This book really highlighted a sort of endless cycle.

When the Blackwood’s house burns down, Jackson could have written it so that the entire town came to their aid and saved their house, proving Merricat wrong about how cruel the outside is. Happy ending! But no, instead, after putting out the fire, they rejoice in the destruction of the house, ruining everything inside EXCEPT what they know they’ll have to pay for (the library books). This results in a repeat of the cycle: Merricat and Constance lock themselves up again, even tighter than before; their house becomes a fortress. A little bit of hope at the end came when villagers began bringing them food, which I think is one of the only pieces of genuine good. They don’t seem to expect anything in return, they just feel remorseful and want to apologize for the harm they did. It’s not an equal reparation for what they did, but it seems like the best they could do.

 
Another one of my favorite things about this book is how it’s written. Merricat’s narrative voice is so distinctive, and the way she focuses on certain things really shows the audience who she is as a character. I loved the way things were repeated through individual scenes and throughout the entire book (e.g. “I must be kinder to Uncle Julian”) and how they’d lend different meanings or have different impacts depending on the context. I just love Merricat’s internal dialogue, it really makes her truly odd decisions and habits seem even a little bit normal somehow.
Oh and I HATEDDDDD Charles. While the way Merricat and Connie and Uncle Julian lived obviously wasn’t normal and healthy, the way that he came in and thought he could assume some sort of patriarchal role automatically was SO irritating. He obviously only cared about what money he could squeeze out of them —

when the fire happened, he brushed off questions about whether his family was out of the house and safe, but kept whinging about the safe like a little baby. And when he returned at the end, he clearly, again, only wanted to get in the house to retrieve the valuables.

I just wanted him to bugger off the whole time. Anyways, I think this is one of my new favorites, and I can’t wait to read more Shirley Jackson, because I think she’s just my style.