In both of these gothic fiction novels, Shirley Jackson constantly reflects on the themes of isolation and persecution of the characters, particularly the female protagonists, Merricat and Eleanor, who have been alienated from their family or society. Jackson uses these novels to project his own feelings of being an outsider and his later developed agoraphobic condition. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The Haunting of Hill House, published in 1959, is widely called Jackson's best-known and most successful work. Inspired by reports from psychic readers in a similar nineteenth-century setting, the novel focuses on four main characters with different motivations for temporarily residing in Hill House. Inexplicable events believed to be supernatural forces occur in the presence of the house. Eleanor, the female protagonist of this novel, is the one most affected by the experience of more acute and near-fatal ailments. She has left her family to take part in the experiment to break free from her home life by living in isolation with few others, but the hostile environment of the house possesses her and she ultimately isolates herself not only physically but mentally from her surroundings. The cause of her suicide is left undetermined whether she became emotionally unstable due to alienation or because she was influenced by Hill House's supernatural forces. We Have Always Lived in the Castle was the last book published by Jackson herself in 1962, the novel focuses on the lives of the three remaining members of the Blackwood family and the ongoing torment they face. Merricat mostly faces judgment and taunts from the villagers because she is the only form of contact with the outside world, even though the villagers believe that Constance poisoned the deceased members of the Blackwood family. The villagers make their hostility clear, and Merricat acknowledges this by wishing them death and torture. Merricat is very overprotective of Constance who suffers from agoraphobia and is suspicious of others interfering in their lives. Then, when provoked by her cousin, she misbehaves and their house burns down. The villagers help solve the problem but then continue with their torment. Later the villagers regret it and bring food as a peace offering. The two brothers choose to live alone and isolated from the rest of society. Both of these novels reflect on isolation because We Have Always Lived in the Castle is more physical and social while The Haunting of Hill House is about psychological isolation and the different effects. this has on the characters. In Haunting of Hill House, isolation negatively affects Eleanor and leads to her ultimate death, while in We Have Always Lived in the Castle isolation is welcomed by Merricat. Early in the novel, Merricat talks openly about herself and what she likes, including, interestingly, a deadly mushroom. “I like my sister Constance, Richard Plantagenet and Amanita phalloides, the death cup mushroom.” Merricat lists all the things she likes but particularly mentions a toadstool. Her affinity for the Death Cup mushroom foreshadows that she has indeed poisoned the rest of the Blackwood family and she likes the Death Cup mushroom because it is the cause of her family's death. The Blackwood family is alienated from the surrounding villagers and considered socially marginalized. Merricat does not like visiting the village because she is subjected to constant insults and childish rhymes from the sideof the village children who remind her of her family's history: "Merricat, said Connie, would you like a cup of tea? Oh no, said Merricat, you will poison me. Merricat, said Connie, would you like to go to sleep? Down in the cemetery , three meters deep!". This children's rhyme is used to suggest that Constance, Merricat's older sister, was responsible for the poisoning that occurred several years ago on the Blackwood estate killing all of the Blackwood family except Constance, Merricat and their Uncle Julian who was left with damaged memories . The villagers isolate Merricat from them allowing her to be terrorized and provoked. Shirley Jackson also uses rhyme to foreshadow the real truth revealed as Merricat was actually responsible for the poisoning, not Constance who is apparently responsible from the villagers' point of view. Merricat's actions are rather childish when she visits the village: “I played a game when I was shopping” and “crossing the road (losing a turn)” These images suggest that she perceives the village as a gaming table. Just as if make one wrong move in a game and you lose, one wrong move in the village could be harmful to her This also suggests that the villagers are her opponents and one wrong move could put them at an advantage Shirley Jackson uses the first-person perspective of Merricat in this novel to show Merricat's internal monologue which seems to be childish and dark This suggests that Merricat is the real poisoner as internally she has very sinister thoughts and wants the villagers to be dead “I am walking on their bodies.” This is repeated several times as Merricat walks through the village, highlighting her strong desire for this to be true. His sinister internal monologue foreshadows the revelation that Merricat was responsible for the death of his family. This also highlights her desire to be completely isolated from society. He wants this torment to end, but he also seems to want revenge. The disturbing images emphasize her gruesome and vengeful thoughts by suggesting that she wants to walk over their corpses. In contrast, the characters in The Haunting of Hill House are more psychologically isolated. At the beginning and end of the novel Jackson emphasizes that the characters had to rely on themselves mentally so as not to be vulnerable to the oppressive nature of the house: "Whatever came in there walked by itself." This suggests that the characters isolated themselves psychologically and Jackson repeats this is to show the circular nature of the result of entering the house. The choice of the word “whatever” implies that other things could enter the house not only humans as well as supernatural beings. At various points in the novel Jackson makes Eleanor repeat the phrase: "Journeys end with lovers meeting." This line is from William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and foreshadows Eleanor's future, with the "journey's end" being death and the "lover" she meets is Hill House. Symbolism is an important technique used in both of these novels and repeated throughout them. Shirley Jackson uses houses as symbols of captivity in We Have Always Lived in the Castle and The Haunting of Hill House to highlight the characters' physical isolation from their surroundings. “Hill House, not of sound mind, stood alone against its hills, holding the darkness in.” The house is personified and is a symbol of isolation and disconnection from society. Just as crazy means for an individual to display erratic behavior and being detached from society as a whole, this suggests that the house displays abnormal qualities and is disconnected from the world.