Preview

Irony In The Possibility Of Evil By Shirley Jackson

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
237 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Irony In The Possibility Of Evil By Shirley Jackson
Shirley Jackson’s cautionary tale “The Possibility of Evil” depicts the story of Miss Strangeworth, a zealot who endeavors to manipulate fellow townspeople by using anonymous letters. The author develops the theme that attempting to control the lives of others may hurt them or lead to one's harm by utilizing irony.

The theme is elucidated significantly with dramatic irony when Miss.Strangeworth fails to realise she dropped an anonymous letter which defames the Crane’s baby. Unbeknownst to Miss.Strangeworth, Dave notices the letter falling and decides to deliver the letter which leads to her social demise.

Furthermore, the author demonstrates the consequences of controlling others with dramatic irony when Miss Strangeworth fails to understand

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    I am reading The Haymeadow by Gary, Paulsen and I am on page 200. This book is about A kid named John running a farm on his own. He has to protect the sheep and chase coyotes away. John starts to get more mature along the way. In this paper I will be evaluating the symbolism and evaluating the irony.…

    • 656 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In Legend by Marie Lu the author uses situational irony to add unexpected or mysterious actions to keep the plot rich and interesting. At this point in the story, June and Thomas are watching a riot begin. June and Thomas are watching from a raised platform outside Batalla Hall. The riot began because of the sentencing of Day, they did not want/like that. The main problem that shows situational irony is that instead of just throwing dust bombs or tar gases (like they normally do), the soldiers are positioned on top of some building and then start firing at the crowd with their guns, killing more than a hundred people.…

    • 271 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Similarly, Twain uses situational irony to depict and to satirize Miss Watson and Widow Douglas' religious beliefs as well as the hypocrisy of Miss Watson’s guidance. Miss Watson educates Huck about religion and how to act appropriately through telling stories such as “Moses and the Bulrushes” (2), where Moses freed the Hebrew slaves from captivity. However, Miss Watson owns Jim, a slave, contradicting the moral of the story, Moses freeing slaves. Also, it is ironic that Miss Watson brings her slaves in for evening prayers: ”fetched the niggers in and had prayers”(3).Despite against the moral character of Christianity of having slaves, Miss Watson continues to teach these “righteous” behaviors to Huck, creating an ironic situation. Although…

    • 150 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Cadden, M. (2000). The Irony of Narration in the Young Adult Novel. Children 's Literature Association Quarterly , 147-154. [Online]. Retrieved at: www.longwood.edu [August 23rd 2011].…

    • 15087 Words
    • 61 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Reading about Joy trying so desperately to avoid becoming her mother only to end up replicating her mother’s actions creates an intense frustration for the reader. Meanwhile reading Mrs. Hopewell describe the simplicity of good country people time and time again while remaining the simplest of characters creates a comedic irony. Both strategies are effective in their own regards, and O’connor’s, and many other Southern Gothic Author’s, inventive use of irony may be the quality of Southern Gothic Literature that has been luring readers of all statures to this genre for…

    • 823 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Irony has long since been a part of Steve Rogers life. From his coincidental birth on July Fourth considering his future career, to the Irish immigrant parents Captain America has, Steve Rogers somewhat considered himself a cruel cosmic joke the universe put together with dashes of irony ribboned in between.…

    • 1103 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The feud over the narrow, sickly strip of land “stolen” away from the Znaeym family had lasted for decades. Tensions had grown, and now, standing on the edge of the unusually restless trees, Ulrich felt that he could finally do something. Georg Znaeym was trespassing in that forest, and he would get him at last. In “The Interlopers”, the author, Saki, uses irony to support the theme that no matter how much power a person has, nature can always win in the end.…

    • 502 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    that she would get caught someday by her secret actions until she receives a threatening…

    • 1060 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    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.…

    • 485 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Miss Adela Strangeworth

    • 628 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Shirley Jackson tells us about a very interesting character in the short story titled “The Possibility of Evil.” In the story Miss Strangeworth is an old lady who takes it as her duty too inform the town of evil, but one day one of her evil informing letters gets in the wrong hands and her favorite roses are cut. In this essay the character of Miss Strangeworth is described through her physical description, family, lifestyle and her hobbies.…

    • 628 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Salem is a town that is centered on their religious beliefs. The church is the basis for their morals and ethics, but discovery of the actions of the town’s girls impacts the entire town. Reverend Parris discovers the girls along with Tituba conjuring up spells, singing Barbados songs, and dancing naked. This begins a series of events in The Crucible by Arthur Miller where he uses irony to show that guilt can cause the most upstanding men to act uncharacteristically.…

    • 739 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Fictional stories with morals frequently reveal traits of human nature, through a character’s reaction to certain situations, which enable readers to reflect a lesson onto their own lives. In “The Possibility of Evil”, the main character, Miss Strangeworth, reacts to all of the “wicked people in the world…[by] listening carefully”, and writing letters…

    • 686 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Possibility of Evil

    • 280 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In “The Possibility of Evil” The main character Mrs. Strangeworth shows one personality and keeps the other private. The one she shows gets others people impression as a kind and respected old lady. Mrs. Strangeworth’s private personality was very rude and disrespectful. The author uses characterization to show two sides of Mrs. Strangeworth’s personality.…

    • 280 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ada Smith Motivation

    • 565 Words
    • 3 Pages

    I think Ada smith is a motivated person that’s out to get things done. I think this because Ada had a terrible childhood,and a tough upbringing,she learned how to outsmart her strict mother,also she did the impossible,well,with her odds. This is the life of Ada Smith,London,England,summer 1939.This young lady had the worst childhood you can think of,her mother beats her senseless,she can’t go outside of one room (not why you think,because of Ada’s foot).She can’t even wear shoes due to her clubfoot. She lives in an ugly neighborhood in London,her mother called Mam,she’s an unidentified woman,the mother of Ada Smith,and Jamie Smith,who is Ada’s brother. For Ada it’s not even close to fair,she has to use a bucket to do her business,the only thing she can do is sit in a chair and look out their living room window,helpless.…

    • 565 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Compiling all the cultures that surround us in our daily lives may be overwhelming and difficult to understand each and every individual as a social worker. Especially when examining a child’s life course experiences and overall development, as a result, cohort differences based on the culture, social class, and individual agency (pg.386). However, through comprehensive research, we can identify similar structures and disparities within families that correlate with the same culture and/or social class.…

    • 323 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics