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Women and Literature
Professor Devers
May 1, 2009
Magic in the Castle
Shirley Jackson’s, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, is about the evil side of human
nature. It is set during the mid-twentieth century in a small town. The narrator is an eighteen
year old girl named Mary Katherine Blackwood or, “Merricat,” who is fond of using sympathetic
magic to control and protect her environment. The use of sympathetic magic is significant
because it resembles a power beyond humanity, which in turn leads readers to believe Mary
Katherine is inhuman in some ways.
Merricat believes if she buries certain items around the perimeter of her property, they
will serve as safeguards against any evil that threatens her sister Constance and herself. She
buries many items such as a box of silver dollars, a doll, six blue marbles, and her baby teeth
(Jackson 41). An aspect of Sympathetic magic is manipulating objects that once belonged to
another person. With this in mind, the reader should assume that these specific objects have
significance. Besides the baby teeth, the reader is not told that these objects belong to her. Who
could they have belonged to?
Each object Merricat buries has significance. The silver dollars hold value; they are
money. Merricat buries them. This means that money is not valuable to her; in fact, it could be
seen as a source of evil. The doll can be interpreted in a few ways. Merricat does not tell the
reader anything about the doll’s appearance or where it came from. A reader’s logical
assumption would be that Merricat buried a child’s plaything; a pretty little toy human. Why
would she bury a toy? If the reader considers the doll in a “magical” way, it is obvious this doll
could be an effigy. The six blue marbles hold the most significance. The reader can see them
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very innocently, as any child would. Marbles are a child’s toy no matter the amount or color.
However, the amount and color have meaning. The number six could symbolize a few ideas.
For example, it could bring to mind the numbers of the antichrist, 666; it could bring to mind a
hexagon (a six sided figure), a hexagram (a six sided star), or just the word hex (a curse) which
are all associated with the number six. When considering the plot of this text, there are six
members of the Blackwood household with exception to Merricat, and it has been six years since
the deaths of her parents, aunt, and brother. The color blue holds symbolism as well. It brings to
mind a sense of melancholy, but more specifically, coldness. Marble also brings to mind a sense
of coldness, and hardness. Just by placing the words “blue” and “marble” next to each other,
makes the reader imagine a corpse; in addition to the fact that these marbles are buried. Merricat
also buries all her baby teeth, and believes they will grow to be dragons. If considered logically,
teeth have roots and they do grow, but not out of the ground. Merricat has this belief that she is
like any plant that sheds its seeds to reproduce itself. Her teeth are her seeds. The idea that her
teeth will become dragons is imaginative and childish, yet it is symbolic because it symbolizes
Merricat’s personality in many ways. A general depiction of a dragon is a winged serpent with
claws that could breathe fire. They are strong, powerful, destructive, frightening, murderous,
evil creatures; creatures that Merricat can relate to very well.
Merricat informs the reader that she has planted many more items, but never mentions
what these items are. “I remember that once I quartered the long field and buried something in
each quarter to make the grass grow higher as I grew taller” (Jackson 41). Although the reader is
not told what these items are, he/she knows they make the grass grow as she grows. These,
along with the buried baby teeth, are good examples of Merricat’s relationship with nature. She
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is intertwined with it; deeply connected to it. Merricat believes she is in control of nature, and
that it follows her; she is the force that drives nature.
In addition to burying objects, Merricat mentions a “book nailed to the tree in the pine
woods” (Jackson 41). Why didn’t Merricat bury the book like the rest of the objects? Instead,
she “connects” it to a tree, something that is already in the ground. And it isn’t just any tree, but
a pine tree. Pine trees are unchanging throughout each season, and can live through tough
weather. Merricat is basically extending long, unchanging life to this book by attaching it to this
tree.
Merricat’s description of these various objects is done very innocently, and childish. Her
diction is clear, yet the reader can tell this is the voice of a child. She mentions dragons,
marbles, dolls, baby teeth, and treasure; things associated with childhood. She also uses the
words “grow” (Jackson 41), and “when I was small” (Jackson 41) more than once. It is obvious
Merricat believes she is not a child anymore, but there is no evidence Merricat believes she is a
woman. In fact, there is a sense she believes she isn’t human, just some kind of magical entity:
All our land was enriched with my treasures buried in it, thickly inhabited just below the
surface with my marbles and my teeth and my colored stones, all perhaps turned to jewels
by now, held together under the ground in a powerful taut web which never loosened, but
held fast to guard us. (Jackson 41)
She visualizes herself as the overseer of this land; the controller of all these objects that nature
now possesses. This land is her web and she is the spider ready to poison any enemy that
threatens her and her protective web; her home. There is much more information in this quote. A
different buried item is revealed to the reader: the “colored stones.” This description could trick
the reader because it relates them to “blue marbles.” If read through quickly, these two objects
could be mistaken as the same object. The significance of the colored stones is its vague
description. They could be any color and any stone. The only information given to the reader is
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the amount. There is more than one stone buried; however, they are not necessarily all the same
like the marbles. Next, Merricat believes all these objects could be jewels. This proves how
unreliable she is. First, she believes her teeth will be dragons; then she believes they will be
jewels. However, this does show that Merricat believes there is some force below the earth that
only she could connect with and understand.
Merricat not only believes she could manipulate objects, but manipulate human lives as
well. If not for Cousin Charles, the reader would never get a deeper glimpse into Merricat’s
sinister personality:
I was thinking of Charles. I could turn him into a fly and drop him into a spider’s web
and watch him tangled and helpless and struggling, shut into the body of a dying buzzing
fly; I could wish him dead until he died. I could fasten him to a tree and keep him there
until he grew into the trunk and bark grew over his mouth. I could bury him in the hole
where my box of silver dollars had been so safe until he came; if he was under the ground
I could walk over him stamping my feet. (Jackson 89)
These few sentences are filled with intense loathing and power. It makes the reader wonder what
kind of evil is driving her, and its origin. Image after image is thrown at the reader in a virtually
poetic way. Merricat’s childlike voice is nonexistent here. This is now a lethal voice; a killer’s
voice. It is obvious she is not just “thinking” about Charles’ death, but planning it. She is
making it known how insignificant Charles’ life is. Merricat is the one with the advantage, the
power, and the wisdom because she has magic on her side. His life is nothing greater than a
fly’s. He is nosy, loud, and annoying. And like how any fly that becomes trapped in a spider’s
web will eventually meet its death, so will Cousin Charles.
Merricat also envisions Charles attached to a tree for so long; the tree and he become one.
In reality, a tree will grow around anything in its path. Nature will not allow any object to stand
in its way, and neither will Merricat. She thinks she could turn him into one of her possessions
like the silver dollars and the book.
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This passage reveals another significant concept regarding Merricat. She never does any
killing; she lets nature do it for her. Never once in this passage does it exclaim that she will kill
him. All Merricat mentions is how she “could wish him dead until he died” (Jackson 89). The
reader can see how she instigates death, but is not responsible for it. For example, Merricat turns
Charles into a fly and drops him into a web, but it is the spider that kills him. This ability to
dehumanize shows the readers that Merricat may not even think of herself as a human, but
something greater than humanity.
The moon is known to be an important object in magic. It is constantly watching over the
earth, even during daylight. It is a place where nothing living can exist. It is mysterious and
unchanging. It is literally a dead environment. When considering Merricat’s personality, it
makes sense why she likes the moon so much. The moon is a higher, mysterious, celestial place;
just like heaven. On the moon, anything could happen. In a conversation with her older sister
Constance, Merricat says: “We have cat-furred plants and horses dancing with their wings. All
the locks are solid and tight, and there are no ghosts” (Jackson 75). Her voice is very childish
with an excited tone. Thinking about this fantasy world makes Merricat very happy. Everything
that exists on the moon suits her needs and way of life. It is a place where she can live freely
with her sister and Uncle Julian without anyone or anything jeopardizing that way of life. There
are plants, animals, and lockable structures on the moon. What would need to be locked solid
and tight? What would need to be locked at all? This makes the reader assume the moon isn’t
completely safe. Merricat could be hinting that nowhere is really safe, not even this unreachable
place; Merricat could also simply believe the moon is very secure.
She also mentions that no ghosts are on the moon. For Merricat, the word ghost could be
interpreted in a couple ways. Technically, ghosts are souls that escape from the bodies of dead
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people. Merricat does not separate the dead from the living. She uses the word “ghosts” to refer
to all people; all souls in general. They may be breathing, but she can see right through them,
and they all haunt her. She could also see them as already dead, so they are invisible to her.
Merricat gives this notion that life and happiness could prosper on the moon, as well as
death. “On the moon Uncle Julian would be well and the sun would shine every day. You
would wear our mother’s pearls and sing, and the sun would shine all the time” (Jackson 75).
Merricat emphasizes that the sun is forever shining by repeating it. The sun is a symbol of
warmth, life, growth, and prosperity. It shines on the moon all the time, every day. She is
making it clear there is never any darkness; the moon is always full of light. Also, there is an
image of Uncle Julian no longer sick, and Constance happily singing. There is this overall idea
of peace, and harmony.
“Amanita phalloides” (Jackson 75), are deadly mushrooms that grow on Merricat’s
moon. The name alone sounds like an object from outer space. Their presence make the moon
itself seem deadly; as if the moon is shrouded with death. It is ironic because this passage is
filled with happy images such as Constance singing and winged horses dancing. Realistically,
these mushrooms are just like any other living plant made by nature. Although innocent and
harmless by themselves, they could be deadly. This symbolizes Merricat because her personality
is exactly like these mushrooms; innocent and harmless, yet deadly. This could be why their
name is written in italics, it not only separates them from the rest of the passage, but it
emphasizes them, hinting to the reader that there is a greater meaning behind them.
Sympathetic magic is an important characteristic of Merricat. It is hard for the reader to
understand how Merricat sees herself. She realizes she is not young anymore, but shows the
reader that she is not grown up either. She is a confusing character that seems to live through her
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magic. She gives the reader this concept that she isn’t human at all, only a part of nature. An
intense hatred for humanity is obvious in Merricat’s voice. It would be logical for her to believe
she isn’t human. Why would she relate herself to the very thing she despises? And it is
sympathetic magic that gives her this separation. It provides a sense of higher power over
everyone else. If she conducts her magic accordingly, Merricat could protect and control her
environment, including what lives and dies.
The use of sympathetic magic is seen as immoral, abnormal, and evil. Shirley Jackson
uses it in her novel, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, to have readers investigate the
definition of evil. She uses Merricat’s relationship with nature and use of sympathetic magic to
distinguish between what is evil and who is evil. The author shows what humans believe to be
evil and what actually is evil. Sympathetic magic is just as innocent and evil as nature, but not as
evil as human nature.
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Works Cited
Jackson, Shirley. We Have Always Lived in the Castle. New York: Penguin Group, 1962.