Essay: the Bad Seed

Words: 883
Pages: 4

The world itself is full of people and the secrets hidden within. A prime example of this are from books like The Bad Seed by William March and We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. These two novels both contain characters with many secrets, many dark secrets that cause them to hide and live away from society. In a sense, these characters live in “secret worlds”. Starting off with The Bad Seed, Rhoda, the main character who is responsible for violent crimes and her mother Christine who is the “guardian angel” that’s responsible for keeping Rhoda out of trouble. Just like Rhoda, the character Merricat from We Have Always Lived in the Castle is the one causing the trouble and her sister Constance is the protector. The dark …show more content…
This type of comment shows just how much hate she’s feeling for the people living in the town. She continues by saying, “I would help myself to groceries, I thought, stepping over their bodies, taking whatever I fancied from the shelves, and go home, with perhaps a kick for Mrs.Donell while she lay there. I was never sorry when I had thoughts like this; I only wished they would come true”. With this type of thinking, maybe living a life away from society may be a better option for both the sisters and the townspeople.
In conclusion there are usually explanations as to why these character are living a life of secrecy. The explanations include the feeling of not belonging, not feeling wanted, experiencing hate and sometimes to hide their dirty deeds from society. This secrecy can also lead the characters to a future of violent acts if it meant keeping their secrets under wraps. Both of the characters are responsible for committing murder, they both have hidden secrets and are hated by the people around them. In the end, both Merricat and Rhoda are pretty similar characters and it’s probably best that they stay in their “secret world” away from the norm.

Word Count: 831

Works Cited

1) Jackson, Shirley. We Have Always Lived in the Castle. New York, New York: Penguin Books, 1962. Print 2) March, William. The Bad Seed. United States: Rinehart & Company, 1954.