The Theme of Loneliness in I Am the King of the Castle

The novel “I am the King of the Castle” clearly explores the themes of

loneliness, sadness and depression in its plot. All of the main

characters have difficulties with relationships and end up facing

depressive moments and experiences, some insignificant but some

crucial and terrifying.

Joseph Hooper (father), Edmund Hooper (son) and Charles Kingshaw are

three characters showing explicit loneliness almost throughout the

whole novel. Their loneliness is shown by several reasons and caused

by a large number of factors, most involving family issues.

Joseph Hooper’s loneliness is caused mainly by his everyday lifestyle

and habits. The loss of his wife made him deserted and very distant

from his own son, Edmund Hooper. He is absent from the life of his

son, ending up with having no one at all.

Susan Hill makes us notice Joseph Hooper´s loneliness in several ways

using special techniques. It is easy to tell he is lonely without

having to read much into the book or into his character. He doesn’t

have a wife, and is not close to his son at all, neither by

companionship nor by simply just educating him. Susan Hill also

describes him in a very insecure way. We can notice this because he is

always trying to prove himself to other people, even to his son,

showing immaturity and lack of confidence. His timidity allows him to

be easily vulnerable:

“He shrank from the impression in the boy’s eyes, from his

knowingness. He was his mother’s son.”

Joseph hooper is so apprehensive, he is threatened by his own son. We

can notice he is also a kind of “desperate” guy by the way he acts

towards Miss Kingshaw and by the fact that he wants her recieves her

in his house without even knowing her well enough. His insecur...

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...alone with no one looking after him leads him into a

very narrowed mind, that suggests that he needs to be alone and be the

best when actually the thing he most wants is enchantment and worship.

Kingshaw’s suffering mostly comes from his mother’s atitude, but he is

so used to also being alone that he dosen’t attemp to save himself or

ask for help, he gives up taking death as an easier option than

persistance and fighting. Susan Hill’s cinematic view, helps to create

tension and increases the characters feelings. The theme loneliness is

carried through the whole book. It is actually the principal subject

and doesen’t even get better at the end. As well as leading one of the

characters to suicide, the loneliness remais because Hooper got what

he wanted at the end but he is in fact still alone and miseralble with

the same deterring father and Miss Kingshaw.