We Have Always Lived in the Castle

51 pages • 1 hour read

We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1962

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Introduction

Before Reading

During Reading

After Reading

During Reading

Reading Questions & Paired Texts

Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key plot points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Chapters 1-4

Reading Check

1. Where does Merricat like to imagine that she lives?

2. What does Uncle Julian remember about John Blackwood and his wife on their last night?

3. How much time has passed since that last night?

4. What does Helen Clarke encourage Constance to do?

5. Who visits the Blackwoods unexpectedly?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why do Constance and Uncle Julian stay confined to the Blackwood property?

2. What is Merricat’s relation to the village and its people?

3. What is the purpose of the fence around the Blackwoods’ property?

4. What is the scandal involving Constance?

5. What suspicious behavior did Constance exhibit on the “last day”?

Paired Resource

“Mending Wall”

In this poem by Robert Frost, the speaker contemplates the nature of a wall. The Blackwood property is entirely surrounded by a fence.
Consider the role of the fence in the story. How does its presence affect the main characters?

“The Lottery”

This is the summary of Jackson’s most famous short story, which is set in a small town like the setting for We Have Always Lived in the Castle.
Consider how Merricat’s view of the villagers in We Have Always Lived in the Castle reflects the theme of Small-Town Class Relationships. How are these relationships different in “The Lottery,” and what makes them different?

Chapters 5-7

Reading Check

1. What is Uncle Julian’s main preoccupation?

2. Who does Cousin Charles blame for his failure to visit before the present time?

3. Whose bedroom and table seat does Cousin Charles take during his visit?

4. With what does Merricat replace the book that has fallen from the tree?

5. What does Cousin Charles threaten to do to Merricat?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What is Merricat’s initial reaction to Cousin Charles?

2. In what way does Cousin Charles cause Constance to doubt her decisions?

3. What is Uncle Julian’s opinion of Cousin Charles?

4. What is Merricat’s plan to get rid of Cousin Charles?

5. What fate does Uncle Julian say Merricat has met?

Paired Resources

“Food Poisoning as Murder Weapon Rare in Real Life”

This article by Dan Flynn in Food Safety News says it is actually quite unusual for food to be used as a murder weapon.
The Blackwoods are allegedly poisoned by arsenic in the sugar bowl. Constance, the family cook, is charged with the murder. Do you find the descriptions of the murder in the novel believable? Why or why not?

“No Dinner for Max? Depends on What He’s Had to Eat”

This Washington Post article cites experts who say sending a child to bed without supper is not an effective punishment because food is not an appropriate battleground for power struggles.
When Charles suggests Merricat be sent to bed without dinner, she lashes out in a furious rage and later imagines her family never permitting such a thing to happen. Do you think Merricat’s rage is justified?

Chapters 8-10

Reading Check

1. Who thinks the house should be allowed to burn?

2. What do the villagers do after the fire is put out?

3. Whose death stops the mob scene?

4. Who murdered the Blackwoods?

5. Which parts of the house burn?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Who sets the Blackwood house aflame and how?

2. How does each family member react to the fire?

3. What do Merricat and Constance do to the burned house?

4. Why do the villagers start leaving food on the Blackwood porch?

5. Why does Cousin Charles return to the Blackwood house?

Recommended Next Reads

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

A young woman takes a job as a governess for two strange children.
Shared characteristics include suspense and an atmospheric setting.
The Turn of the Screw on SuperSummary

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Maxim de Winter’s new bride is haunted by his first wife, Rebecca.
Shared characteristics include suspense and an atmospheric setting.
Rebecca on SuperSummary

Reading Questions Answer Key

Chapters 1-4

Reading Check

1. On the moon (Chapter 1)

2. They quarreled (Chapter 2)

3. Six years (Chapter 2)

4. To come back into the world (Chapter 2)

5. Charles Blackwood (Chapter 4)

Short Answer

1. Constance is afraid to leave the property, and Uncle Julian is ill. (Chapter 1)

2. Merricat and the village people share a mutual hatred. (Chapter 1)

3. The fence around the Blackwood’s property is intended to keep people out, at Merricat’s mother’s request. (Chapter 2)

4. Constance was tried for killing her family by serving them berries with dinner and placing arsenic in the sugar bowl. (Chapter 2)

5. On the “last day,” Constance washed the sugar bowl, claiming there was a spider in it; she called the doctor too late; and she told police the family deserved to die. (Chapter 2)

Chapters 5-7

Reading Check

1. Writing about the family murder (Chapter 5)

2. His father (Chapter 5)

3. John Blackwood/Merricat’s father (Chapter 5)

4. Her father’s gold watch chain (Chapter 6)

5. Send her away (Chapter 6)

Short Answer

1. Merricat’s initial reaction to Cousin Charles is that she wants him to go away. (Chapter 5)

2. Cousin Charles causes Constance to think she has been selfish in keeping Merricat and Uncle Julian with her. (Chapter 6)

3. Uncle Julian says Cousin Charles is dishonest, like his father Arthur and his uncle John. He also suggests Cousin Charles is a “bustard” in one sense or another. (Chapter 6)

4. To get rid of Cousin Charles, Merricat works to remove his touch from the house. (Chapter 7)

5. Uncle Julian says Merricat died in an orphanage because she could not survive the loss of her family. (Chapter 7)

Chapters 8-10

Reading Check

1. The people in the crowd (Chapter 8)

2. Destroy the house (Chapter 8)

3. Uncle Julian’s (Chapter 8)

4. Merricat (Chapter 8)

5. The second floor and the attic (Chapter 9)

Short Answer

1. Merricat sets the Blackwood house aflame by pushing Cousin Charles’s lit pipe into a trash can. (Chapter 8)

2. Charles yells about saving the money and runs for help; Uncle Julian goes to his room to save his papers; Merricat and Constance prepare nervously to leave the house. (Chapter 8)

3. Merricat and Constance salvage what they can and move into the unburned rooms. (Chapter 9)

4. The villagers start leaving food on the Blackwood porch because they feel remorse for destroying the house. (Chapter 10)

5. Cousin Charles returns to the Blackwood house with a reporter who is seeking a story. (Chapter 10)