Chapter 5

Question 1

They had no color. I could not breathe, I was tied around tight. “He was a ghost,” I said.

Answer 1

ANALYSIS
* The arrival of their cousin Charles, a male figure, is perceivds as a threat, signified by the stifling atmosphere Charles creates on his entrance: the lack of colour, and the suffocating feeling.
* Merricat is desperate in trying to both expel Charles’ presence, imagining that he is a ghost which suggests that his presence is haunting and unwelcome

MESSAGE
* Jackson suggest the stifling nature of a patriarchal structure, in which Charles’ ghostly imagery reinforces the sense of dread and impending doom that pervades

Question 2

Almost as though in the house of her life there had always been a room kept for Cousin Charles

Answer 2

ANALYSIS
* Leaving room for Charles represent’s Constance conformity to the traditional heterosexual structure, which poses a threat to Merricat’s idealistic world where men are dimissed as unnecessary

MESSAGE
* The “room kept for Cousin Charles” symbolize the societal expectation for women to accommodate men and their needs, even at the cost of their own comfort and stability.
* It also resembles the continuation of the patriarchal lineage that supress and reduces women to being the subservient roles within society

Question 3

“It was a sad and horrible time and it’s not going to do Connie here any good at all to keep talking about it.” “Young man, you are speaking slightingly, I believe, of my work.”

Answer 3

• Charles is dismissive of Uncle Julian’s preoccupation with the past incident that resulted in the death of most of the Blackwood family.
• Uncle Julian’s dedication to his work signifies the importance of confronting and understanding the past, no matter how tragic or uncomfortable
• Charles’ dismissiveness, on the other hand, might represent the societal tendency to ignore or forget unpleasant histories

Question 4

[We carried our] broom and dustpan and mop like a pair of witches walking home

Answer 4

ANALYSIS
* The comparison to witches walking home also emphasizes their outsider status and Merricat’s affinity for superstition and magic
* Domestic tools refers to the daily routine of the Blackwood sisters, and by extension, women in general. Likening to witches resembles their ability to convert these oppressive intruments as a form of unconvential power.

MESSAGE
* The witch imagery can be seen as a symbolic rebellion against traditional domesticity and societal expectations of women, aligning the sisters, particularly Merricat, with powerful, often vilified figures of female autonomy and mystery