Miss Strangeworth In Shirley Jackson's The Possibility Of Evil

725 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Aging theme in literature

Sometimes the way people act around you isn’t the way they act around other people. A good example of this is Shirley Jackson’s, “The Possibility of Evil”. The main character, Miss Strangeworth, isn’t as nice as she may seem. 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 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 …show more content…

Miss Strangeworth is quite a scornful person. She tends to notice the negative things about a person, and is judgemental. Here are two quotes from the story in which Miss Strangeworth is scornful. “Miss Strangeworth wondered, glancing at her quickly, if she had been taking proper care of herself. Martha Harper wasn’t as young as she used to be, Miss Strangeworth thought. She could probably use a good strong tonic. “Martha”, she said, “you don’t look well.” Miss Strangeworth came into a grocery, and saw an old friend. Though the first thing she notices is how unkept she is. Another time Miss Strangeworth judges someone negatively is when she was walking past the library and saw one of the staff she knew. “Miss Chandler seemed absent minded and very much as though she was thinking about something else. Miss Strangeworth noticed that Miss Chandler has not taken much trouble with her hair that morning, and sighed. Miss Strangeworth hated sloppiness.” In that quote, there was obvious negativity coming from Miss Strangeworth and Miss Chandler. Clearly, she didn’t take time to assume that she may have had a rough morning; she just stated how she hated sloppiness and walked

Show More
Related

  • The Impacts of Mistakes Made in Whirligig, by Paul Fleischman

    1155 Words  | 3 Pages

    When it comes to friendship, personality type, race, and age are trivial matters; Brent’s strong bonds with Emil, the African American children, and the painter prove this. However, the idea of looking beneath the surface applies to not only the characters of the story, but also real people in our world. Humans need to learn how to accept everyone the way they are, for mankind is simply too judgemental. Paul Fleischman is trying to warn humanity about the many consequences that can occur if people continue to refuse to embrace one another’s flaws and faults. No one is perfect, so why judge? Just like Brent’s whirligigs’ interconnected parts, the world and all its people are linked together in a way that people should be able to feel the truth of a relationship regardless of each other’s outer appearances and characteristics.

    Read More

  • Relationships in Good Country People, by Flannery O'Connor

    2362 Words  | 5 Pages

    The first character we encounter is Mrs. Freeman. She is the wife of Mrs. Hopewell's tenant farmer. She is a very outspoken woman, and "she [can] never be brought to admit herself wrong on any point" (O'Connor 180). Mrs. Freeman is a gossip; she is nosy and she "ha[s] a special fondness for the details of secret infections, hidden deformities, assaults upon children" (O'Connor 183).

    Read More

  • What Does Miss Strangeworth Symbolize In The Possibility Of Evil

    168 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the short story “The Possibility Of Evil “ by Shirley Jackson was several symbols to tell her story about Miss Strangeworth. One symbol she uses is her name Strangeworth. She was a strange women but everyone thought she was normal and nice, but in reality she was mean and strange, she thought she was better than everyone else. Another symbol she uses is the letter Miss.Strangeworth sent to people. They mean more than just letters because they show how she really is, she is showing her true colors. Finally another symbol was her flowers, the flowers meant that she was better than anyone else. The flowers were fancy, Miss. Strangeworth thought she was elegant and polite . Certain symbols have certain meaning in today's culture because they

    Read More

  • Tragic Character Flaws in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and The Monkey’s Paw

    2380 Words  | 5 Pages

    ...use of her passion of keeping the world free of evil. In the world today there are many cases of people who do not get help when they might have PTSD until they have already hurt others. When any event causes the sufferer to remember the feelings associated with how they felt during the event that caused them to have post traumatic stress disorder, their rage could get hard to control if they do not get the help they need. In these characters and every human in real life, there is good and there is bad. Jekyll did not want to be caught being a criminal, the Whites’ tried to be sensible about their wishes but still took a wish they did not need, Mrs. Drover feared and worried too much, and Miss Strangeworth did not mind her own business. We as humans judge others, worry too much about not so important things, do bad sometimes, but we can also choose to do good.

    Read More

  • Symbolism In The Possibility Of Evil By Shirley Jackson

    871 Words  | 2 Pages

    Everything was great, every day was the same except that particular day when your life

    Read More

  • character foils

    1360 Words  | 3 Pages

    Whether we read books, watch movies, or simply live life, we cannot ignore that writers, directors or people create pairs of characters that may have things in common and characteristics that show them as opposites. Sometimes, they may seem obvious but at other times, the individuals have to be analyzed and understood. They are placed in stories to show the good and the bad in the story. However, placing similar and somewhat opposite characters together is clearly portrayed in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. These characters go through some of the same situations but they can be distinguished differently by the way they choose to deal a situation. Sometimes, their intention may be alike however, in the end, their doing is what makes them two different people. This contrast is especially evident when comparing Walter Cunningham Sr. and Bob Ewell, Boo Radely and Nathan Radely, and, lastly, Miss. Maudie and Miss. Stephanie.

    Read More

  • How Does Verbally Change In Spunk

    1109 Words  | 3 Pages

    A person’s perception of a situation, may be changed by the context of how others portray it to them. A persons feelings may be easily manipulated by the words of another if not in the right state of mind. Verbally, a person is able to bring out certain emotions that may not be of their usual nature. A persons persona, in some cases, is also able to shape the way others around them feel. For example, in the short story “spunk” written by Zora Neale Hurston, the main character, Spunk, was able to turn on the townspeople’s ability to manipulate Joe, through subtle verbal abuse. His personality is able to shape the townspeople’s better judgment on the situation. Spunks actions are able to make others act in the same manner as him. The

    Read More

  • The Possibility of Evil by Shirley Jackson

    1090 Words  | 3 Pages

    This story revolves around a character known as Miss Adela Strangeworth whose ancestral home is Pleasant Street which also happens to be the setup used to develop the story. However she is from the initial stages of the story portrayed as an old lady that is relatively calm and harmless especially with regards to the lives of her neigbours. She is portrayed in the story with the author as a proud lady who believes in the fact that she owns her town perhaps a factor that is evidenced by the way she interacts with the members of her community. Her constant conversations with the members of the community perhaps paint her as a relatively calm, loving and caring lady to the members of the community.

    Read More

  • Mrs. Strangeworth In The Possibility Of Evil By Shirley Jackson

    483 Words  | 1 Pages

    In stories, character complexly is a esential. The Shirley Jackson story “The Possibility of Evil” tells the story of a seventy-one year women named Miss Strangeworth. She’s an unusual character that stems off from status quo. Though it doesn’t mean she completely unique. Regardless, her desires, contrasting traits, consistency, and the ability to change make Mrs.Strangeworth a complex character.

    Read More

  • Karma In The Way Up To Heaven

    1090 Words  | 3 Pages

    The selfish actions of the two characters in the short stories, directly impact the characters around them in negative ways. Mr. Foster intentionally torments his wife by exploiting her fear of being late, as he deliberately finds things to do at the last minute: “… whenever they were to go somewhere, his timing was so accurate – just a minute or two late, … it was hard to believe he wasn’t purposely inflicting a nasty private little torture of his own on [his wife]” (Dahl 1). This quote clearly demonstrates the scheming characteristics and actions of Mr. Foster, as well as, how he destructively unravels his wife simply for his own pleasure. Mr. Foster torments his wife by finding excuses in the last minute, when he knows his wife has a pathological fear of being late but he purposely tries to make her suffer for his own desire. In a similar way, Miss. Strangeworth knowingly spreads gossip throughout the town, purely for her own personal liking. She does this by writing anonymous letters to her neighbors filled with uninvited gossip and opinions. When writing letters, “Miss. Strangeworth always used a dull stub of pencil when she wrote her letters, in she printed them in a childish block print… When she made a mistake… she had to take the discard page to the kitchen stove and burn it at once” (Jackson 4). Miss Strangeworth certainly knows what she is doing is wrong, as she is hiding her mistakes and trying

    Read More

  • Bandura And Mischel's Social Cognitive Theory

    1838 Words  | 4 Pages

    They might start by looking at the obstacles or problems that she has faced and could of have affected either physically or emotionally to come to the conclusion of why Ms. Smith could be experiencing all the behavior changes expressed by Ms. Smith and her sister. Bandura and Mischel might start looking into her personal life and the people she associate her self with. They might focus on the fact that she was in an abusive relationship. They might conclude that her behavior is being influenced by low self-esteem and the cause of her low self-esteem could be caused by the amount of verbal and physical abused that she received by her ex husband. Ms. Smith sister could be an important part to test Mischel idea that discriminations often are visible within the same person if closely observed over time and across satiations. In other words the sister input about Ms. Smith behavior can be very important to determine how drastically smith behavior has really

    Read More

  • Human Nature: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

    722 Words  | 2 Pages

    of human nature by using the words and actions of the characters Utterson, Dr. Lanyon, and Mr.

    Read More

  • Scene Analysis in Pride and Prejudice

    926 Words  | 2 Pages

    By seeing her wrongs, the reader realizes she is a character with a good quality.

    Read More

  • being lucy

    913 Words  | 2 Pages

    Essentially, Lucy Honeychurch is the classic good girl that wants to follow the rules that are laid before her. However, due to chance meetings and actions, she is thrown off course and in turn gets a real glimpse of true social freedom and beauty. Though she is thrown back and forth between the person she needs to be and the person she wants to be, her growth throughout the novel shows us the progression of an unsure girl into a level headed woman. Through the influence of the people in her life and her own reserves of passion, Lucy Honeychurch finally taps into her true self and is able to find true excitment and love

    Read More

  • Narration and Conversation in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre

    1441 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...er character as a form of expression, but she consistently uses communication skills and narrative ability as a measure of character. Jane assesses the ability of every character to communicate effectively and then proceeds to make judgments about that character based on these assessments. Her favor, as is repeatedly shown, rests with those who are proficient in their narrative abilities. Jane is the dominant narrator, but she delights in letting other characters share in the task. Our focus is continually shifted from one character's narrative to another's. By allowing her story to be told through various characters, Jane not only emphasizes the high regard she has for these particular characters, but she emphasizes the veneration she has for eloquence in narration as well.

    Read More

More about Miss Strangeworth In Shirley Jackson's The Possibility Of Evil

Open Document