We Have Always Lived in the Castle

by

Shirley Jackson

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Jim Clarke Character Analysis

Jim Clarke is Helen Clarke’s husband. She brings him to the Blackwood house after it burns to try to get Merricat and Constance to come live in the Clarkes’ house. Later, she sends him back with Dr. Levy to try again, but both times the sisters hide. Jim seems to mostly want to help the Blackwoods to satisfy his wife, rather than because he genuinely cares about them.
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Jim Clarke Character Timeline in We Have Always Lived in the Castle

The timeline below shows where the character Jim Clarke appears in We Have Always Lived in the Castle. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 8
Guilt and Punishment Theme Icon
...the cars to get to the woods. While they hesitate, two more cars arrive, and Jim Clarke and Helen Clarke get out of one. Jim Clarke goes inside, enraged at what’s happening,... (full context)
Family and Gender Theme Icon
Guilt and Punishment Theme Icon
From the porch, Jim Clarke announces that the fun is over, because Uncle Julian is dead. The villagers fall silent.... (full context)
Chapter 9
Female Power Theme Icon
Isolation Theme Icon
The Relativity of Truth Theme Icon
...She comes around to knock on the kitchen door, convinced that the sisters are inside. Jim Clarke is with her, and she tells him that the sisters misunderstood the villagers the night... (full context)
Isolation Theme Icon
...the kitchen door is locked. There’s a knocking at the front door, but before long Jim Clarke and Dr. Levy come around to the kitchen door. They see a crack of light... (full context)
Female Power Theme Icon
Isolation Theme Icon
Dr. Levy says that Uncle Julian’s funeral is the next day. Jim Clarke says the sisters might feel differently about their friends if they saw all the flowers... (full context)