Not everyone you meet are always how you think they are. Shirley Jackson’s story, “ The Possibility of Evil,” is a great example of how people can pretend to be one way, but are actually completely different. Miss Strangeworth, the main character in the story, has everyone believing she is a kind, respectful woman, when she is actually the opposite. 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. Miss Strangeworth is cheerful and friendly when she’s around people. For example, in the beginning of the story, it says, “She knew everyone in the town, of course; she was fond of telling strangers- tourists who …show more content…
Everyone in the town is polite and friendly to her and she is very polite back. To illustrate, in the story when Miss Strangeworth saw Mr. Lewis, it says, “[Good morning,] Mr.Lewis said, and added politely, [lovely day.]” Mr. Lewis is very polite to Miss Strangeworth, which shows she’s normally kind to him when they talk or see one another. When Mrs. Harper saw her at the store, she also very polite. Additionally, it says in the story, “Most of the children stood back respectfully as Miss Strangeworth passed, silenced briefly in her presence, and some of the older children greeted her, saying soberly, [Hello, Miss Strangeworth.]” So even the children and the teens in the town were polite and respectful to her. Pretty much everyone she met, knew, or passed by were very friendly and kind to her. Clearly, the fact that everyone is so nice to her shows how good she is at hiding how judgemental and cruel she actually is.
Miss Strangeworth’s character can definitely be analyzed by her actions, the things the narrator says about her, and how other characters interact with her. Miss Strangeworth from the story, “The Possibility of Evil”, by Shirley Jackson, is a great way of showing how people can seem one way, but are actually the opposite. Everyone thinks she’s a great, kind, and polite woman, but she’s definitely not that at all. You have to be careful who you’re friends with and who you trust, because not everyone is always how they