If you were to ask one hundred people what should be in a Gothic novel…assuming they know anything about Gothic literature…I would be willing to bet that family secrets would be up there in the top five choices. We all love family secrets. In literature. Not in real life.
Why?
Because they play several different roles in literature, all of which keep readers more interested and more satisfied in the novel. Since that’s the case, let’s talk about some of the ways this trope works to our advantage and how to use it in our writing.
Let’s look at six examples of this. We’ll use the same examples for each way in which family secrets contribute to our writing. That way you can see how these build upon one another.
Pacing
One of the most obvious roles that family secrets play relates to the pacing of the story. As the protagonist seeks for understanding, she usually comes up against secrets in the story that keep the tension high, keep the readers guessing and help to unpack the story at a pleasurable pace.
- Jane Eyre – on the day of her wedding, Jane discovers Rochester’s secret – one that will change all of her plans. At this point, Jane has come from a low point – as an unwanted and abused relative who’s treated worse than a servant – to a very high point – as the soon-to-be wife of a very wealthy man – only to find herself again unsure of where she belongs. Had she known his secret earlier, she might not have been open to their unfolding relationship. The readers wouldn’t have gotten to know Jane and Rochester and the potential for their future without any encumbrances.
- Mexican Gothic – Noemí travels to the country house of her brother-in-law to investigate her sister’s claims that she’s being abused and imprisoned. Over time, she discovers her in-laws’ true intentions and these give meaning to everything that has happened to date. But as she uncovers the truth, we learn more about the history of the family and about the depths to which they’ll stoop to accomplish their ends.
- Flowers in the Attic – four children are held captive in the attic of their grandparents’ home. Eventually the children uncover what’s really happening downstairs and their understanding of their captivity takes an entirely different turn. By then readers are drawn into the story so tightly that the truth is as shocking for them as it is for the children.
- Rebecca – when the new Mrs. de Winter comes to Manderley as Maxim’s bride, she doesn’t even understand that her knowledge of his first wife Rebecca – or even Maxim himself – may be entirely false. Though she clings to her own lies, the truth slowly breaks through her misconceptions until it forces its way to her attention after the fate-filled masquerade party. All the while, the world of Manderley, with its stormy seascape and treacherous cliffs and legacy of elegance and turbulent secrets unfolds around her, capturing the readers’ sense of wonder.
- The Gates of Evangeline – Charlie Cates travels to Louisiana to research the truth behind the thirty-year-old cold case of the wealthy old southern Deveau family’s missing child, Gabriel. Her time there, following leads that end up taking her in an entirely different direction, give her the time to finally face all that she has suffered in the loss of her own child. By the time she uncovers the truth about Gabriel, all of her preconceptions about the child himself and the family’s role in his abduction changes. As does her perception of her own loss.
- We Have Always Lived in the Castle – in Jackson’s novella, it isn’t the protagonist, Merricat, who is seeking to uncover the family secret, but the reader. As the secret unwinds throughout the story, readers are drawn in closer to the two sisters, Constance and Merricat, as if we have been invited into their private castle. By the end of the story, we are fiercely defensive of their private world and are poised to understand why the castle had to be defended with any means, however violent they might seem.
Notice that each of these is slightly different, but that all relate to the pacing. Sometimes the family secret gives the author time to draw the readers in enough to truly understand and care about the characters. Other times it sets up the expected so strongly that it gives a plot twist much greater weight. At times writers use these to prepare us from what is to come, as in Jane Eyre, in which Charlotte Brontë wanted readers to see what Jane and Rochester could be…and then to truly understand all that they risk losing. And all of them enhance the world of the story, giving us time to savor the characters’ world while still holding our attention until the end.
They Reveal the Characters
But family secrets do more than that. They also show us the characters’ true selves in stark light.
- Jane Eyre – when Jane is faced with Rochester’s secret, she has to choose between what she wants most and doing the right thing. And it’s a hard choice, one that the reader feels as visceral anguish. But when she makes her choice, we learn more about who Jane really is and the degree to which she can love selflessly in the end.
- Mexican Gothic – what Noemí discovers changes her for the better. Whereas, at the beginning of the book, she is a careless socialite, by the end she has a great respect for her national heritage and the evil of those who believe that they are better than other human beings.
- Flowers in the Attic – the plot twist in this book is earth shattering. At least it was for me when I read it as a youth. Throughout the entire book, the children and the readers believe that they know who the other characters really are…only to have the rug swept out from under them. In the end, the children must change their beliefs about who will save them and how they can be free from the prison they’re in.
- Rebecca – when the truth comes to light, though other characters’ true natures come into light, it’s really the new Mrs. de Winter who sees herself anew. The truth shows her the extent to which she has built a world of lies in her own mind and has overlooked every sign that might have pointed her to the reality lying right before her.
- The Gates of Evangeline – the reality of little Gabriel’s abduction shows Charlie her own grief and her inability to move on after the loss of her own child. She sees motherhood in a new light and comes to a new understanding of what a mother will do for the child she loves. The investigation gives her the ability to heal.
- We Have Always Lived in the Castle – as usual, Jackson’s ability to work with any Gothic (or literary) element is slightly different – and much better in my opinion – than that of any other author. Thus, it’s not surprising that her use of a family secret shows us several things. It rounds out the girls’ characters, making them so full and rich that we see the story anew. But it also shows Uncle Julian’s love in a way that readers don’t expect: that he would suppress the truth out of an inability to face what might change his loyalty to those he loves.
Can you see how these things are building upon one another?
To Enhance the Theme
Lastly, though the pacing, with all of its corresponding tension and unputdownableness (that must be a real word), and the deep character perspective are critical, what family secrets really do is set up the theme so that readers are ready to receive it and so that they retain it.
- Jane Eyre – Jane’s choices show her to be a young woman who refuses to sacrifice what she believes even when it means great personal gain. In the end, her response to Rochester’s secret places her in a position to be able to love him most sacrificially at whatever cost to herself.
- Mexican Gothic – the family secret in this book is directly related to the theme. Moreno-Garcia tells a chilling tale of the dark lengths to which one family’s obsession with eugenics and the purity of their own line will drive them. No outsider is beyond their attempts to use, control and destroy them.
- Flowers in the Attic – this book deals very strongly with the theme of greed and how destructive that sin is on everyone else. The family secret – the children in the attic and the reason they are there – is a symbol of all that others, particularly their mother, will sacrifice to gain money.
- Rebecca – in the wake of her discovery of Maxim’s secret, the new Mrs. de Winter learns the theme: that her comparison to Rebecca and the false world that she built around her own insecurity were her prison.
- The Gates of Evangeline – in this story, as I said before, Charlie learns how to heal from her past. However, what really stands out in the book is the pervasive ability that her own trauma gives her to be a help to others. At the beginning of the book, she can’t see that her prophetic dreams of children needing help, an offshoot of her loss, will be the very thing to give her life meaning again. We also see one of the dominant themes in Southern Gothic writing: the disparity between the idyllic-seeming Old South and the harsh reality.
- We Have Always Lived in the Castle – and last, but not least, Jackson’s novella, with its languid pacing and constant stream of subtext, unravels a story about two individuals – Constance and Merricat – and the lengths that they must take to protect themselves from the community at large. In their story we see the danger that the “village” can be to an individual who stands apart from the collective whole.
Conclusion
As you can see, all of these things are enabled and strengthened through the use of a family secret. From pacing to character depth to thematic truth, the family secret. That’s a lot for one trope to accomplish!
It’s no wonder that this is such a frequently-employed Gothic trope. Let me know if you’ve seen other great uses of this element, or if you’re planning on using it in your writing!
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