We Have Always Lived in the Castle

How do the relationships of the Blackwood family resemble traditional family relationships? How do these similarities comment upon power roles and other dynamics within the traditional family structure?

The people of the village have never been hurt by Constance and her sister, so why do they hate and fear them? What do the Blackwoods represent to the village?

How does Merricat’s love and attention toward her sister contribute to Constance’s fear of leaving the house?

What motivates Charles Blackwood to help his cousins by taking over the finances and the ordering of Blackwood Manor’s affairs? How is his imposition different from the imposing stares and private whispers of the townspeople?

What does her father’s gold watch represent to Merricat? What does it represent to Charles?

Uncle Julian protests that if he is not allowed to speak openly about the facts of the poisoning six years ago, he will “be forced to invent, to fictionalize, to imagine” (66). How does inventiveness produce terrible consequences throughout the course of this novel?

How does the mob give themselves permission to ransack the Blackwood home? What is the nature of a mob, based on Jackson’s description?

How does the revelation that Merricat poisoned her family and that Constance knows change their relationship, both to each other and to the reader?