The Element Of Mood In The Possibility Of Evil By Shirley Jackson

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Ms. Garzon
ENG2D1
25 September 2019
The Element of Mood in “The Possibility of Evil”
In the short story “The Possibility of Evil” written by Shirley Jackson, I found that the literary element of mood was used skillfully. The story starts out by describing the atmosphere of the town as sunny, fresh, clear, bright, and fragrant. The main character, Miss Strangeworth, appeared happy and peaceful within her surroundings. This is a direct contrast to the second half of the story, where people are described to be disturbed, grim, and bleak. The events also take place during the night, which symbolizes the death of innocence and creates an ominous atmosphere.
Based on these examples from the text, I believe Shirley Jackson was setting up the tone of the story to begin as happy and light, in order for the dark reveal at the end to be more dramatic and ominous. She wanted her readers to feel surprised by the sudden twist, subverting their expectations and causing them to shift their mood from happy to disturbing.

My group and I chose this story because it was called, “The Possibility of Evil” and we expected it would be dark and scary. Luckily, at the end of the story we got what we wished for. The story went from peaceful and serene, to dark and sinister. I liked how the beginning of the story felt innocent and ordinary, by having Miss Strangeworth go about her day doing normal tasks, making me feel calm and at ease. While the ending was the exact opposite, by having Miss Strangeworth shut up in her house and writing secret mean letters, causing me to feel shocked and