Analysis Of Miss Strangeworth's Roses In The Possibility Of Evil By Shirley Jackson

In the short story “The Possibility of Evil” by Shirley Jackson, Miss Strangeworth’s roses are a very significant symbol. The importance of Miss Strangeworth's roses to the overall text is that they assist in portraying Miss Strangeworth's character and aid in developing a deeper understanding of the theme. The roses help portray Miss Strangeworth’s character because at the beginning, the rose garden is absolutely perfect for Miss Strangeworth, and this can be seen when Miss Strangeworth returns home from Mr. Lewis’s shop, “Miss Strangeworth stopped at her own front gate, as she always did, and looked with deep pleasure at her house, with the red and pink and white roses massed along the narrow lawn,” (3). Miss Strangeworth’s “deep pleasure” shows how content Miss Strangeworth is with her roses. The perfection of Miss Strangeworth’s roses is very

This quote shows that Miss Strangeworth is very well-known in her town, and it also shows that she has a good reputation because she is highly regarded by most of the townspeople. At the end, Miss Strangeworth is devastated because her rose garden is destroyed, “She began to cry silently for the wickedness of the world when she red the words: Look out at what used to be your roses,” (6). The destruction of Miss Strangeworth’s roses is very similar to how Miss Strangeworth's reputation is destroyed because of the evil letters she wrote. In this situation, the roses are a symbol of Miss Strangeworth because roses look beautiful, but their thorns hurt, just as Miss Strangeworth appears and behaves like a pleasant lady in person, but in reality, she writes evil, hurtful letters. In this situation, the roses could be a symbol of Miss Strangeworth personality. The roses also lead to a deeper understanding of the theme which is that looks can be deceiving because (as stated