The Housemaid Discussion Questions

Once upon a time questions

3a. While the story does not go into great detail the reasoning behind the husband and wife's behavior, it also does not give little evidence as to why they act the way they do. The husband and wife behave the way they do mostly because they want to protect their family and their workers, but also want to heed the mother of the husbands advice of "not to take on anyone off the street." Speaking of the mother, the story does not provide a motive to her behavior, but it can be implied that she wants the best for her family just like her son does. It is also possible that the mother has had experience with robbers in the past and wants to share her knowledge of what to do in such a situation. While the audience reads next to nothing about the gardener, the trusted housemaid suggests that the family get burglar bars because she doesn't want to be held responsible for her employers possessions being stolen. The other workers who were laid off and still hung around the suburb were given a clear motive, they all wanted jobs so that they could get
money. As it said in the story, they would do anything just so that they could get paid. Within these characters actions, they show irony. Most notably, the husband and wife try their hardest to protect their home from the outside world, but that unfortunately leads to their son getting injured to one of the safety precautions.

4a.
There are a number of possibilities for who could be to blame for the incident involving the child. It could be said it is the fathers fault because he was the one who first began taking extra measures to ensure safety. Others may believe that the mother was to blame because she was fearful of people coming in the gates which lead her husband to take those extra measures. Or it could be a combination of both the mother and father because they were not being attentive toward the child while the incident occurred. The same could be said for the housemaid and gardener, and because of this, it is not possible to put direct blame on one person for what happened to the boy. The plaque that says "YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED" could possibly just be a warning to those who wish to break in or perhaps it could be a reminder to the family that they are safe even though they fear more and more every
day.

5a. The details about the murders that occurred in the introduction and the riots and the many workers laid off that were described in the children's story imply the nature of the social order in which they both occur.