Miss Strangeworth The Possibility Of Evil

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

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.

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

In the short story “The Possibility of Evil” by Shirley Jackson, the main character, Miss Strangeworth, is quite the narcissist. An example of this is when she thinks to herself that “the town belonged to her” (1). This illustrates her believing that she is akin to royalty, and more important than any of the town’s other citizens. Another quote to support this is where the narrator says, “The town where she lived had to be kept clean and sweet” (5). As queen of the town, she feels as though it’s her duty, and only her’s, to keep it perfect. Only a person as impeccable as Miss Strangeworth could be tasked with keeping the town in such high standards. Something else that implies Miss Strangeworth’s narcissism is her stationary. It’s described

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.

Miss Strangeworth family has loved there for better than a hundred years. Miss Strangeworth grandmother planted the roses and her mother tended them. She’s watched her town grow, and remembered when the river flooded out the shanties on the low road.

To begin, the possessions of the protagonists in both “The Possibility of Evil” by and “The Inheritor” symbolize who they are. Pride is a common characteristic in both stories. In “The Possibility of Evil” Miss Strangeworth states, “‘My grandmother planted these roses, and my mother tended them, just as I

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

This essay is to explain why of all the characters of the short stories we read that Miss. Strangeworth is the worst character and why. These characters come from the short stories And of Clay We are Created, To Build a Fire, The Possibility of Evil, The Interlopers, Two Friends and How Much Land Does a Man Need? The characters in these stories are unique in the ways that they could be evil, such as having the ability to change something for the better but instead not doing anything at all. Miss strangeworth is the worst of all because she is two-faced, selfish, and very judgemental.

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