Ms. Strangeworth In The Possibility Of Evil By Shirley Jackson

In the story The Possibility of Evil by Shirley Jackson the main character miss Strangeworth shows her true backstabbing nature when writing anonymous letters to all the people in town. The story eventually reviles her dark secret of writing the letters and hiding behind the paper. Similarly cyber bullies hide behind a keyboard and type out horrible messages meant to make the receiver feel meaningless. The common pattern of indirect manipulation and controlling behaviors are observed in both modern cyber bullies and the character Miss Strangeworth in "The Possibility of Evil".

In the short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” written by Flannery O’Connor is a short story about a family who is taking a trip to Florida and is killed by the Misfit and his crew after an accident. As the short story begins, the grandmother is seen by the reader as the hero/protagonist but as the story progresses, the grandmother shows he true colors and is seen as the monster/antagonist. The grandmother is a manipulative, dishonest and selfish person who leads herself and her family to their death. This is a woman who is willing to use manipulation to get what she wants, shows her self-interest and her little concern for anyone else but herself throughout the short story. The grandmother is the cause of the accident that lead to

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

In Jeh MacDonald’s short story, “The Possibility of Evil”, Jeh indicates that Mrs. Strangeworth is a nit picking perfectionist that seems to show signs of O.C.D. Specifically, when people ask for one of her luscious red roses Mrs. Strangeworth thinks to herself that, “[these] roses belong on pleasant street... [and] to [even] think of people wanting to carry them away” (1,2). It indicates that it’ just too hard for her to even think of something being out of place. Somebody with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder might also experience thoughts and feelings similar to that exact same thought. Not only did she not like things out of place, “Miss Strangeworth hated sloppiness” (3). Even if it was just Mrs.Chandler’s ratty messy hair.

In the short story “Possibility of Evil” by Shirley Jackson used several symbols in the story to explain Ms.Strangeworth. The first symbol would be her name the word strange is in it hinting that she is a strange woman to begin with. Then she gradually shows her strangeness by telling us what she is noticing in people, that no one would ever really notice. Then it was roses that was symbolizing her as person. Roses have soft beautiful petals that distracts people from seeing the thorns that grows with the rose and causes them to put it up to later be stabbed by the thorn. The petals are Miss. Strangeworth’s appearance an old,proper, sweet lady who never think to raise her voice, but her thorns are the letters she writes to everyone anonymously.

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.

The word evil is most often associated with death or physically harmful things. But in Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” the Misfit shows that evil is not only in physical actions but by also how you judge and treat people as demonstrated by the Grandmother in the story. The Misfit although is not seen as a fully developed character, he brings contradiction to the definition of evil and is also a main character of the story.

The Possibility Of Evil Analysis . Everyone knows this one person that is so kind and sweet in front of people but then go talk about those people behind their back . There are a lot of those people in this world but one in particular will be talked about in this essay . Miss Adela Strangeworth talks to everyone that she passes in her town , then she writes letters about them and mails them to the person she wants to address ,

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.

People can have very many different personalities. Shirley Jackson’s, “The Possibility of Evil’’,is a great example of how a person can have various personalities. Miss Strangeworth is a seventy-year old woman who fits the bill perfect. Miss Strangeworth’s character can be analyzed by considering what she does, what the narrator states about her, and how other characters interact with her.

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

In contrast to Miss Strangeworth and Teddy’s power and status in their towns, the respect and value of voice in their own lives are unsimilar. Miss Strangeworth is highly respected in her life, as she is quite old and carries wisdom. Everyone knows who she is and turns to wave while she is on her morning walk to the store. When she comes to the grocery store, “half a dozen people turn away from the shelves and the

Don’t criticize what you can’t understand. You may miss out on a good story. For example, you may see this really pretty girl, but her attitude can be horrible. It's important to look under the surface before deciding or criticizing something big or small.  The characters in the short stories, “The Possibility of Evil,” by Shirley Jackson, and “Lamb to the Slaughter,”  by Roald Dahl, could have learned from this. In, “The Possibility of Evil,” Miss Strangeworth would judge people and try to fix the situation without knowing the full story. In, “Lamb to the Slaughter,” Mary seems to be a calm, beautiful lady who loves her husband, but is capable of committing a crime many could not fathom to commit. In both stories, the main characters seem to be one thing, but turn out being something completely different .

The story “The Possibility of Evil” written by Shirley Jackson, describes the daily actions of an elderly woman. “‘I’ve watched my town grow; I can remember when Mr.Lewis, senior, opened the grocery store, and the year the river flooded out the shanties on the low road, and the excitement when some young folks wanted to move the park over to the space in front of where the new post office is today.’” Miss Strangeworth displays her long dominance over the city, and claims her authority by continuing,”’They wanted to put up a statue of Ethan Allen, but it should have been a statue of my grandfather’”(Jackson 190). Obviously this is only a single example of her claims over the city, however her malicious intent is illustrated once more. It is

Buddha once stated, “it is a man’s own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways.” In “The Possibility of Evil,” Miss Strangeworth, a seemingly innocent elderly woman, sends cruel letters in order to rid her town of evil. When other townspeople discover her as the author of the letters, they destroy her prized roses. Shirley Jackson’s “The Possibility of Evil” not only reveals the deceitfulness of people, but also emphasizes the underlying evil of all humans and shows that evil remains insurmountable until fully accepted.