Mrs. Strangeworth Reflected In The Possibility Of Evil

Open-Ended Response Questions

Evaluate: On the surface, Miss Strangeworth seems like a reasonable person who is connected with other townspeople; however, she also makes many personal, judgemental observations. How does her attitude seem superior and somewhat mean? Give examples from the text to prove your point: Mrs. Strangeworth thinks of herself as superior because she can send these letters and nobody knows its her. She is this all seeing being meddling in your personal life. For example at the top of page six:
“Strangeworth listened this was, after all, her town, and these were her people; if one of them was in trouble, she ought to know it.” She is listening in to this people’s conversation and judging them. This is the perfect example

of ‘mean’ behavior. Miss Strangeworth is concerned about everyone she meets because something seems "wrong" with them, which explains her superior behavior.

Synthesize: Mrs. Strangeworth wants the world to be free of evil yet she is creating it herself. Miss Strangeworth believes that it is her duty to keep the place where she lives free of evil because she is the last Strangeworth left. How are her actions ironic? Use evidence from the text to support your response:
"Miss Chandler, the librarian, and Linda Stewart's parents would have gone unsuspectingly ahead with their lives, never aware of the possible evil lurking nearby, if Miss Strangeworth had not sent letters to open their eyes” This is ironic because Miss. Strangeworth is sending the letters to make the town better, when in fact it’s doing more harm than good. The evil itself is not coming from the town but in fact herself.

Apply: Symbols are concrete elements in a story, such as a person, house. or object, that stand for something abstract , like freedom, safety, or evil. Reread the passages in The Possibility of Evil that focus on Miss Strangeworth's roses, particularly line 344. What might the roses symbolize? Use textual evidence to support your answer.The roses symbolize many things, mainly protection from her evils. With the roses there she couldn’t see how evil she was being.
"Miss Strangeworth never gave away any of her roses [...] the roses belonged on Pleasant street, and it bothered Miss Strangeworth to think of people wanting to carry them away, to take them into strange towns and down strange streets." When her roses were, ironically, taken away, it was when someone found her letters and it was also when she realized the “wickedness of the world” and the wickedness inside herself. The roses also be an analogy to Mrs. Strangeworth herself. She looks so caring on the outside, but inside she is filled with thorns.

Connect: Shirley Jackson's husband, the literary critic Stanley Edgar Hyman, said that her dark tales are not just expressions of her private fears but are "fitting symbols for our distressing world." What social or political issues are reflected in The Possibility of Evil?

Use examples from the story to support your response: The events in The Possibility Of Evil bear a striking similarity to cyberbullying and the effects of it. It is proven in this quote from the story:
“she had always made a point of mailing her letters very secretly; it would, of course, not have been wise to let anyone see her mail them.” Mrs. Strangeworth hides behind her blockish writing and colored paper so she won’t face the aftermath of her literary punches. Yet she doesn’t. The lesson is to not do something without knowing the consequences. Another social issue is perfection. In the story, Mrs. Strangeworth intentionally sent crude letters to her friends in the town, in order to make them 'better'. In the story, it says "The town where she lived had to be kept clean and sweet" This shows that she wanted her town to be perfect, in her eyes. She can be related to a person with low-self esteem. People with low-self esteem issues usually bring people down so they can be

better.