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Miss Strangeworth In The Possibility Of Evil By Shirley Jackson

753 Words4 Pages

“The Possibility of Evil” written by Shirley Jackson and published in 1965 is a story filled with deception and trickery. Presenting the reader with sweet Miss Strangeworth, an older lady who is dedicated to helping her town. As the story continues readers quickly see that Miss Strangeworth is multifaceted but still has good intentions. This can be proven through what Miss Strangeworth does, what the narrator states about her, and how the other characters interact with her. Miss Strangeworth’s thoughts and actions showcase her multifaceted personality and good intentions. While talking with Helen Crane about Mrs. Crane’s child Miss Strangeworth says, “Nonsense. All babies are different. Some of them develop more quickly than others (3).” Though …show more content…

An example to how people would treat Miss Strangeworth’s evil side, can be shown through Don Crane’s actions at the end of the short story. “Her hand did not shake as she opened the envelope… she read the words: Look out at what used to be your roses (6)”. This implies that Don Crane destroys Miss Strangeworth’s most prized possession which reveals to readers that almost anyone in the town that would find out about Miss Strangeworth’s secret letters would go to the extreme to have revenge. However when compared to how people treat her nice side, “When she came into the grocery, half a dozen people turned away from the shelves and counters to wave to her or call out good morning (2)” The townspeople's actions are now completely different towards her than before. Readers are able to see a direct comparison between the other characters actions towards Miss Strangeworth’s two different personalities. The interaction between Miss Strangeworth and a character that shows her good intentions would be, “as long as evil existed unchecked in the world, it was Miss Strangeworth's duty to keep her town alert to it.” This shows that by sending her anonymous letters to everyone in town Miss Strangeworth believes that she is helping them stay alert to all of the evil that is in the world. In reality though the other characters in the story truly don’t agree with Miss Strangeworth’s

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