’s intelligent crafting, but the notion of repression can also be unsheathed in this novel.
It could be argued that the foremost driving force of We Have Always Lived in the Castle is the explicit build-up of suspense and tension. In Jackson’s novel, such crucially pertinent tension is present from the immediate outset. An example of this early suspense is when Merricat enters Stella’s coffee shop in the opening chapter. Merricat narrates, ‘Stella would see me pass if I did not go in, and perhaps think that I was afraid, and that thought I could not endure.’ (p. 2). Merricat’s fear in this line is particularly intriguing as it brings about questions of why she is afraid of a simply humble character and, more broadly, why she is frightened of the wider community. Moreover, Merricat later adds that ‘the people of the village have always hated [the Blackwoods].’ (p. 4). This declarative sentence undoubtedly draws the reader into a world of immense intrigue and suspense, understandably compelling them to discover the reason behind society’s disdain towards the Blackwoods. Additionally, as stated in the afterword to We Have Lived in the Castle by Joyce Carol Oates, we learn that ‘there are many household tasks that Merricat isn’t allowed to do, like help in the preparation of food or handle knives.’ (p. 150). In our analysis of Merricat, the fact that she is not allowed to undertake seemingly menial tasks casts doubt on her reliability as the protagonist, adding more suspicion to her veritable nature. Seeing as such anticipation and suspicion is introduced so early on in the text, it is clearly suggested that these ideas will be pertinent to the progression of the novel, thus playing a vital role in governing this text.
The principal secret in We Have Always Lived in the Castle, and the cause of the disgust towards the Blackwoods, is as a result of the poisoning that took place in their household. In the opening chapter, there is evidence of explicit animosity shown towards the family, yet the rationale behind this contempt is not immediately unveiled. However, despite the Blackwoods’ ultimate secret not being instantly introduced into the narrative, their confidential matters are revealed to us with haste. We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a 176-page novel and it is in only the second chapter that Mrs Wright remarks that it was ‘arsenic in the sugar’ which caused the death of the Blackwoods, with Uncle Julian adding that certain family members were ‘led inexorably through the gates of death’ (p. 31). If the most prevailing secret in the novel is therefore unveiled to the reader so quickly, this leaves the majority of the novel open for the discovery and development of further Blackwood family secrets. Similarly, for the majority of the novel it is believed that it is Constance who committed the murders, but this proves not to be the case when Merricat says that she is ‘going to put death in all their food’, and Constance replies with ‘the way you did before?’. (p. 110) Although the revelation that it was Merricat who committed the murders is rather delayed, there are strong inclinations that she is the guilty character through her questionable personality and unconventional actions. It is thus possible that the notion of gradual revelation is not heavily present in this novel, compared to the concept of an elusive and evasive narrator. The strategies of secrecy in We Have Always Lived in the Castle are indeed more concerned with what we do not know about the narrator and how the plot progresses as a result of such a notion. Such an idea provides us with doubts of whether Merricat, who is able to hide her most gruesome secret from the reader for so long, is capable of hiding darker and grislier secrets.
Throughout her narration, Merricat appears to be a particularly naïve and innocent character: she states in the opening that she is only ‘eighteen years old’ (p. 1). An example of her childish behaviour is displayed prematurely in the text, when she is walking back to the Blackwood property. She says that she ‘played a game’ when she did her shopping, and that ‘the library was [her] start and the black rock was [her] goal.’ (p. 5). Although eighteen years old is regarded as a relatively young age, the act of playing such youthful games on the fringe of adulthood sheds light on Merricat’s marginally aberrant characteristics. A conceivable reason behind her contentious nature is perhaps as a result of being so disintegrated into the rest of society. Being so spatially removed from the rest of the small New England town in which this story is situated, Merricat understandably has suffered as a result of her separation. The idea of the outsider being shunned by society is present in a number of literary works, one example being Stephen King’s popular novel Carrie. In this book, young girl Carrietta White is snubbed and rejected from her community as a result of her outlandish behaviour. John Sears wrote in his chapter entitled Carrie’s Gothic Script that ‘constitutive of Carrie’s ‘difference’ from others in the novel […] are her telekinetic and telepathic powers.’ This draws close parallels with Merricat in We Have Always Lived in the Castle, as both protagonists are excluded from society as a result of their erratic and mysterious behaviour, with secrets that they are inevitably concealing.
Regarding the notion of concealment in We Have Always Lived in the Castle, one aspect of Merricat’s personality which deserves to be investigated is her obsession with magic. Scattered along the narrative thread are numerous allusions to spells and illusion. For example, when Merricat is fiddling with a watch in the seventh chapter, she remarks that ‘one thing, at least, had been released from Charles’ spell.’ (p. 87). It appears that, by assuming that Charles is in possession of a certain spell, Merricat believes that both the rest of society and her family are against are in some manner or another. It is thus implied that her infatuation with magic is a form of defence mechanism, a way of concealing her dark secret pertaining to the murder of her family. It could be asserted that magic and illusion concern the masking of the inner workings of entities and actions, thus meaning that Merricat’s practicing of witchcraft is conceivably an attempt to draw attention away from her violent actions, disguising their disturbing reality.
It is not only magic and allusion to which Merricat shows a strong attachment in this novel. A recurring theme in Merricat’s narrative appears to be the idea of burial. Weaved into many areas of this novel, it is suggested that burial is another attempt on Merricat’s behalf to conceal to her macabre secret. Merricat describes the Blackwoods’ land as ‘enriched with my treasures buried in it’ (p. 41), and later expresses her wish to ‘bury something for Uncle Julian’ (p. 117). This could be interpreted as Merricat wanting to bury the shame of her murderous actions. On the other hand, the equilibrium of the Blackwood home, and particularly the two sisters, is fractured with the appearance of Uncle Charles. Merricat believes that ‘perhaps Charles was engaged in systematically digging up every inch of our land.’ (p. 88). Not only does Charles’ arrival create tensions within their family structure, but Jackson’s lexical choice of ‘digging up’ implies that Charles is present in order to unearth the raw and dark secrets of the Blackwood family which Merricat would rather stay buried.
The notions of magic and burial in the novel seem only childish and trivial compared to the darker traits that Merricat possesses. Behind her naïve and youthful tone, once angered Merricat voices her most intimate and sadistic desires. In a relatively disturbing stream of consciousness, Merricat wishes to ‘put death in all their food and watch them die.’ (p. 10). Similarly, when speaking about her own Uncle Charles, ‘[she] was thinking of Charles […] [she] could walk over him stamping [her] feet.’ (p. 89). If we take into consideration the notion that Merricat is suppressing or burying other ghastlier secrets, it could be contended that her explicitly violent thoughts are an act against both the hatred shown towards her by the neighbourhood, and a physical manifestation of her suppressed secrets.
Another secret which Merricat is potentially concealing is the possibility of sexual attraction towards her sister. Lynette Carpenter observed in her article ‘The Establishment and Preservation of Female Power in Shirley Jackson’s ‘We Have Always Lived in the Castle’, that there exists a ‘manifestation of a deeper bond between the two women’ (p. 33). Upon further reflection, this bond between Merricat and Constance appears to not be solely familial, but appears to have rather erotic undertones. Carpenter subsequently adds that Merricat ‘tempts Constance with the allusion of romantic happiness’ and that they happen to replace ‘heterosexual romance with sisterhood as their central emotional bond’. The concept of this more subtle secret being withheld from the reader also appears in the afterword to the novel, as Joyce Carol Oates writes that ‘we are witnesses to a naively repressed young woman’s voyeuristic experience of sexual transgression’. There is thus ample evidence that Merricat is dissembling a multitude of secrets, some on a slightly more personal and intimate level. The critic Matei Calinescu stated that ‘secrecy […] is usually defined as conscious concealment of meaning’. Upon taking this into consideration, it could be conceived that Merricat’s undisclosed sexual attraction towards Constance is not regarded as secrecy, as it is not intentionally concealed on her behalf, but unconsciously repressed – a secret which Merricat has yet to discover about herself.
As a result of a culmination of both Merricat’s unlawful behaviour and her erratic personality, it has been contested that Merricat suffers from a form of mental illness. Charles L. Crow stated in the book The History of the Gothic that ‘we understand Merricat’s strangeness from the first paragraph, in which she wishes she had been born a vampire, and expresses her love for Richard Plantagenet and death-cap mushrooms.’ This further accentuates Merricat’s mental fragility and, although the community initially shuns her sister Constance for the murder, the evidence regarding Merricat’s mental instability suggests that she is the genuine culprit. In the afterword to We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Oates comments on the fact that Merricat ‘behaves as if mildly retarded’. It is arguable that the word ‘retarded’ is perhaps a more derogative manner of describing Merricat’s personality, but upon further analysis it is certainly apparent that she is somewhat mentally unstable. Oates adds that ‘Merricat’s condition suggests paranoid schizophrenia […] and all things are signs and symbols to be deciphered.’ This idea of signs and symbols also appears in We Have Always Lived in the Castle, through Merricat’s employment of so-called ‘magic words’. Merricat says, ‘I would not forget my magic words; they were MELODY GLOUCESTER PEGASUS’. (p. 51). It is arguable that such words provide a form of solace for Merricat in repeating these words to herself, and thus are deemed even more atypical regarding the normal ways of comforting oneself. On the surface, Merricat’s repetition of her magic words appears to be peculiar and unusual, adding to the portrayal of the abnormal protagonist. Therefore, as a result of a melange of repressed secrets and an implied unstable mental condition, it could be contested that Merricat is not the character who can give us a true and pure representation of what happened to the Blackwood family, with the revelation not necessarily being veritable.
To conclude, Jackson employs varying techniques of suspense, concealment and secrecy in order to weave Merricat’s narrative into a stimulating plotline. By not immediately revealing the complex nuances of Merricat’s murderous past, Jackson establishes a rising and prominent whirl of suspense and tension which permeates throughout the text. This mounting suspense is followed with the revelation of the most pre-eminent secret which Merricat holds and has been concealing from the reader. However, it is proven that, although the killing of the Blackwood family is the central force of the book around which the plot orbits, Merricat holds secrets which she is not even fully aware that she possesses: a sexual attraction for her sister and the possibility of mental illness. Shirley Jackson heavily entwines these confidences into the plot of We Have Always Lived in the Castle, using such strategies to craft an intricate tapestry of suspense, tension and anticipation which is tinged with the acridity of concealed secrets.