Possibility of Evil Analysis Essay

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 ,

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

She writes anonymous letters to them, saying rude things that cause the people to be frightened or sad. The anonymous letters are similar to cyber bullying, Miss Strangeworth is hiding her identity but is sending letters that are unpleasant and malicious for the reader. Miss Strangeworth is bullying the townspeople by sending those hateful letters. The strange thing is that, Miss Strangeworth is aware of the letters being hurtful, thus why she sends them anonymously. She is trying to get rid of the evil in the town in an unusual way, by thrusting the evil in the person’s face in a harsh manner. The letters are sent with the goal of helping the people by showing them the evil in their lives. But in other words, these letters are causing problems in relationships of the people. Miss Strangeworth is saying things about personal relationships that can cause a drift in the relationship. Using the example of Linda Stewart and the Harris boy, Miss Strangeworth wrote a letter that might have had false information. Due to that letter being sent Linda and Harris’s relationship is damaged, Linda does not want to talk to Harris anymore. Instead of getting rid of evil, Miss Strangeworth is helping to create more of it. People are losing trust and have become more emotionally closed off due to her cruel letters.

In the first few pages of the story,there was a lot of foreshadowing for what was to come, predominantly using Miss Strangeworth’s famous roses and the frequent use of Pleasant Street. On the very first page of the story there was a long description of

Looking a certain way does not always tell the whole story of someone. In their short stories “The Possibility of Evil” by Shirley Jackson and “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl both demonstrate appearances can be deceiving. The short stories “The Possibility of Evil” and “Lamb to the Slaughter” are similar to each other; both characters seem sweet and innocent yet have another side to them. Miss Strangeworth and Mary Maloney seem suspicious yet no one suspects anything. Also Miss Strangeworth and Mary Maloney seem as if they have been exposed of who they really are.

Shirley Jackson’s short story “ The Possibility of Evil” is, in summary, an old lady named Mrs. Strangeworth is in her town and everything is perfect. She finds that people seem bothered and she wants to know what is happening . When she gets home, she writes insulting & very bothering letters to some other people in her town, she says, to protect them from the evil in the world. She is the leader of her town, a sweet, curious lady and suddenly we get to see her dark side, the evilness that she tries to protect her people from ( very ironic ) . The theme of this short story is that everyone has a possibility to be evil, and people don’t always appears as they are; by example Mrs. Strangeworth,

The main themes of Larson’s book are very clear in his prologue; they include the three main conflicts of good versus evil, daylight versus darkness, and the Black City versus the White City. Throughout the book Larson supports all three theme s with his overall story and characters. For example, he supports his theme of good versus evil seen in Chicago during the late1800s through his story of Holmes; Holmes is seen as a murderer to readers, however, within the story Holmes is blindly seen as a great magical man to many characters. The underlying story of Holmes also contributes to the support of good versus evil because as the fair becomes a great and majestic statement for the United States, Holmes is the contradiction to the good the fair is supposed to be doing because he is contributing to the rate of disappearances and deaths in the greatest city of the time.

Strangeworth’s Real Personality Not everyone is who they seem to be. In the story, “The Possibility of Evil”, by Shirley Jackson, Miss Strangeworth comes off as a nice, sweet lady, but she’s not. Miss Strangeworth has many different personalities to her character. She’s innocent, rude, and meddlesome. Miss Strangeworth hides her character very well.

In Pleasantville there were signs on the doors of businesses saying “no coloureds” and in “The Possibility of Evil” there was the mean written letters from Miss. Strangeworth. The logic behind the town started to put up the signs saying “no coloureds” is because the grey population thought it was okay to discriminate against them. They believed that they should stop trying to change the way of the town and they wanted everything to go back to the way it was, before the dyed people changed the whole town completely. Similarly, in The Possibility of Evil Miss Strangeworth is of the opinion that it is her personal duty as a Strangeworth to watch over her town.  She sees evil where there is none and she imagines the worst in everyone.  By sending the letters, she is hoping to stop trouble before it begins. Furthermore, both stories tended to see evil were the was

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

Everyone expects an elder to be really kind and sweet. Shirley Jackson’s “The Possibility of Evil” tells a very different story. Miss Strangeworth out in public is kind and sweet, but behind closed doors she is very deceptive. Miss Strangeworth’s character can be analyzed by what she does or says, what the narrator says, and how others react to her. Miss Strangeworth is a very selfish lady in the story.

In the Possibility of evil this book has very many twist and turns all through out this story . With revenge and karma just around the corner. In the Possibility of Evil by shirley jackson it is clear that what goes around comes around comes because she wrote mean letter to her neighbors, which caused them to cut down and destroy her garden; but she was also mean and rude to the kids in her neighborhood. The counter claim in this story is treat other the way you want to be treated. In this story the theme is what goes around comes around, and karma coming back at you.

In The Possibility of Evil by Shirley Jackson, Miss Strangeworth is introduced as a kind, elderly woman who takes pride in her town, and her familial home on Pleasant Street, adorned with an abundance of rose bushes. Despite how joyous it may sound, Jackson shows that under the surface there is evil that lurks in the town, and Miss Strangeworth sees it as her civic duty to rid her town of it, without realizing that the evil of the town is the pleasure she takes in instigating conflict. Specifically, “Miss Adela Strangeworth stepped daintily along Main Street on her way to the grocery. The sun was shining, the air was fresh and clear after the night’s heavy rain, and everything in Miss Strangeworth’s little town looked washed and bright” (Jackson 188). This quote shows how, from the outside, the

In “The Possibility of Evil,” Shirley Jackson gives us a character who may seem to be the town’s most respected and longest established resident, but who actually

This novel of suspense had two twists to it, which makes it a very well thought-out story. The story begins in Manderley and sets an foreboding atmosphere, which is typical for gothic fashion literature. This is laid out before the flashback in the novel. Here, we begin to perceive a taste of how sinister and supernatural the atmosphere of Manderley is, once the flashbacks of the trip to Monte Carlo pass. The apparition of Rebecca and her living servant Mrs. Danvers try to ruin the marriage of the narrator and threaten to beat her.