Irony In Shirley Jackson's The Possibility Of Evil

In “The Possibility of Evil" by Shirley Jackson, Ms. Strangeworth stops her town from becoming evil by writing anonymous letters. The overall theme of the story is everything is not what it seems. Jackson utilizes the story to show how a person may not seem like the person you thought they were. Ms. Strangeworth appears to be a sweet old lady, but is she really? Throughout the story her true colors begin to reveal. Jackson develops this central idea through the use of irony. Through all three types of irony the theme is expressed. The first use of irony Shirley applies is verbal irony. When Ms. Strangeworth says to Mrs Crane, "Nonsense. All babies are different. Some of them develop much more quickly than others" is an example of verbal