'Miss Strangeworth In The Possibility Of Evil'

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In “The Possibility of Evil,” Miss Strangeworth, the main character, is an insane person because of her ego and how highly she thinks of herself, her malicious intents that were dont with no remorse to the townspeople, and her unfathomable denial of her wrongdoing. Miss Strangeworth considers her duty to the town is to nitpick and judge everyone in it simply because she values herself so highly as the only Strangeworth of Pleasant Street. While looking around in "her" town, she notices the absent-minded librarian, Miss Chandler. Miss Strangeworth takes in her appearance and deduces that "she had not taken much trouble with her hair that morning" (Jackson 208). Being her egocentric self, Miss Strangeworth sighs at the lack of effort that Miss Chandler had when around her. No matter how small a …show more content…

Harper, another town member. She wrote, “HAVE YOU FOUND OUT YET WHAT THEY WERE ALL LAUGHING ABOUT AFTER YOU LEFT THE BRIDGE CLUB ON THURSDAY? OR IS THE WIFE REALLY ALWAYS THE LAST ONE TO KNOW?” (Jackson 210). Even though this information she is relaying is not reliable, she instills fear through the “more negotiable stuff of suspicion” (Jackson 210). Miss Strangeworth is convinced that this act of terrorism will keep people on their toes by always waiting for the possibility of evil; instead, she is wreaking havoc on relationships and trust built in the community. After Miss Strangeworth is caught and gets blamed for causing everyone’s problems, she denies to herself that any of this is her fault or that she deserves this. The morning after she sent the last three letters, she saw a similar-looking letter on her front doorstep, and “her hand did not shake as she opened the envelope and unfolded the green sheet of paper inside. She began to cry silently for the wickedness of the world when she read the words: LOOK OUT AT WHAT USED TO BE YOUR ROSES” (Jackson

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