In the short story “The Possibility of Evil”, Shirley Jackson shows that an intention that seems beneficial to one person may seem harmful to others. Firstly, after Miss Strangeworth finishes talking and checking on the citizens of her town, she writes letters to the people she met with the intention that the letters would help get rid of the “evil” in her town and solve people’s problems. While Miss Strangeworth writes her anonymous letters, she thinks “Miss Chandler, the librarian, and Linda
people do not see the evil in their actions. In the story, “The possibility of evil”, by Shirley Jackson, the main character, Miss Strangeworth proves this. Although Miss Strangeworth views herself as a guardian of her town, she is in fact a source of evil. Miss Strangeworth thinks that she’s the leader of the town and is there to protect the people from evil. Firstly, Miss Strangeworth thinks that it is her duty to keep the town in check. She believes that “as long as evil existed unchecked in
The Irony of Strange Evil The simplest definition of a possibility is the state or fact of being likely or possible. This must mean that there are other ways to go about a situation. In Shirley Jackson’s The Possibility of Evil, Mrs. Strangeworth of Pleasant Street believes that by bringing out the twisted truth to the world in the form of gossip letters, she is keeping the town “clean and sweet” (Jackson 178). She also believes that “people everywhere are lustful and evil and degraded, and needed
duty.” -George Bernard Shaw. In Shirley Jackson’s “The Possibility of Evil” Miss Strangeworth has this idea that it is her “duty” to remove all of the evil from her town. In Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path” Phoenix Jackson’s“duty” is to get medicine for her sick grandson. In “The Possibility of Evil” and “A Worn Path” the protagonists both have a portrayal of “duty”. In “The Possibility of Evil” Miss Strangeworth has this idea that it is her duty to remove all evil from her town. She writes anonymous
complete opposite. The short story "The Possibility of Evil" is written by Shirley Jackson. "Forgiveness in Families" is written by Alice Munro. The "Possibility of Evil" revolves around Miss. Strangeworth. Miss.Strangeworth lives in a town that appears to be perfect, but as the story proceeds, the citizens of the town are revealed to have several problems, and may even have signs of evil. Miss.Strangeworth wants to prevent the town from having citizens that are evil,so she writes anonymous letters to
The Possibility Of Evil You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. In this short story, “The Possibility Of Evil” by Shirley Jackson, we find that not everything is how it seems. Ms. Strangeworth is an elderly lady who writes hate filled letters to fellow citizens of her small town and they eventually find out that it was her. Clearly, the theme that appearances can be deceiving. This expressed through Ms. Strangeworth’s innocent look, but mean, cruel, and rude behaviors throughout the story. First
"Even if we have inclinations towards ; we also have inclinations to empathy, to cooperation, to self control." This quotation spoken by the famous psychologist Steven Pinker is a good example of how human may be bad and good. Humans have, and always will be violent, even in stories. This violence can make a story exciting, dramatic, sad, happy, and has a great influence on how we see the story. Throughout the short story unit, violence was a prevalent theme. One short story with physical violence