What Is Miss Strangeworth's Revenge Letter

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.

“The Flowers” by Alice Walker was a very descriptive short story that used words powerfully and constructed a sinister yet elegant scene in the reader’s mind. The emotional meaning behind it’s excellent description only enhanced the details and thoughts the reader had while reading the story, which displayed Walker’s talent in describing a story . In this story, a young girl named Myop is playing near her home on a sharecropper property. She begins picking flowers around her sharecropper property, which eventually leads her to exploring the forest behind the property. As Myop is exploring the forest, she encounters a dead body that had been there for a while. Myop is briefly fazed, then continues looking for more plant life. Eventually, she spots a singular pink rose, and notices that at the base of the rose, there is a mound. She digs up the mound, only to discover a noose that was used to hang the

“The Possibility Of Evil” by Shirley Jackson is a short story about a woman referred to as Miss Strangeworth, who throughout the story is either writing letters or tending to her beloved roses. She is kind to others but also leads another secret life.“The Possibility Of Evil” by Shirley Jackson uses symbolism and tone to relate objects to real people.

Miss Strangeworth’s character can be analyzed by what she does. Miss Strangeworth is selfish. She is selfish because she won’t give away a few of her roses. For example, “Miss Strangeworth never gave away any of her roses, although the tourists asked her.” Another way she is selfish is that she believes the town is hers. In addition, “She was seventy-one, Miss Strangeworth told the tourists, with a pretty little dimple showing on her lip, and she sometimes found herself thinking that the town belonged to her.” As a result, Miss strangeworth can be analyzed as selfish.

While she is kind to people’s faces, she returns home to write hurtful letters full of malicious gossip. Miss Strangeworth is not concerned about the truth, but rather the possibility of evil, “her letters all dealt with the more negotiable stuff of suspicion” (Jackson, 252). In her mind, she had the right to send hurtful comments like, “Didn’t you ever see an idiot child before? Some people shouldn’t have children, should they?” (Jackson,252). Miss Strangeworth appears to have no consideration for the damage her letters will cause to those

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.

Shirley Jackson states “I suppose you’ve got Don upset about that his daughter is already six months and hasn’t yet begun to learn to dance.Well apologize to her right now….she is prbley worried why you keep jumping around.”The way this quote supports the topic sentence is this shows the different side of Miss.Strangeworth. In shorter words the quotation means she is starting to get into other peoples buisness showing her different. Shirley Jackson says “STRANGEWORTH HOUSE engraved on the cheap news paper shop paper...it’s almost like a joke and Miss.Strangeworth writes on the letter SOME PEOPLE SHOULDN’T HAVE CHILDREN SHOULD THEY, then she goes to the post office just at sundown when it’s starting to get dark to deliver the letters and in the process she drops a letter and a little kid comes up and says this may be good news i’m going to take it to her.” Then once the town figured out who it was they sent her a letter saying,” LOOK AT WHAT USED TO BE YOUR ROSES.” These last two quotations show the other side of Miss.Strangeworth. The way these last two quotations show the topic sentence is true is that this shows the real Miss.Strangeworth. This paragraph shows the not innocent side of Miss.Strangeworth and what the town did because of

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

They brought her down to the station to be questioned. There were two people in this tight, dark, eerie room. The police and Miss strangeworth stared intensely at each other for what felt like hours. It was silence but you could hear Miss Strangeworth crying of fear. The officer began to ask simple questions. He started with the ‘who’ of this investigation. “I am the only one writing these letters” she confesses “But I have a letter on almost everyone in this small town.” The officer asks for how long she has been writing these letters

The beginning of the story portrays Miss Strangeworth as a sweet old lady who cares about her town and everyone in it. As the story progresses, MissStrangeworth begins to demonstrate different characteristics that pull her farther and farther away from the image that she portrays at the start of the story. Miss Strangeworth from “The Possibility of Evil” by Shirley Jackson is a 71 year old woman who believes that she holds responsibly to rid her town of evil. Miss Strangeworth will do anything to ensure the people in her town and the town itself, are safe. Within the short story, “The Possibility of Evil” Miss Strangeworth demonstrates that she is a proud, cautious and sarcastic individual.

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

In “ A Rose for Emily,” the entire community conspires to protect both Emily and the small town from the shame and stigma of Emily’s illness and idiosyncratic behavior. The story focuses on Emily Grierson, the last living Grierson. Emily is an older lady living in Mississippi. As new town leaders take over, they make unsuccessful attempts to get Emily to resume payments on her taxes. She says that Colonel Sartoris has told her she has no taxes in Jefferson, though the Colonel had been dead for almost a decade. The main setting of the story is a creepy old house in Jefferson, Mississippi where Emily Grierson, the last living Grierson, lives. The house is not only old, but very rundown. The setting of "A Rose for Emily" helps develop a plot line which examines the effects of loneliness and isolation have on a person’s psyche. As a result, the story conveys a true and timeless main theme: one must change with the times; if one does not change with time, then one falls behind.

Tessie Hutchinson's pleas of "It's not fair" and "it isn't right" at the end resonate to the reader as almost the author's own sole voice speaking out against the social issues of isolation and stubbornness to retain old yet questionable traditions. The story slowly transforms from a lighthearted opening to an extremely dark and atrocious close. This shocking juxtaposition makes the author's overall message all the more powerful and clear to the reader that she expresses concern and distaste against unjust situations in which the powerless have no voice to defend or protect themselves against the unfortunate idiosyncrasies of her time.

The weeds growing in the graveyard tied together the novel’s plot and themes because the weeds symbolized sin. Since Puritanism revolved around order, weeds contrasted with this idea because they are unkept and wild. If one is “free thinking,” or wild, Puritans may label one as a sinner and throw one in jail. “They grew out of his heart, and typify, it may be, some hideous secret that was buried with him, and which he had done better to confess during his lifetime.” (90) This shows that the dead person was a sinner and was consumed by his sins that he did not confess to. This relates to how Dimmesdale was consumed by his sin and guilt and

Emily Grierson is a very misunderstood individual. She lived her entire 74 years of life in the same house in the same city of Jefferson, Mississippi and yet, only a very small group of people can claim they know much about the woman, especially during the later years of her life. She had a mysterious way about her which intrigued all of those around her. The story of “A Rose for Emily” does not occur in chronological order and as a reader, it almost portrays the illusion of being a newcomer to Jefferson, Mississippi and learning about her story through gossip which plays a huge role in this story. As the story begins, Mrs. Grierson has just recently passed and the town gathered at her residency to give condolences and subdue their curiosities.