Miss Adela Strangeworth the last of the Strangeworth’s was heading towards the grocery store. The sky was gloomy with dark thunderclouds, there was no one in the streets except for Helen Crane and her baby. Miss Strangeworth scurried past them. As she reached the grocery store lightning struck a stop sign not too far away from her. Frightened she runs inside the store.…
Miss Strangeworth is a 71-year-old woman. She lives in the house that her grandfather built and has roses that she praises in her front yard. She has blue eyes and a cat. Miss Strangeworth…
Mary Ann Cotton is known as a bad person. She had not only committed crimes but also had a hard life growing up which makes it realistic to how she became the person she is now. Her childhood and her having resentment towards men really tells why the way she is. There had been many family members that had died in her family as in her father while she was growing up. Soon later her mother had re-married which had led to bad conflicts with Mary.…
Should you expect the unexpected? A story written by Shirley Jackson “The Possibility of Evil” is an story about a respected old woman who could do no wrong in her town. Until she caught doing something; she never though she will never be caught doing. Miss Strangeworth’s character can be analyzed by considering what she does, what the narrator says about her, and how other interact with her.…
In the short story “The Possibility of Evil” Jackson the author shows Miss Strangeworth views as very subjective, which can be seen in the quote “Miss Strangeworth never concerned herself with facts; her letters all dealt with the more negotiable stuff of suspicion.” In the quote it clearly states that she never concerns herself with facts and that her letters are based off of her opinions. Also, this shows the readers that the text in Miss Strangeworth's letters may not actually be true because it is just based off of her beliefs. Furthermore, in the quote it states that that her letters dealt with suspicion which means that Miss Strangeworth is coming to assumptions and accusations before learning about other opinions and what the…
She remembers her home town, Dusty, During the great depression. The only thing pretty in the town were Miss Lottie’s Marigolds. One Night, she can’t sleep and his enraged with the fact that her father is so upset. She returns to Miss Lotie’s flowers and takes her rage out on the Marigold’s. As she does this Miss Lottie comes out to her and stands over her destroying the Marigolds. She understands then the difference between childhood and maturity. She then realizes that she cannot have both compassion and innocence. This shows that when she did the horrible act of destroying Miss Lottie's Marigolds she lost her innocence and doesn’t deserve…
Miss Strangeworth’s character can be analyzed by considering what she does and says. Miss Strangeworth is a peaceful woman. At the beginning of the story, she comes off as a peaceful and gentle person. For example, “Miss Strangeworth took deep breaths and thought that there was nothing in the world like a summer fragrant day.” This quote shows she is a gentle person. She also enjoys being outside in the summer weather. Another example…
The narrator introduces herself as a “cottage maiden”, she is seen as humbling herself and through this first line we see her as a meek character. This meek character contrasts to the anger and jealousy we see from the narrator later in the poem. “Not mindful was I fair”, this also shows her as meek and uncaring of her looks. The repetition of “Why did a great lord find me out?” exemplifies the narrator’s annoyance and regret of her meeting with this great lord. The great lord “filled her heart with care” this shows that in contrast to her uncaring attitude towards her looks previously, this lord has now made her notice her looks and become mindful of them.…
Can a person be considered evil even though they are trying to help everyone and messes up their lives while they are at it? The answer is yes. Although Miss Strangeworth is trying to help a small town that her grandfather helped create, she is also making the live of people around her miserable. Miss Strangeworth appears to be a loving sweet old lady but in reality she is simply a deceptive perfectionist with the the thought that it is her God given duty to tell everyone about the “evil” in their town.…
People aren’t all they appear to be. Shirley Jackson’s story, “The Possibility of Evil,” is told from the perspective of a 71-year old lady named Adela Strangeworth. Miss Strangeworth is an old woman who has lived in this town all her life. Miss Strangeworth’s character can be analyzed by considering what she does, what the narrator says about her, and how other characters interact with her.…
Unscrewed, released, no more to be marvelous, I shall walk straightly through most proper halls Proper myself, Princess of properness.” In this quote we find out that the girl’s father didn’t appreciate her because she wasn’t normal. She looks down upon him. A quote that tells us how the Hunchback feels about her “Father” is, “My Father, it is surely a blue place, And Straight. Right. Regular. Where I shall find No need for scholarly nonchalance or looks A little to the…
“It would have been shameful for their parents to prevent their children to mock Miss Strangeworth of Pleasant Street.” (pg. 7) The last two quotes show that Miss Strangeworth has the respects from everyone in the community. But Miss Strangeworth is also self central, and she is full of self righteousness. She believed that it is her duty to keep the town peaceful and safe. “She sometimes found herself thinking that the town belongs to her.” (pg. 1) Miss Strangeworth thinks she owns the town because her grandfather built the first house on Pleasant street. She feels that she owns the town, and it is hers to keep. She admitted to herself, “There wouldn’t be a town here if it hadn’t been for my grandfather.” (pg. 1) Her family history had influenced her, and she thinks that she is the cheif and the “best”. “There…
The short story, “The Possibility of Evil”, written by Shirley Jackson, the short story is about a sweet old lady, Miss Strangeworth, that cares a lot about the the people in the town and feels the need to “fix” their problems. Miss Strangeworth feels that there is so much evil in the world and she needs to get rid of the evil. Miss Strangeworth is socializing with the people who she thinks has problems in their lives, so no one will suspect that she is the one writing the anonymous letters to them. After socializing with them, Miss Strangeworth heads back to her house and starts writing the letters to them. Then, Miss Strangeworth goes to the post office to drop her letters there, and Harris boy sees her and picks up the letter. Harris boy looks at the letter which is addressed to the Crane family…
Behind every good man there is a great women. In the tragic play Macbeth by William Shakespeare the woman behind Macbeth is the Evil Lady Macbeth. She is very greedy and ambitious. She will do everything in her power it takes to become the queen of Scotland. Some people may say that Macbeth is more evil because she was the one to commit the murder, but Lady Macbeth had a big influence on Macbeth to commit the murder. Lady Macbeth is very Evil and Mischievous.…
“The Possibility of Evil” is a story of Miss Strangeworth’s of Pleasant Street daily routine; though, most of her day to day actions are quite simple Miss Strangeworth does take part in an atypical evening task of writing hateful letters that “dealt with the more negotiable stuff of suspicion” (Jackson 194) of her fellow neighbors. It is unveiled ,through the actions of Dave Harris, when the loose letter is delivered to the addressee ,Done Crane, Mrs. Strangeworth becomes no longer anonymous amongst her fellow neighbors. The disenfranchised neighbors of Mrs. Strangeworth exhibit their feelings of her execrable letters by destroying something that she loves the most, her prized roses. By showing their revulsion toward Mrs. Strangeworth in such an extreme shows the severe effect the letters had on the townspeople, the hate they have towards to her ,and demonstrates that the disenfranchised that they will no longer accommodates Mrs. Strangeworth by believing her accusations. Jackson shows the disenfranchised taking it upon themselves to end their disenfranchisement along with the consequences of disenfranchising…