Symbolism In 'The Possibility Of Evil'

According to Oxford Dictionary, the word “evil” is defined as, “profoundly immoral and wicked,” which can be interpreted in many different ways. In the story, “The Possibility of Evil” by Shirley Jackson, Miss Strangeworth’s point of view is completely different than the townsfolk’s opinion on who is provoking evil. In a small town, Ms. Strangeworth finds joy in sending unwanted, anonymous letters to innocent town’s people thinking that without these actions, her town would be entirely wicked. By using foreshadowing, the author effectively conveys the theme, “Evil is in the eyes of the beholder.” Symbolism is also used by the author to make the theme easier to understand. Lastly, irony plays a big role to establish the theme. The writer

Because of Miss Strangeworth’s constant effort put into the garden, the roses became a part of her. “Look at what used to be your roses”(8). When the town’s people found out that Miss Strangeworth was at fault for writing the letters, her roses were destroyed. The roses were passed on for generations similar to inherited wealth. Miss Strangeworth’s family lived on Pleasant Street for hundreds of years and her grandfather planted the first roses. This made the lady believe that the town belonged to her and she earned the right to control it. The roses represented all of the respect she had previously gained; consequently without the roses, she was given a black eye. The letters sent by Miss Strangeworth represent evil in her town. Instead of doing good, the letters were crass, bitter and unwantedly exposed personal problems. “..Never aware of possible evil lurking nearby, if Miss Strangeworth had not sent letters opening their eyes”(4). She believed her letters were astonishing and changed the wicked behaviour. In reality, the letters encouraged other people to do evil as a craving for

The town viewed Miss Strangeworth as a dainty and sweet, old lady. “..She had always made a point of mailing her letters very secretly”(6). They were clueless that she lead a secret life writing sneaky letters to the public she did not have factual information about. She was judged by her innocent looks and the town least expected her to have a dark side. Her looks deceived everyone around her and she took this as an advantage, not thinking that she would be caught. The readers knew about her mysterious activity, yet the characters in the story did not. Miss Strangeworth was arrogant and was convinced she was perfect. This urged her to write the letters and she got great joy from doing so. “..And then remembered that three people would open her letters. Harsh, perhaps, at first, but wickedness was never easily banished”(7). She knew the letters were bleak, but nothing stopped her from writing them. As previously mentioned, the letters themselves symbolized wickedness and not the actions of the community. Miss Strangeworth was at fault for the conflict occurring, which makes her the culprit in the