How Is Miss Strangeworth A Multifaceted Character

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In the story “The Possibility of Evil” written by Shirley Jackson, a small town with tight-knit residents has only one Strangeworth left to watch over them. “The Possibility of Evil” was published in Saturday Evening Post in 1965 and won the Edgar Allan Poe Award for best mystery short story. Adela Strangeworth, the protagonist, is a deceptive old lady who conceals her true judgemental identity with a warm, welcoming smile. This woman has everyone in her town fooled, but her pretty little dimple can’t hide her evil nature forever. Miss Strangeworth’s multifaceted personality is revealed through what she does, what the narrator states about her, and how other characters interact with her.
Throughout the story “The Possibility of Evil”, Miss …show more content…

The reader is shown how other characters perceive Miss Strangeworth when in the story it says, “Most of the children stood back respectfully as Miss Strangeworth passed, silenced briefly in her presence, and some of the older children greeter her . . . .”(5). These children who treat Miss Strangeworth as an honorable elder emphasize the fact that everyone in the town has been fooled to believe that she is innocent. No one at the post office would be suspicious of Miss Strangeworth’s intentions because they have only seen one side of her. Miss Strangeworth's character is also developed in the last line of the story when it reads, “She began to cry silently for the wickedness of the world when she read the words: Look out at what used to be your roses”(6). Don Crane’s bold action of destroying Miss Strangeworth’s precious roses shows how hurtful and cruel Miss Strangeworth's words are. The way in which Don Crane interacted with Miss Strangeworth compared to how other people interacted with her displays the drastic difference in how she is treated depending on which aspect of her personality is shown. Miss Strangeworth’s multifaceted personality causes her to be regarded in different ways based on which side she reveals to those around

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