I’m the King of the Castle
(Chapter 4)
Leon, Ashely, Claryss,
Rachel
Summary
Chapter 4 contains a series of
events that relates to the isolation
and loneliness of Hooper and
Kingshaw.
Significance
• Kingshaw isolated himself away
from the family.
• He wants to run away to Hang
Wood, but Hooper interferes with
his plans.
• There is a implication of the
permanence of the Kingshaws in
the Hooper residence.
Characterisation
• Kingshaw
– “he had never hated anyone before”
– “lifted the skirts… He liked them,
liked the feel of them in his hands.”
• Hooper
– “The Scourge of the Marsh Monster”
– “Hooper’s face was queerly
triumphant.”
– “Hooper always won.”
• Mr Hooper
– “coughed, turned his face away.”
– “I no longer feel so much alone.”
• Mrs Kingshaw
– “my life is changing, everything is
turning out for the best.”
Concerns
• Loneliness and isolation
– “hating to listen to those things”
– “If Hooper locked himself away, why
shouldn’t he do the same?”
– “could recall nothing of himself at
the same age except that he had
loathed his own father
• Ignorance
– “Oh, how right I was to come here!”
• Young vs. Old
– “at the very least, it would be a
gesture, and they would understand
it as such.”
– “How well the boys have settled
down together!”
Key Quotes
• “ He had been summoned by his
father to sit in the red room, …
and watch the sunshine lying
across the garden, beyond the
high walls.”
– Implies loneliness and isolation
• Hooper: “You don’t know what I
might do to you, I could do
anything at all.”
– Tortures Kingshaw mentally because
he knows he can’t overpower him
physically
• “He knew that he had gone as far
as he could, in defending himself
successfully against Hooper.”
Methods
• Irony
- “ And having Hooper come with him,
taunting and bullying, wearing him
down is the worst thing he could
imagine. Even worse than going away
alone”
- Ironic because when Kingshaw
ventured out of Warings alone in
Chapter 3 and was attacked by the
crow, he had a mental breakdown.
- “ So he would go away. It seemed quite
simple. He had a map, he had thought
about it. Everything was planned.”
- “ Mrs Helena Kingshaw threw herself
into the planning of the Sunday
morning cocktail party , to which so
many important people were invited.”