Analysis Of Ms. Starngeworth In Shirley Jackson's The Possibility Of Evil

Improved Essays
In life people may put on an impressive masquerade of who they really are as a person. In Shirley Jackson’s short story The Possibility Of Evil a quaint town is watched over by a Matriarchal who tries to eliminate the “evil” the town has been afflicted with by sending out offensive letters that insult the way the town people live their lives. Ms. Stanrgeworth’s quest to emancipate the town from the towns evils has really only caused more problems and deluded her mind into thinking she has assisted her town. Ms. Starngeworth is defeated by forces beyond her control. Ms. Strangeworth is born to a wealthy family in a small but amiable town. She never married and has no family that has remained close to her, instead she keeps busy by tending

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Stephani Townes African Americans in the South during Reconstruction After the civil war, the union won and the african americans rapidly moved into Atlanta. Between 1860 and 1870 the black population increased tremendously. It went from 20 percent to 46 percent, from nineteen hundred to merely ten thousand in numbers. Majority if this growing population was black women. Women that had been sold off to slave owners and relocated in different cities, came back to find family members, husbands, and friends.…

    • 970 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Don’t be deceived by appearances... people aren’t always as they seem to be. In the short story “The Possibility of Evil”, Shirley Jackson writes about Miss.Strangeworth, an elderly woman, who writes rude judgmental letters to the people in her town about all the things she think is wrong with them. Though on the outside Miss. Strangeworth seems like some nice old lady who has spent her entire life here in the little town, she is really a mean, rude and selfish person who doesn't seem to care about other people’s feelings.…

    • 705 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    “‘Well then, why don’t you pray?’ She asked trembling with delight suddenly. ‘I don’t want no help,’ he said. ‘I’m doing all right by myself’” (O’Connor 386).…

    • 1439 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Greasy Lake Essay

    • 629 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Every individual goes through a phase in life where he or she pretends to be something that he or she is not. By creating an image for themselves that they cannot obtain, may cause them to become involved in a certain situation that they are not capable of fulfilling. In T.C. Boyle’s short story “Greasy Lake,” three teenagers go around looking for the one situation that will proclaim them as bad boys, but little did they know of the situation that they would run into later that night; would change the way they viewed the image that they were putting on. The narrator, at the beginning of the story, believed himself and friends to be dangerous. He even said, “It was good to be bad.”(CITE)…

    • 629 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The difference between a bad life and an evil life can be a fine line. People may even think that there is no difference and that bad is just a degree of evil. Abner in William Faulkner’s “Barn Burning” and the Misfit in Flannery O'Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find” lead bad or evil lives. They have many similarities in their lives but have at least one thing that sets them apart. Abner and the Misfit lead similar lives by being career criminals and by being in control, but their lives differ by taking, or not taking, a life.…

    • 873 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Living in a small village where everyone knows your name can lead to a very difficult life. Much similar to the life of townsman, John Proctor in The Crucible by Arthur Miller. The play is based in a small Puritan village called Salem in Massachusetts, the year being 1692. Salem is lead into an uproar of chaos and fear when one church member’s spectral evidence of a group of girls performing “witchcraft” in the woods, leads to accusations and death for many. In salem, it is very important to keep a clean reputation.…

    • 1240 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    People have been exploited for centuries and the situations in The Street by Ann Petry are no different. In the novel, the main character Lutie Johnson and her son, Bub, live on 116th Street in Harlem, New York, during the 1940s. Throughout the novel she intends to earn a sufficient amount of money to move to a more secure neighborhood. During her struggles she encounters clever and dangerous people who attempt to prevent her from reaching her goal. Lutie’s escalating frustration at being walled in is released at the end of the novel when she murders a man, flees to Chicago, and leaves Bub behind to face reform school.…

    • 1246 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “The human face is, after all, nothing more nor less, a mask.” -Agatha Christie People only know what you show them about yourself, and when you finally show your true colors, it can come as quite a surprise to most. In the stories The Most Dangerous Game and Porphyria’s Lover both of the main characters experience great twists in another’s seemingly mild personality. The authors use characterization and dialogue(in the case of Porphyria’s lover it’s more an inner monologue) to portray that people can hide their true and sometimes evil ideas or intentions behind their innocent facades. Both Richard Cornell and Robert Browning use characterization to express how the main characters aren't actually as they seem.…

    • 662 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Susan B. Anthony and Women’s Rights. What would you do if you were a woman in the 1800’s and your rights were taken from you? Would getting arrested like Susan B Anthony be worth it? Any female in this day and age definitely would (Ohrenschall).…

    • 945 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Possibility Of Evil

    • 482 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The short story “The Possibility of Evil” by Shirley Jackson is about an old woman named Miss Strangeworth who is determined to rid “Strangeworth Town” of evil, yet she does not notice that she is causing evil herself. Although she seems like a proper, nice old lady, when she goes home every day, she writes cruel letters to the people in her town. Miss Strangeworth notices that everyone in the town is distressed and she wonders why. She refuses to acknowledge that she is truly evil herself. No one in that town would suspect her sending rude letters to everyone.…

    • 482 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Jeannette Walls’ life, moving from place to place was no big deal. At least not until her family packed up and moved across the country to a little town called Welch. Jeannette often had to adjust to a new town and a new home, but not an entirely new environment. In her memoir, The Glass Castle, Jeannette recalls doing the “skedaddle” several times. The most adventurous “skedaddle” was moving from the deserts of Arizona to the Appalachian hollows of West Virginia.…

    • 619 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In a theocracy such as 17th century Salem, Massachusetts, one’s reputation is central to one’s position and survival; public and private moralities are inseparable. In an environment where reputation plays such an important role, the fear of guilt by association is exacerbated and people dread anyone or anything that could damage their reputation. Focused on maintaining a respectable public persona, the townsfolk of Salem grow increasingly anxious that the sins of their friends and associates will taint their names. Various characters in Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, base their actions on the desire to protect their respective reputations.…

    • 1237 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “The Possibility of Evil”, written in 1965 by Shirley Jackson, features the protagonist, Adela Strangeworth, who sends anonymous letters regarding the scandalous rumors going around the small village. When she carelessly drops one of her letters, the town gets a glimpse of her true versatile character behind the town gossip. Miss Strangeworth’s multi-faceted personality is revealed throughout the story, as seen in her speech and actions, the narrator’s descriptions, and her interactions with others. Miss Strangeworth’s character is built up by her words and actions, through which the reader can see her multiple personalities. At first, Miss Strangeworth comforts Helen Crane when she says “‘Nonsense.…

    • 961 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    All our life we grow up thinking the world around us is just peachy keen. Didn’t you? As children we think everyone and everything is good, we would like to hope this is the same case as we mature into adults. As we develop into adults we gain more knowledge, we learn not everything is going to be perfect. Adults gain a more pessimistic viewpoint in life, similarly how Shirley Jackson the author of “The Possibility of Evil” felt.…

    • 1057 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Throughout the play, there is a steady increase of lies as the story advances. The opening depicts a small village in Massachusetts in the 1690s where the members of the community are living normal, Christian lives. However one young citizen,…

    • 1133 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays