Pleasantville vs. P.O.E. There are many versions of stories and movies about the nature of 'evil' and how human beings deal with that 'evil'. In the movie, Pleasantville, and the short story, “The Possibility of Evil” there are both similarities and differences between both works. The similarities are in how the senior townspeople react to what they view as 'evil' and in the use of symbolism. The differences lie in what each town is at its core. Each town has key characteristics of a Utopia or Dystopia, resulting in different reactions to change. The senior townspeople in both “The Possibility of Evil” and Pleasantville believe it is their duty to protect the town from 'evil'. In the text “The Possibility of Evil” it narrates Miss. Strangeworth's thoughts on 'evil' in her town. It states: “The town where she lived had to be kept clean and sweet , but people everywhere were lustful and evil and degraded” displaying her sense of duty in protecting her …show more content…
Pleasantville was an ideal society with no evil and since it didn’t know how to respond to change and lashed out when change occurred. The entire situation can be summed up in two words “It’s unpleasant”. This created a revolt, splitting the town. Alternatively, on Pleasant Street Miss. Strangeworth was creating a Dystopia with her nasty letters. Even she noted that the townspeople seemed different since she began sending the letters. Upon discovering that she was the one plaguing the town, a letter was sent to her; much like the ones she had been sending. It read: “Look at what used to be your roses”. This obviously implied that her roses were destroyed, for which nobody consoled her. It can be assumed that the whole town knew why the roses were destroyed and stood together in the revenge. Residents of Pleasant Street came together to end the Dystopia they were living in, while Pleasantville was divided and chaotic creating a