In Shirley Jackson’s short story, “The Possibility of Evil”, Mrs. Strangeworth shows the epitome of the human’s common trait to deny to associate oneself with the negative qualities within them. She does this by constantly regarding the townsmen as corrupt people that need her watching over them. The way she does this reveals corruptness as she sends passive-aggressive letters to “misbehaving” townspeople. The quote shows an attempt to justify her sending of manipulative letters. Starting with,
Solomon's The Return of the Screw Mrs. Grose, playing cleverly on the governess' visions, convinces her she is seeing Peter Quint and Ms. Jessel in an effort to drive her mad. At least, that is according to Eric Solomon's "The Return of the Screw." Mrs. Grose tries to remove the governess to get to Flora. Mrs. Grose will do anything to gain control of Flora, as she proved when she murdered Peter Quint. He, along with Ms. Jessel, was too much of an influence on the children. Quint
Fire Song This book is based around Bowmen Hath and Kestrel Hath who are twins. Both embark on journey with their friend Mumpo, to save their people, the Manth. This book begins after they escape with their family and a group of friends from an evil Priest/Warlord Albard and his Mastery. As they go on there journey the face foes of nature and of great evil. Bowmen is the kind sensitive type. He knows his time is running out, soon some people will arrive and take him on a journey from which
When humans are pushed to survive, they are willing to do anything to do so. In the novel “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding, a group of boys are stranded on an island and have to survive, however as the story progresses the boys become more barbaric and savage like. Even though there are good people in this world, there will always be evil. Why does evil exist? Golding’s belief of human nature is that humans are naturally evil and savage. However, law and civility keep humans from turning into
Pike Ted Hughes Choose a poem you studied recently which challenges the reader to view something familiar in a new and thought provoking way. Pike Ted Hughes Stanzas one to four of the poem are there to describe the Pike, its nature, what it looks like and it’s destiny in nature as a predator. The poet, Ted Hughes, in writing this poem challenges the reader to view nature in a totally new perspective by exploring the power and violence in it by using one animal in river life, the
Generally speaking, the conch has represented democracy and collectiveness throughout the novel. Golding uses the conch to highlight many different ideas in the book by setting the story on an island, which is a microcosm of the entire world and the world that the boys lived in before encountering the fateful crash of the plane. The group of boys encounter problems which, even on this island, they are unable to escape from. It is important to remember that at the same time, there is a nuclear
The Turn of the Screw - A Look at a Criticism There are many different ways to interpret The Turn of the Screw, by Henry James. Many critics over the past century have voiced their opinions about the story. Each critical analysis of the story disagrees with the beliefs expressed in another. Robert B. Heilman is a critic who wrote in the mid-twentieth century. He interprets The Turn of the Screw to be a representation of the conflict between good and evil. Heilman's points are clear and obviously
Golding stated that humans were naturally evil and rules controlled them. Rousseau stated that humans were good, but rules from society brought out the evil in them. I really like both concepts, but I would have to agree with Rousseau. Humans try to prevent evil from happening, so it is kind of like karma. Evil gets back at rules and make humans evil. Golding is somewhat right, but I would have to go with Rousseau because not all humans are born evil. Some are born nice, some are mean, and so on
Wilfred Owen 's poem "Arms and the Boy" leaves me wanting and needing for more. His unique way of writing and getting his point across is unlike anything else I have experienced before. There isn 't a single doubt in my mind that this is clearly the most interesting and mind engaging poem I have encountered. Every line of every sentence piqued my curiosity and had me going on a train of feelings and emotions. I absolutely enjoyed the poem. I can definitely say that at first, as I read the poem, I
In The Turn of the Screw, there are many references to the connection of physical appearance and morality. Originally the idea of beauty was connected to pureness-Angels and Princesses- while ugliness was connected with the evil- witches and devils. Though, during the 19th century there was a switch, creating an attraction to the idea that the beautiful ones weren 't always as good as they looked. Henry James uses the original idea, that beauty is equal to innocence, and contradicts it with the governesses
Shirley Jackson’s short story “ The Possibility of Evil” is about a little old lady named Miss Strangeworth. She thinks she’s in charge of the town and to make sure it’s free from all evil because her grandfather built the first house on Pleasant Street. At first Miss Strangeworth is a nice little old lady, worrying about people and wondering what others are up to. Then in the middle of the story she becomes a little rude to a few of the townspeople. In the end Miss Strangeworth thought she was
The Devil Within The book Lord of the Flies by William Golding is an exhilarating novel that is full of courage, bravery, and manhood. It is a book that constantly displays the clash between two platoons of savage juveniles mostly between Jack and Ralph who are the main characters of the book. The Kids become stranded on an island with no adults for miles. The youngsters bring their past knowledge from the civilized world to the Island and create a set of rules along with assigned jobs like building
Mankind's Evil Exposed in Lord of the Flies Despite the progression of civilization and society's attempts to suppress man's darker side, moral depravity proves both indestructible and inescapable; contrary to culturally embraced views of humanistic tendencies towards goodness, each individual is susceptible to his base, innate instincts. In William Golding's Lord of the Flies, seemingly innocent schoolboys evolve into bloodthirsty savages as the latent evil within them emerges. Their
Good vs Evil The ill-begotten town of Vec is in shambles. The churches have all been burned, and Satan's reign has spread to the top-land through the desire and meddling of five young men. The men call themselves the Satanic Cult of the Spirit. They, alone, are Satan's army brought from the bowels of the Nether regions to take arms against goodness and all that is holy in the world that exists today. The cult ritually performs seances to conjure the demon for further instructions. The body
A monster is a creature that deviates from normal or acceptable behavior; a threatening fore; something of unnatural deformity, malevolence, and cruelty. A hero, on the other hand, is one idealized for courage, bravery, and strength. While fusing the evermore different qualities of both would seem impossible, John Gardner’s Grendel does just that. Gardner creates an ambiguous character that possess aspects of both a monster and a hero – it is a force of evil, yet admired; it causes pain yet urges
The Character of Richard III as Shakespeare Presents Him to Us Shakespeare presents Richard to us in a very negative way. Richard is portrayed as an evil person who is attracted to the power that the throne could bring him and would take whatever risk is necessary. Driven by his need for power he manipulates and murders his way to the throne. Richard shows himself as a manipulator right from the start of the play. He tricks Clarence and makes him think that he has nothing to do with his
Many of Stephen King’s writings explore the theme of evil, and Apt Pupil is no exception. He has incorporated his ideas of malevolence into the characters of Todd Bowden and Kurt Dussander. The beginning of the novella delves into the dark thoughts of a young boy whose encounter with Dussander encourages the growth of his dark side. From stories of Patin to killing animals, the potential for evil can be seen in the eyes of the two and leads them to the ultimate evil: murder. It all began when
Upon reading Claudia Card’s “Evils” she deepens her understanding of evil post 9/11. Card goes on to write that her adjustments to the accounts of evil include first that evils are inexcusable and not just culpable, she also states that evils need not be extraordinary and that all institutional evil implies individual reason to blame. Claudia Card continues to define evil as reasonably foreseeable intolerable harms produced, maintained, supported and tolerated by culpable wrongdoings. Evils have
Underneath a good moral, there could be a hidden truth. In, “The Possibility of Evil”, Shirley Jackson shows how the protagonist, Miss Strangeworth presumes she is protecting her neighborhood by eliminating the evil that exists within her community, but ironically, she is the most evil neighbor of all. In the beginning, the community considers Miss Strangeworth an old, caring and respected woman. Throughout the story, a handful of community members realize Miss Strangeworth is a bitter, insensitive
Picasso - The Dream is a rather unique piece of work at first glance, but the deeper you look into it the more there is to be revealed. Being a painting of one of Picasso's mistresses, you can get a broader look on the whole ideal. A mistress by definition is one who is not only having a sexual relationship with a usually married man for profit, love, lust, a sick game, whatever it may be, but also one who usually has to hide it for the sake of the man and other times for herself as well. I believe