Great Expectations: An Analysis Of Merricat's Narrative

Merricat resided with her sister Constance and Uncle Julian in the grand Blackwood estate at the edge of their village where the inhabitants hated the Blackwoods. Life was slow and easy until the unexpected arrival of cousin Charles brings down their perfect world. Merricat behaved quite unusual for an 18 year old. Not only was she masochistic, she also believed magical items and words can keep the family safe, performed rituals to protect the house, and fantasized about venturing to the moon with Constance leading better lives. Merricat being childish and irrational, had affected her judgement. This causes her point of view to be more distorted or bias, categorizing her as an unreliable narrator. Such as believing all the villagers were out to get them and evil because of her hatred. Maybe the villagers had a valid reason to dislike the family and that the Blackwoods were the “villains” after all. Merricat’s narration was more visceral, preventing a better …show more content…
Merricat believed everything in her life was standard, there were routines to follow each day and the sisters rarely strayed from their habits. Their “castle” was more of a fortress, most people weren’t allowed in and those who were rarely left. When Charles visited, Merricat treated him as an invader and felt disgusted when he “tainted” everything. Constance also developed agoraphobia from being out of touch with the outside world. Merricat eventually burned the house down to get rid of Charles and keep things exactly the way they were. She believed what was right, but ended up making things worst. The burning house provoked the villagers to destroy what was left, Uncle Julian passed away among the chaos, and the sisters returned with almost nothing left for them. In the end, the sisters continued their quiet life with gifts delivered by the towns