Miss Strangeworth In Shirley Jackson's The Possibility Of Evil

592 Words2 Pages

You Can Not Trust Everyone Do you trust everyone you meet? Shirley Jackson’s “The Possibility of Evil” is a brief story about a little old lady who strongly believes she is the most important person in the entire town. To the town’s people, they think she is an innocent seventy-one year old who spends her life worrying about her perfect roses. In reality, Miss Strangeworth is a very nosy and sneaky person. Miss Strangeworth starts writing anonymous letters to the people in the town. These letters are very upsetting to the people who are unfortunate to receive the them. Jackson’s brief story suggests that you can not trust everyone. In the beginning of Jackson’s story Miss Strangeworth tries to prove to the town’s people that she is an innocent typical old lady who cares about the community and her roses. “She was seventy one, Miss Strangeworth told the tourists, with a pretty little dimple showing by her lip…” (lines 9-10). The reader could infer that Miss Strangeworth is a normal old lady who enjoys going out of her way to speak with others. …show more content…

For example, Miss Strangeworth runs into a family with a six month old baby who cannot yet sit up. With the parents worried, Miss Strangeworth tries to explain to the family that the six month old is perfectly normal and that eventually the six month old will sit up. Later on in the day, Miss Strangeworth goes home and starts thinking to herself that she should tell the family her real thoughts. “After thinking for a minute, although she had been phrasing the letter in the back of her mind all the way home, she wrote on a pink sheet: DIDN’T YOU EVER SEE AN IDIOT CHILD BEFORE? SOME PEOPLE JUST SHOULDN’T HAVE CHILDREN, SHOULDN’T THEY” (lines 165-168)? The reader could infer that Miss Strangeworth likes to ruin people’s lives by telling “secrets” to them. Miss Strangeworth is a sneaky and cruel

Show More
Related

  • Miss Strangeworth In Shirley Jackson's The Possibility Of Evil

    725 Words  | 2 Pages

    First, Miss Strangeworth’s character can be analyzed by considering what she does. Miss Strangeworth is a very passionate person. She is very passionate about her grandfather, because he built the house Miss Strangeworth lives in, and also a large percentage of the town. In the story, she says this, “My grandfather built the first house on Pleasant Street”, she would

    Read More

  • Sarah's Key Figurative Language Essay

    573 Words  | 2 Pages

    An example of this is in Julia’s story, where Guillaume is sharing information on his grandmother. “She began to hear about the camps. She began to understand that they were all dead. That no one would come back. Nobody had really known before. But then, with survivors returning and telling their stories, everybody knew” (Rosnay 49). Later, on page 55, Sarah, along with the other French Jews, are being taken from the Velodrome d’Hiver, leading her to have hope that they may be going home at last, that this was the end of their imprisonment. Having a background on the era, as well as Guillaume’s information, the audience is already aware that Sarah is having false hope. As the novel continues, Sarah escapes Drancy and makes it to a farm where she is taken in and cared for. When Julia begins to question the fate of Sarah, she asks “Had Sarah been with them after all? Had she left Drancy for Auschwitz terrified and lonely in a cattle wagon full of strangers?” (Rosnay 135), which the reader already knows did not

    Read More

  • The Possibility Of Evil And A Bole Of White Cloth

    1029 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of the ways this is achieved is by using an exterior appearance to deceive ones true morals for an intriguing motive. This is seen through the character of Miss. Strangeworth the main character in "The Possibility of Evil" appearing to be a sweet old lady however, she is not what she seems. Her deceiving exterior is seen when the narrator states "Walking down Main street on a summer morning, Miss. Strangeworth had to stop every minute or so to say good morning to someone or to ask after someone 's health (Jackson 1). This quote illustrates Miss. Strangeworth uses her

    Read More

  • The Character Of Miss Strangeworth In The Possibility Of Evil By Shirley Jackson

    644 Words  | 2 Pages

    Why? One of the world's top inquiries. For this situation, why was Miss Strangeworth composing those letters? As she experienced childhood in her little town, living in the same house all her life, what turned out badly? What was so contorted in her mind that she felt the need to decimate those individuals' lives with letters? "The Possibility of Evil" by Shirley Jackson indicates how something so sweet can turn out so shrewd. Why is she so possessive, narcissistic, and detestable?

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Look In The Possibility Of Evil By Shirley Jackson

    641 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout the Possibility of Evil the theme is clearly shown as looks can be deceiving. On the other hand, some people might interpret that the theme is that you should treat others as they treat you. However it’s only at the end when the townspeople figure out that she is the one sending the letters which shows that karma only comes into play at the end of the story, while the looks can be deceiving is shown throughout the whole story. By showing Miss Strangeworth as a gentle old lady at first and then slowly showing her true colors, Shirley Jackson illustrates the theme that looks can be deceiving.

    Read More

  • The Possibility Of Evil Essay

    865 Words  | 2 Pages

    At the end Miss Strangeworth writes anonymous letters to people. The letters express her assuming things about other people and giving her opinion. An example of her being cruel is, She writes a letter to Mrs. Harper and her baby and says, “Didn’t you ever see an idiot child before? Some people just shouldn’t have children should they?” She writes this because she bases her letters on assuming things instead of going to the person and getting the facts. Another example of Miss Strangeworth being cruel is, She writes another letter to Mrs. Harper and says, “Have you found out yet what they were all laughing about after you left the bridge club on Thursday? Or is the wife really the last one to know?” Miss Strangeworth writes this because she doesn’t seem to care how anyone else feels except for her. This proves that my topic sentence is true by giving details at the end of the story, it finally shows her true colors and shows how really mean she can be.

    Read More

  • The Possibility of Evil by Shirley Jackson

    1090 Words  | 3 Pages

    This story revolves around a character known as Miss Adela Strangeworth whose ancestral home is Pleasant Street which also happens to be the setup used to develop the story. However she is from the initial stages of the story portrayed as an old lady that is relatively calm and harmless especially with regards to the lives of her neigbours. She is portrayed in the story with the author as a proud lady who believes in the fact that she owns her town perhaps a factor that is evidenced by the way she interacts with the members of her community. Her constant conversations with the members of the community perhaps paint her as a relatively calm, loving and caring lady to the members of the community.

    Read More

  • Mrs. Strangeworth In The Possibility Of Evil By Shirley Jackson

    531 Words  | 2 Pages

    The beginning of the story displays the theme by showing that Miss.Strangeworth seems innocent in her public life, but later shows that she lies about what she thinks to people. When she told Mrs. Crane “All babies are different. Some of them develop much more quickly than others", in response to her worrying about her child, she

    Read More

  • Miss Strangeworth In Shirley Jackson's The Possibility Of Evil

    637 Words  | 2 Pages

    Miss Strangeworth is a very proud woman, almost too proud about her house and her town. The first thing she brags about are her roses, she never lets anyone take them because she loves them so much. She also was very proud of her grandmother and grand father because they were the first to build a house in what is now a town, the town ‘wanted to put up a

    Read More

  • Mrs. Strangeworth In The Possibility Of Evil By Shirley Jackson

    483 Words  | 1 Pages

    In stories, character complexly is a esential. The Shirley Jackson story “The Possibility of Evil” tells the story of a seventy-one year women named Miss Strangeworth. She’s an unusual character that stems off from status quo. Though it doesn’t mean she completely unique. Regardless, her desires, contrasting traits, consistency, and the ability to change make Mrs.Strangeworth a complex character.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Forgiveness In To Kill A Mockingbird

    1725 Words  | 4 Pages

    For example, after Mr. Link Deas gives Tom’s widowed wife, Helen, a job, Mr. Ewell tries to get revenge on Tom Robinson’s wife for what Tom supposedly did, by making it hard for Helen to get to work safely. One day, after Helen comes to work, Mr. Link Deas gets it out of Helen about why she comes from the wrong direction to work, and she reluctantly reveals that Mr. Ewell is making it hard for her to get to work everyday: “Calpurnia said it was hard for Helen, because she had to walk a mile out of her way to avoid the Ewells, who, according to Helen, ‘chunked at her’ the first time she tried to use the public road. Mr. Link Deas eventually received the impression that Helen was coming to work each day from the wrong direction, and dragged the reason out of her. ‘Just let it be, Mr. Link, please suh,’ Helen begged. ‘The hell I will,’ said Mr. Link. . . . . . ‘Ewell?’ he called. ‘I say Ewell!’ . . . . . Now hear me, Bob Ewell: if I hear one more peep outa my girl Helen about not bein’ able to walk this road I’ll have you in jail before sundown!’” (Lee 248-249). In this instance, Bob Ewell wants revenge for his credibility being ruined at Tom’s trial, so he decides to take it out on Helen by making her afraid to use the shorter route to get to work. Since Mr. Ewell intimidates Helen in retaliation for Tom’s supposed assault against

    Read More

  • Miss Strangeworth Character Analysis Essay

    756 Words  | 2 Pages

    People are like pieces of various, mind-blowing art projects; they come in all shapes and sizes, and some are more detailed than others. Shirley Jackson’s short story, “The Possibility of Evil”, provides a specific example in one character. Miss Strangeworth is introduced, and she can be described as arrogant, outgoing, and meddlesome. 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.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Miss Strangeworth In The Possibility Of Evil

    765 Words  | 2 Pages

    She has this sneaky side to her but nobody knows about it. When she wrote those letters she would write with a utensil that would not usually use and she would use a different script that wasn’t her normal. Thus, “Miss Strangeworth always uses a dull stub pencil when she wrote her letters, and she printed them in a childish block print.” She did this so nobody could tell that she was the one sending the letters since they were not encouraging or helpful letters. As well as them being to people in the town about their kids she wouldn’t want one of them to get mad and come for her or her precious flowers. She had to be really sneaky when she mailed the letters and she had her ways to sneak around the town and not get caught. Therefore, “....she had always made a point of mailing her letters varu secretly….she timed her walk so she could reach the post office just as darkness was starting to dim….” She would do so because she did not want her name of any of this foolishness and didn’t want to start stuff with the people of this town. Lastly this is another was that she is something that nobody knows about.

    Read More

  • How Is Miss Strangeworth Presented In The Possibility Of Evil

    519 Words  | 2 Pages

    anonymous letters in block lettering like a child would, and then mail her opinion to the person. Compared to another person in one of the short stories like The Interlopers were Ulrich von Gradwitz and Georg Znaeym. The two men wanted to kill each other just because of an old family feud. When they both had been trapped under tree and they started to talk to each other they became friends, but then a few minutes later were eaten by wolves. Miss. Strangeworth however just writes to people she has spoken to and puts them down. Meanwhile there are also other characters better than her.

    Read More

  • Jodee Blanco's Please Stop Laughing At Me

    729 Words  | 2 Pages

    An example is her torture during the majority of the book. In 6th grade she went to her friends party, and to her astonishment, a couple began making out in the closet. She called her mom to tell her what was going on and her mom told the mother ...

    Read More

More about Miss Strangeworth In Shirley Jackson's The Possibility Of Evil

Open Document