English
Video report
with Noha Khaldi
We have always lived in the castle -Chapters 1-3
Our main character, Mary Katherine Blackwood is eighteen years old and surprisingly thinks she could be a werewolf since her 2 fingers are the same length. When she finds herself in an awkward situation she imagines herself living on the moon or the cruel death of anyone who's making her feel that way. She isn't filled with hate, she loves Constance, her older sister and Julian, her uncle. That's it, that's everyone she has left.
Another way she finds comfort is in repeated actions: on Wednesday she checks the gate and on Tuesday and Friday she runs errands. Why she buries coins and attaches books to trees remains unknown. Neither do we know who finances the life of these 3 people. I would love the know why Merricat gets so scared when Constance talks about going to the village. I guess some of these questions must not be answered otherwise the mystery wouldn't have a place to live.
Chosen passage:
There was a little silence. I knew that Dunham was scowling, looking at Jim and Stella and me, thinking over what he had heard, sorting out the words and deciding what each one meant. 'That's so?' he said at last. 'Listen you two,' Stella said but Jim went right on, talking with his back to me, and his legs stretched out so I could not get past him and outside. 'I was saying to people only this morning it's to bad when only the old families go. Although you could rightly say a good number of Blackwoods are gone already'. 'gone already ', he said again. The spoon in his cup was still, but he was talking on. 'A village loses a lot of his style when the fine old people go. Anyone would think', he said slowly, 'that they wasn't wanted. 'That's right', Dunham said, and laughed. 'The way they live up in their fine old private estate, with their fences and their private path and their stylish way of living. '
This passage reveals the hostility between the Blackwoods and the villagers. Dunham, the handyman of the village takes this opportunity make our main character, Mary Katherine uncomfortable. Stella, the owner of the coffeeshop defends Merricat, but she doesn't have much to say when Jim and Dunham are around. Merricat undergoes the personal attack, mostly because she knows she can't leave.
During the conversation Dunham insinuates the departure of the Blackwoods, sarcastically he says that it would be a loss. As the conversation continues, the tension rises. It's an ironic setting. You would expect a pleasant ambiance in a café in a little town where everyone knows each other, in stead its like a ticking time bomb that can explode every minute.
This is the first passage where we get to know the other side of the story, not what Merricat thinks about them, but what they think about her. The last sentence explains where this unexpected rivalry comes from, jealousy.
Chapters 4-8
Is: 'We Have Always Lived in the Castle' a gothic story?
Yes, absolutely.
First of all has the story a quite gothic setting. We Have Always Lived in the Castle takes place in a dark, old castle where not more than 3 people live. That's because the rest of the family members were poisoned. But death, like it is expected in a gothic story, is a motive. The main character, Merricat is fascinated with death. Every time people are mean to her, she will think of a painful way for them to die. This comforts her. Another thing she likes to do, is make other people uncomfortable by telling them a story of how the amanitia phalloides can kill them instantly.
From the beginning until the end, the weird behavior of Merricat and her sister makes you shiver. That's something only a good gothic fiction book can do.
Chosen passage:
''I apologize,' Uncle Julian said to Constance. 'Not language fitting for you ears, my dear. Just tell this young bastard to stay away from my papers.' 'Look,' Charles said to uncle Julian, 'I tell you I've had enough of this. I am not going to touch your silly papers and I am not your brother John.' 'Of course you're not my brother John; you're not tall enough by half an inch. You are a young bastard and I desire that you return to your father, who, to my shame, is my brother Arthur, and tell him I said so.''
Since the moment Charles has walked in to the castle doors, he has shown nothing but disrespect and contempt to the Blackwood family. In this passage our most unreliable character, uncle Julian, is the first one to speak up about his attitude. This results into an argument, that Uncle Julian loses because he can no longer separate his imagination and the reality. He claims that Charles is trying to steal his papers/notes which he's going to use to write a book about the tragic event that took place. But sadly enough this isn't the case. What uncle Julian does realize a lot better than the rest of them, is that Charles is only there for the money. The most delusional character, uncle Julian is the closest remained to reality. He is no longer pictured like an old, sick man, but as the hero who would do anything to protect his family. This passage also describes the severity of the situation the 3 characters are in. That's why I love this (little) text so much.
Chapters 8-10
Who is the most disturbing Character?
I think Charles is the most disturbing character. This unpopular opinion I formed after concluding that Merricat (who's in a strong second place) is mentally ill. The way she wishes (almost) everyone a cruel death and her fabrications, are a cry for help. Help, she sadly enough won't receive since she completely isolates herself.
Charles on the other hand, is a mentally healthy young man. Still, he has even worse characteristics than Merricat. He thinks that money is the most important thing in the entire world and he will do anything for it. He won't think it's bad to try and take pictures of the Blackwood sisters after their house is burned down and they have been humiliated by the entire village, as long as he's getting paid for it. Secondly, he has an extreme superior feeling. The second day he moved in with them, he started to give orders like he's a sergeant in the military. Finally, he isn't able to show any respect to the older generation. He sees them as a burden and finds them annoying. That's why Charles is the most disturbing character.
Chosen passage:
'Sometimes they brought bacon, home-cured, or fruit, or their own preserves, which were never as good as the preserves Constance made. Mostly they brought roasted chicken; sometimes a cake or a pie, frequently cookies, sometimes a potato salad or coleslaw. Once they brought a pot of beef stew, which Constance took apart and put together again according to her own rules for beef stew, and sometimes there were pots of baked beans or macaroni. "we are the biggest church supper they ever had," Constance said once, looking at a loaf of homemade bread I had just brought inside. '
After the villagers happily burned down the Blackwood sisters castle, they start to feel bad for them. In the passage is described how they bring food to the isolated sisters. Constance and Merricat have now reached the point in their own personal journey, where they prefer to be completely alone and fear everyone from the outside world, including Helen Clarke.
This results into a problem, because if the girls don't leave their home, they won't be able to bring in food. The villagers know this and hope to receive forgiveness for their barbarous actions by bringing them home cooked meals. This passage reveals another side of the villagers, one we're not used to in Shirley Jacksons writing. For the first time she pictures them as human, with multiple human character traits such as: guilt, regret and compassion. The villagers who once were rudimentary are evolving, while our main-characters are metaphorically and literally static.
the future of English
a presentation made after reading: 'Mother Tongue' by Bill Bryson