Miss Strangeworth In Shirley Jackson's The Possibility Of Evil

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You Can Not Trust Everyone Do you trust everyone you meet? Shirley Jackson’s “The Possibility of Evil” is a brief story about a little old lady who strongly believes she is the most important person in the entire town. To the town’s people, they think she is an innocent seventy-one year old who spends her life worrying about her perfect roses. In reality, Miss Strangeworth is a very nosy and sneaky person. Miss Strangeworth starts writing anonymous letters to the people in the town. These letters are very upsetting to the people who are unfortunate to receive the them. Jackson’s brief story suggests that you can not trust everyone. In the beginning of Jackson’s story Miss Strangeworth tries to prove to the town’s people that she is an innocent typical old lady who cares about the community and her roses. “She was seventy one, Miss Strangeworth told the tourists, with a pretty little dimple showing by her lip…” (lines 9-10). The reader could infer that Miss Strangeworth is a normal old lady who enjoys going out of her way to speak with others. …show more content…

For example, Miss Strangeworth runs into a family with a six month old baby who cannot yet sit up. With the parents worried, Miss Strangeworth tries to explain to the family that the six month old is perfectly normal and that eventually the six month old will sit up. Later on in the day, Miss Strangeworth goes home and starts thinking to herself that she should tell the family her real thoughts. “After thinking for a minute, although she had been phrasing the letter in the back of her mind all the way home, she wrote on a pink sheet: DIDN’T YOU EVER SEE AN IDIOT CHILD BEFORE? SOME PEOPLE JUST SHOULDN’T HAVE CHILDREN, SHOULDN’T THEY” (lines 165-168)? The reader could infer that Miss Strangeworth likes to ruin people’s lives by telling “secrets” to them. Miss Strangeworth is a sneaky and cruel

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