Villain Archetypes

Both Ms. Strangeworth from “The Possibility of Evil” and Captain Torres from “Lather and Nothing Else” represent the villain archetype; however, Miss Strangeworth better represents it because she enjoys the evil she causes, whereas Captain Torres does not. First of all, the roles of the characters are shown as villains throughout both of the stories. In the case of Miss Strangeworth, it is when she sends her malicious messages to the town without regard for their feelings (Jackson 5). Meanwhile, Captain Torres is revealed as the villain when the barber remembers “...the sight of the mutilated bodies kept me from noticing the man who had directed it all” (Tellez 1) about the captain. The two of them do horrible things to their respective towns; Miss Strangeworth, by sending her
You can take my word for it” (Tellez 3). Through this quote, Captain Torres shows his understanding that what he is doing is wrong, and that it isn't easy to just take someone’s life. In the end, he just doing his job, and despite it making him a villain, by acknowledging it is not easy to commit the sins he does, it shows he is not really a terrible person, which is why he is the less accurate representation of the villain archetype. In contrast to this, Miss Strangeworth admits she likes sending the hateful messages and that she has done it for an entire year. This is important because this type of behavior is what truly makes a good villain. She likes the evil she commits and continues to do it constantly, without anyone in the town wanting her to. Her evil is self-motivated, and the fact that she is pleased with it is why she is a better portrayal of the archetype. Therefore, despite Miss Strangeworth and Captain Torres both representing the same villain archetype, Miss Strangeworth is ultimately the better depiction because she likes what she is doing and chooses to do it because she wants