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Now and then character analysis
How does Shirley Jackson use setting, symbols and characterization to convey her message
Now and then character analysis
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Miss Strangeworth’s Personality People are like pieces of various, mind-blowing art projects; they come in all shapes and sizes, and some are more detailed than others. Shirley Jackson’s short story, “The Possibility of Evil”, provides a specific example in one character. Miss Strangeworth is introduced, and she can be described as arrogant, outgoing, and meddlesome. 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. By considering what Miss Strangeworth does and says, you can analyze her character. We can define her as arrogant in more ways than one. For instance, on page 365 of the text it states, “They wanted to put up a statue of …show more content…
Along with being arrogant and outgoing, she is also a very meddlesome person. After Miss Strangeworth ran into Miss Linda at the market, her actions afterwards demonstrate to us how she is meddlesome. To demonstrate, on page 367 it states, “Looking after her, Miss Strangeworth shook her head slightly. Martha definitely did not look well.” She’s meddlesome in the sense of her snooping around where she isn’t needed. It’s not her job to determine whether there was something wrong with Martha. Likewise, on page 366 the text states, “Mr. Lewis looked worried, she thought, and for a minute she hesitated, but then she decided that he surely could not be worried over the strawberries. He looked very tired indeed.” This quote also shows us that Miss Strangeworth continues to involve herself in other people’s business. Mr. Lewis may be worried about something larger than strawberries, but it isn’t necessary for her to find it normal to involve herself. Her character in this sequence of events is basically the definition of being meddlesome. As a result, Miss Strangeworth’s character was analyzed by considering what she does in the book, what the narrator said about her, and how she interacted with other characters. Overall, we were able to realize that she is arrogant, outgoing, and also meddlesome. She displays each of these characteristics in more ways than one throughout the story.
First, Miss Strangeworth’s character can be analyzed by considering what she does. Miss Strangeworth is a very passionate person. She is very passionate about her grandfather, because he built the house Miss Strangeworth lives in, and also a large percentage of the town. In the story, she says this, “My grandfather built the first house on Pleasant Street”, she would
Mr.Strangeworth fits that description and then some with her desire for a better town all a while writing cruel letters filled with falsehoods to the people in her town that ended up making more problems. “Miss Strangeworth never concerned herself with facts; her letters all dealt with the more negotiable stuff of suspicion.” (Shirley 4) For someone like a seventy one year old women to be so nice and caring in public only to become sinister in the privacy of her house. This setup of a character rarely seen so for this to happen truly shows different she is from the
The hidden secret of Miss Strangeworth leaves everyone speechless. Within the short story “The Possibility of Evil” written by Shirley Jackson, the main character, Miss Strangeworth, has a secret that no one would have expected for a seemingly nice elderly lady. In Miss Strangeworth’s down time, she secretly writes cruel and inconsiderate letters to people within her town. These actions would label Miss Strangeworth as a bully. The unbearable letters she writes, the way she goes about them, and her love and dedication for writing them proves that she is very much a bully.
Every neighborhood has that one old lady that looks so sweet but really isn’t. The lady in Shirley Jackson’s short story, “The Possibility of Evil”, is a perfect example. Miss Strangeworth looks like a sweet old lady, but she has a side that nobody knows about. 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.
In the short story "The Possibility of Evil",by Shirley Jackson, Miss. Strangeworth appears to be a normal old woman that is highly respected among the town, but we soon realize that she has a dark side. She writes letters to people telling them things that are mere suspicion, but have negative consequences to their lives. These events in the plot show the theme that anyone can have the capacity of being evil.
Shirley Jackson has a creative way of writing her short stories and uses a surplus of literary devices to make us readers feel how she wishes. For instance in both short stories “The Possibility Of Evil” and “The
Why? One of the world's top inquiries. For this situation, why was Miss Strangeworth composing those letters? As she experienced childhood in her little town, living in the same house all her life, what turned out badly? What was so contorted in her mind that she felt the need to decimate those individuals' lives with letters? "The Possibility of Evil" by Shirley Jackson indicates how something so sweet can turn out so shrewd. Why is she so possessive, narcissistic, and detestable?
Shakespeare specifically leaves out key details on her character. Was she in an affair with Claudius before the murder? Does she know Claudius was the one to kill King Hamlet? Did she plot with him?
This description creates a conflicting idea of her, on one hand there is this fascinating, beautiful and innocent woman, yet on the other hand there is this figure with gothic qualities and frightening “wild” eyes referring to nature. This is comparable to Catherine, “A wild, wick slip she was—but she had the bonniest eye, the sweetest smile, and the lightest foot in the parish.” (Chapter V, page42)
Authors use character development to show how a person can change. Through a descriptive portrayal of a charter and their development they become real to the reader. A well-developed character stirs up emotions in the reader making for a powerful story. A person can change for better or worse and Nathaniel Hawthorne shows this thru the character development of Hester, Chillingworth, and Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter.
The play “A Raisin in the Sun” was written by Lorraine Hansberry marking her first ever written play. Lorraine Hansberry was the first African American woman to write a play that was to be produced on Broadway. Although a brilliant writer, Hansberry’s opportunities of writing were cut short when she died at the age of thirty-five from cancer. Lorraine lived from 1930 to 1965, dying on the day that Broadway closed her second play, “The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window”. “The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window” was written in 1964, only 5 years later than “A Raisin in the Sun” which was written in 1959. Later in 1959, “A Raisin in the Sun” won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, becoming the first
character that is innocent, she is a near 6 year old girl that is very harmless and innocent, and she only has the good intentions to save and relief the population of maycomb from racism and from any problems that occurred...
Catherine is like a storm and wholly emcompasses the essence of Wuthering Heights. Her insensitive malevolence is experienced by all in the novel, especially by Heathcliff.
Geoffrey Chaucer is, to this day, one of the most famous Middle-English writers. His view of corrupt societies and how things "may not always be as they seem" was incredibly accurate and has even carried over its accuracy into the modern era. His writings are highly controversial and bring out the faults in the most conservative aspects of society—especially when it comes to sexism and the church. In The Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer, he speaks about 31 people going on a pilgrimage. The entire selection is heavily weighted and based on one key thing, which is how it is structured. The entire story is split up into sections which entails many to call it a "story within a story." Better yet, it is more accurately described as stories
The first and foremost point to Wickham’s villainy is his attractiveness. Austen takes the time to actually describe him as a truly handsome man, and that is his primary bait for his victims. In addition to his physical appearance, he possesses the charm of a fox, and the first person to fall into his trap is Elizabeth. Lizzy, whose prejudice lies in basing her entire of opinion of someone mainly on first impressions, experiences a pull to Wickham’s character due to his superficially angelic disposition and equally handsome demeanor. Once Lizzy realizes the truth about Wickham, he has already moved onto his next victim: her younger sister, Lydia. He uses his looks to convince the stupidly foolish Lydia to elope with him, showing the reader the true power of his face and charm. Many villains are portrayed as unappealing characters, but the most evil of them are the ones with the beautiful appearances and contrastingly ugly nature.