Miss Strangeworth In Shirley Jackson's The Possibility Of Evil

The Truth of Miss Strangeworth

In order to rid the world of evil, we must first inspect our own character before we scrutinize others. Shirley Jackson’s story, “The Possibility of Evil”, examines the character of Miss Strangeworth. Miss Strangeworth believes it is her responsibility to correct and point out the evil in others around her. 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.
First, Miss Strangeworth’s character can be examined by assessing what she says and does. Evident through her actions, Miss Strangeworth is an arrogant woman. She believes that she is superior to others due to the fact that she has lived in the town

for all her life. In the story she says, “They wanted to put up a statue of Ethan Allen”- Miss Strangeworth would frown a little and sound stern- “but it should have been a statue of my grandfather. There wouldn’t have been a town here at all if it hadn’t been for my grandfather and the lumber mill.” She thinks because her grandpa built the first house on Pleasant Street, the street she now lives on, she is better than the other citizens of the town. Miss Strangeworth’s arrogance has caused her to have a selfish, entitled view of herself. Later in the story it states, “She was seventy-one, Miss Strangeworth told the tourists, with a pretty little dimple showing by her lip, and she sometimes found herself thinking that the town belonged to her.” This statement about Miss Strangeworth gives an example of her conceited posture, and helps illustrate her self-pride. Proved by her actions and remarks, Miss Strangeworth is clearly an arrogant woman.
Furthermore, Miss Strangeworth’s character can be observed by how the narrator conveys her throughout the story. The narrator describes her as a principled woman. This is apparent when the narrator states, “She was fond of doing things exactly right When she made a mistake, as she sometimes did, or when the letters were not spaced nicely on the page, she had to take the discarded page to the kitchen stove and burn it.” This implies that Miss Strangeworth was a woman that did not have patience for mistakes. She felt that everything needed to be perfect. Miss Strangeworth’s love for neatness and her principle attitude are present as she takes her stroll. The text explains, “Miss Strangeworth noticed that Miss Chandler had not taken much trouble with her hair that morning, and sighed. Miss Strangeworth hated sloppiness.” Miss Strangeworth’s opinion of Miss Chandler’s appearance displays her ethical composure, and proves she is a strict woman. Nonetheless, she is a very principled lady.
Lastly, based upon how other characters in the story interact with her, Miss Strangeworth can be noted as a judgemental person.

When she speaks and converses with others, she is critical towards them. She only focuses on the negative in others, rather than seeing the goodness in them. This is visible when the story describes, “Miss Strangeworth sighed and turned away. There was so much evil in people. Even in a little town like this one, there was still so much evil.” This confirms that Miss Strangeworth was a judgemental woman, and she chose only to see the evil in the world. Another factor that reveals her character is how she react to the Crane baby. Helen Crane is a mother of a newborn baby, and she tells Miss Strangeworth that she is concerned that her baby hasn’t sat up on her own or crawled around. After this encounter, Miss Strangeworth goes home and writes an anonymous letter addressed to the Cranes. The text claims, “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 should they?”. This quote in the story reveals Miss Strangeworth’s true disposition. She is very condemnatory toward, not only the Crane baby, but also the parents. Her use of the words “idiot baby” show that she is not considerate of the family’s feelings. Without a doubt, her view’s of other characters and her

interactions with them prove she is a judgemental person.
The attributes of Miss Strangeworth can be observed through what she does, what the narrator says about her, and how other characters interact with her. Overall, Miss Strangeworth can be perceived as an arrogant, principled, and judgemental woman. Though someone may seem good-hearted on the outside, inwardly, they are not what they may appear to be.