Evil In Jackson's The Possibility Of Evil By Shirley Jackson

In short stories the author composes a compelling plot, with an ending that in someway either teaches the main character a lesson, or the reader themselves. Jackson acts as a master of literary devices, as she navigates the reader through intense scenes that evoke an emotional response to the experiences of the main character. In the short stories, “The Possibility of Evil” and “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, she used the same three literary devices to grasp the reader’s attention from beginning to end. In “The Possibility of Evil” Miss Adela Strangeworth caused a stir by sending anonymous letters to townspeople, filled with things she suspected other people in her town of doing; she claimed that every letter was sent with the intent of

The attachment “Murder, magic, and madness at the fair that changed america” to the title hardly does the novel justice. Erik Larson’s The Devil in the White City, a nonfiction novel that surrounds the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, also known as The World’s Columbian Exposition. The novel follows the lives of two real men, Daniel Burnham, the architect who builds the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and H.H. Holmes, the serial killer who exploits the fair to find his victims. Many new inventions were introduced at the fair, such as Juicy Fruit gum, the Ferris Wheel, and many other novel ideas that impacted the lives of many people for generations. The beautiful fair Burnham creates provides the perfect distraction and lure for Holmes’ activities. In his novel The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson suggests that good and evil coexist in the world by using charged language, imagery and juxtaposition to show although people view the fair as a perfect dreamland immune to evil, it still lurks outside in the dark, influencing the rest of the world.

The Concept of Evil in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Stevenson The substance of the Bible and Greek myths - the premise of the evil that is in man - sometimes lurking deep in the psyche, sometimes controlling and consuming like a wild beast, is explored in Robert Louis Stevenson's (1850-94) short Victorian novel of 1886. Rarely does the mere title of a novel have the myth-making depth to grip the imagination and ensure its place in our language for generations to come. Today everyone knows what is meant by a 'Jekyll and Hyde character'. A handful of other novels with this quality perhaps come to mind; including 'Frankenstein'.

In “The Possibility of Evil” by Shirley Jackson, Miss Strangeworth us constantly critical of the people around her. One way the author shows this is the moment she judges Linda Stewart’s behavior. “Only yesterday the Stewarts’ fifteen-year-old daughter Linda had run crying down her own front walk on the way to school, not caring who saw her” (176). Miss Strangeworth seemingly disapproves of the way Linda Stewart does not care who sees her as she shows so much grief. The way Miss Strangeworth describes the situation makes it seem that Linda should not be showing herself in that light in public. Similarly, Miss Strangeworth is judgmental of the librarian’s lifestyle. “Miss Strangeworth noticed Miss Chandler had not taken much trouble with her

Miss Adela Strangeworth is a villain in the story ‘’The Possibility of Evil’’. She sends anonymous hateful

People’s personalities are not always what they seem. That is the case in Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Possibility of Evil.” The main character is an elderly woman who seems sweet and kind; however, she reveals that she is not sweet and kind. Miss Strangeworth’s character can be analyzed by considering what she does, what the narrator says about her, and how other characters interact with her.

Miss Adela Strangeworth is a very peculiar woman. On the outside, she is simply the sweet old lady down the street, but get to know her and she is as cold as ice inside. Miss Strangeworth lives in a small town where everybody knows everybody and nobody knows nobody. The story, “The Possibility of Evil” by Shirley Jackson does not give much as to where this little town is located but what we do know is it has a post office, a market, and the lovely Strangeworth house with roses out front. The one and only Miss Adela Strangeworth, sweet yet disastrously deceptive, possessive, and harsh.

Conflict is a big issue in the story The Possibility of Evil. The main conflict is person versus society and is between Miss Strangeworth and the whole town. Miss Strangeworth is a two faced character. Miss Strangeworth pretends to be a friend to all her so called friends and fellow town’s people, but secretly sends them disgusting and hurting messages in the mail unsigned. The author of the story really makes the reader want to figure out why a person that has lived in the town her whole life and knew everybody, [“She knew everyone in town, of course; [...] she had not spent more than a day outside this town in her long life [...] She was seventy-one” (249)] would do something terrible to that level to the only people she knows. At first when Miss Strangeworth’s actions are revealed to the reader, one may think that she is crazy, but as one reads on one starts to notice some other reasons. The

People aren’t always who they seem to be. In ‘The Possibility of Evil,” by Shirley Jackson, this idea is explored in story form. One character, Miss Strangeworth, is the literary representation of this idea; She is polite and nice in person, but at the same time, she anonymously writes hurtful letters that spread false rumors to the whole town. Firstly, Miss Strangeworth’s character can be analyzed by considering what she says and does.

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, old lady Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose is quite a weird character, in the manner that she acts to her quirky or rude little comments on virtually anything, but nevertheless, Miss Adela Strangeworth in “The Possibility of Evil”, by Shirley Jackson is debatably an even more strange character, with her rude, degrading mailing system, her need to feel justified in deconstructing everyone and her amusing facade on the outside, shielding the monster that she is one the inside. This being said, are Mrs. Dubose and Miss Strangeworth really alike? Or are they complete opposites? They are very similar, and this will be talked about with our three proofs. The fact that they both threaten

In “The Possibility of Evil,” Shirley Jackson gives us a character who seems to be the town's most respected and longest established resident, but who actually has a dark and destructive side. Her pride in the town may be the first foreshadowing clue of what she is truly like. Miss Strangeworth describes how her grandfather built the very first house on pleasant, street, and that she “.... family has lived here for better than a hundred years.”  She even admits to thinking the town …. Belonged to her (Jackson 1). This evidence is important because it shows how Miss Strangeworth feels she is different, perhaps better than other townspeople. From

In the “Possibility of Evil” by Shirley Jackson gives us a character who seems to be the town's respected and longest established resident but who may actually has a dark and destructive side. Her pride in the town may be the first foreshadowing of what she is truly like. Miss strange describes how her grandfather built the very first house on Pleasant Street and her “..family lived here better than hundred years.” She even admits to thinking the town “belonged to her” (Jackson 1). The evidence is important because it shows how Miss.strangeworth feels she is different perhaps, better than others townspeople. From this evidence the reader can infer

As shown in Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley people grow evil without the presence of others with which they can relate. If someone feels they are alone, their actions will stray from their good intentions, and soon their intentions will not be so good either. The awful deeds done by humans, including those done by Frankenstein’s Monster, are done because isolation drives people to malicious actions. Frankenstein, Walton, and the monster would all be better people if they had a companion to help them through their troubles. The actions of these characters in their solitude’s contrast to their previous actions shows that being alone is what make them evil.

Above all, in “The Possibility of Evil,” Jackson’s use of symbolism and irony allows her to unveil the dishonesty possessed by many people. Like Miss Strangeworth, her roses serve as a trademark of the town. And, similarly to the roses, although Miss Strangeworth seems pleasant, she possesses hidden thorns. When a dropped letter reveals Miss Strangeworth’s actions, her neighbors destroy her roses. “[Miss Strangeworth] began to cry silently . . . when she read the words: LOOK OUT AT WHAT USED TO BE YOUR ROSES”(Jackson 7). The destroyed roses represent Miss Strangeworth being exposed; there is no longer any pride or joy in the roses or Miss Strangeworth. Jackson’s use of symbolism throughout the story allows her to divulge the insincerity of everyday people. Throughout the story, Jackson also employs irony. Often, Miss Strangeworth engages in small talk with her neighbors while ironically consuming her time with cynical thoughts of the very

Achieving control is the main motive behind Adela Strangeworth and Emily Grierson’s subconscious’. Yet each woman sought control in extremely different ways. Adela sought to prevent her whole town from committing possible acts of evil. She disguised herself by writing letters anonymously, this gives her the freedom to be unknown, yet still maintain her control over her little town. Emily Grierson’s situation was different. She sought control over her own life, which her town had denied her of. They starved her of her only love, Homer Barron. The town felt that it was improper of noblesse oblige to be engaged to