Who Is Miss Strangeworth's Character In The Possibility Of Evil

552 Words2 Pages

Sometimes it’s best to keep your thoughts to yourself. In Shirley Jackson’s short story, “ The Possibility of Evil’, the main character Miss Strangeworth is a great example of why sometimes it’s best to keep your thoughts to yourself. Miss Strangeworth sends anonymous letters to people in her town and says things that she would not regularly say to them. 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. Miss Strangeworth’s character can be analyzed by considering what she does. For instance, she is conceited. In the story she says, “ I’ve watched ‘my’ town grow.” Emphasis on the ‘my’ part. It isn’t actually her town, but she likes to think of it that way. Also, later in the story she states, “but it should have been a statue of my grandfather.” It’s nice that she thinks that it should be her grandfather but that is disrespectful to the person who is the statue. She probably doesn’t mean for it to come off as cocky or conceited, but that is just how it seems. Lastly, I think she is envious that although her grandfather built the first house on her street,but the statue wasn’t him. …show more content…

That is, she is well-known. The whole town knows her and everyone likes her. For example, in the story the narrator says, “ but the town was proud of Miss Strangeworth and her roses ad her house.” That was a reason I knew she was well-known because the narrator used “the town”. I’m sure she was well-known also because her grandpa built the first house on her street. In addition, in the story the narrator says, “ She knew everyone in the town, of course; she was fond of telling strangers-- tourists who sometimes passed through the town.” That sentence shows how Miss Strangeworth knew everyone in the town and even if she didn’t, she would most likely introduce herself to

Show More
Related

  • 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

  • Miss Strangeworth Character Analysis Essay

    756 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Comparing A & P, A Rose for Emily, and Hills Like White Elephants

    1137 Words  | 3 Pages

    By reading a short story, you learn valuable messages that you can use in life. The three short stories share a common theme of the mystery of other minds. In “A & P,” the protagonist Sammy used very sexist language when he says, “With the straps pushed off, there was nothing between the top of the suit and the top of her head except just her, this clean bare plane of the top of her chest down from the shoulder bones like a dented sheet of metal tilted in the light” (Updike 561). In addition to the sexist comments, when Sammy calls women sheep and witches readers are puzzled because they cannot believe why he would say these comments about women. In “A Rose for Emily,” Tobe never goes to the authorities and tells them about Emily, but instead, “He walked right through the house and out the back and was not seen again” (Faulkner 96). Readers suspect that Tobe has mental issues because they question how someone in their right mind would not tell the authorities there is a dead body in Emily’s house. In “Hills Like White Elephants,” Jig thinks about getting an abortion when she says, “And I’ll do it and then everything will be fine” (Hemingway 1). Some readers question how someone in their right mind would ever consider getting an abortion.

    Read More

  • Symbolism In The Possibility Of Evil By Shirley Jackson

    871 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Possibility Of Evil And A Bole Of White Cloth

    1029 Words  | 3 Pages

    Deception as an element can be presented in various forms. One may choose to hide their true self for specific intriguing motives in life. A theme identified in "The Possibility of Evil" by Shirley Jackson and "A Bolt of White Cloth" by Leeon Rooke is appearance can be used to deceive ones true self and morals for an intriguing motive. In both short stories, that were examined, both main characters use their exterior appearances to deceive their true morals, they deceive the people around them and lastly their deeds show their true intentions which distinguish their compelling motives which are viewed through a sense of morals.

    Read More

  • Ethel Wilson's The Fog, Hurry Hurry, and The Window

    896 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ethel Wilson’s exercise of brilliant literary techniques services the reader to comprehend the underlying message in her writing which is nominally responsibility of the human conscience when masked in nature. With application of clever symbolism, motif and character development, Wilson makes the reader question to what extent one should be responsible to through exploration of the human mind when manipulated by nature.

    Read More

  • Clarissa's Identity

    1504 Words  | 4 Pages

    Indeed, Victorian women are molded into the socially calibrated model of The Looking-glass self, a structural theory in which Cooley proposes that people shape their identity largely based on their understanding of how other perceive them, and the social environment thus serves as the “mirror” that reflects desirable images of themselves. According to Cooley, the stages of The Looking-glass self involves imagining how one looks to others, imagining how other are judging her, and finally developing herself through such possible judgement. A hypothesis can be formed here, that Victorian women must develop this looking-glass self by concealing socially or individually unacceptable impulses from their consciousness. In the case of Clarissa, she represses her rather primitive sexual feelings toward Sally for fear of social judgement, and must construct an identity reflective of the feminine qualities desired by the society. But Clarissa’s looking-glass self is quite problematic, because it is only a manifestation of her attempt to repress real emotions. All forms of repression, according to Freud, cause disease within the mind and body— they will gradually boil inside the beings and finally explode. Interestingly, Clarissa never “explodes” her repressed feelings

    Read More

  • Deception In Rebecca By Daphne Du Maurier

    2011 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Narrator’s character also develops from a shy and quiet girl to a strong-willed young woman. The Narrator’s point of view can also be examined as she is retelling the story from a number of years later, so it may not all be accurate. The setting, and possibly characterization, of the home, Manderley, is very significant because it was the scene of many of the most important events hat transpired throughout the story.

    Read More

  • Adela Strangeworth The Possibility Of Evil

    628 Words  | 2 Pages

    When an older lady is mentioned thoughts of a sweet, caring and fragile are what come to mind. After reading a short story such as “The Possibility of Evil” by Shirley Jackson, a gentle woman is not described. Assumptions of elderly women can change when a secretive, self-centered, controlling women named Adela Strangeworth is presented into many lives.

    Read More

  • Character Analysis Of Miss Strangeworth In Shirley Jackson's The Possibility Of Evil

    582 Words  | 2 Pages

    Strangeworth interacts with the town and the way her possessions look persuades the town into assuming their true intentions. Miss. Strangeworth meets many people on her walks around town. She “[stops] every minute […] to say good morning to someone or to ask after someone’s health” (Jackson 250). This causes people to think that she is a friendly old lady, when really she is finding information to use against them. She also makes people believe she can be trusted. When Helen Crane is concerned about her baby’s development, she asks Miss. Strangeworth if she “[thinks [the baby] [should] move around more” (251). This happens because Helen thinks Miss. Strangeworth will give her, her honest opinion but really she just tells her what she wants to hear and uses it as a weakness. The letters also mislead people into thinking they are not going to be bad because they are on the paper “used for odd, informal notes and shopping lists” (252). In addition, the letters are written with “a dull stub of [a] pencil […] and she printed in a childish block print”, causing people to believe it was a note from a child (252). Clearly these fake assumptions on Miss. Strangeworth and her letters cause a lot of

    Read More

  • Miss Strangeworth In Shirley Jackson's The Possibility Of Evil

    486 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the beginning of Jackson’s story, Miss Strangeworth, the protagonist, is introduced as a kind old woman, “She knew everyone in town, of course; she was fond of telling strangers – tourists who sometimes passed through the town and stopped to admire Miss Strangeworth’s roses…” (Jackson 1). Although this may be true, later in the story we start to see a glimmer of her contrasting character trait, her judgementality, “Miss Strangeworth noticed that Miss Chandler had not taken much trouble with her hair this morning, and sighed” (3). After reading this, the reader begins to realize the complexity of the character, since her contrasting traits create her as a real life person, who is more than just a kind old woman. Throughout the story, these traits are consistent and when the reader learns about the letters that she

    Read More

  • Emma

    641 Words  | 2 Pages

    The main character of the story is Emma Woodhouse. She is "handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and very little to distress her or vex her." (Austen, 3) Emma was the youngest of two daughters and she was spoiled by her old, affectionate father. Her mother had died when she was only a child and her sister, Isabelle, had married at an early age. This made her mistress of his house from a very early period. Emma’s self image is very strong and she is doubly pleased with her match-making skills, which turn out to be disastrous for her friend Harriet. Harriet Smith is a young girl of an unknown background, but she was a student at Mrs. Goddard’s School. Emma challenges herself to reform and refine Harriet. She becomes to aspire to see Harriet marry a person in a higher social station. Harriet is very pretty. She was "short, plump, and fair, with blue eyes and light hair, and a look of great sweetness." (Austen, 20)

    Read More

  • Mrs. Strangeworth In 'The Possibility Of Evil'

    285 Words  | 1 Pages

    Mrs. Strangeworth is an elderly woman that lives on Pleasant Street. She is a very nice woman and likes to talk to the residents of the town. She is also very popular throughout her town. She cherishes her roses at her house. She tells someone

    Read More

  • Character Analysis of Emma in Jane Austen's "Emma"

    852 Words  | 2 Pages

    Emma Woodhouse is the title character of the book. For Emma, Jane Austen took a heroine whom, she remarked, `no one but myself will much like' `And', as one of her ablest critics has said, `many a rash reader, and some who are not rash, have been shut out on the threshold of Emma's Comedy by a dislike of Emma herself.' Emma is a beautiful, wealthy, well-educated young woman who was born and raised in the upper-class society. But also the negative aspects of her character are exposed, she is spoiled, conceited, domineering, wilful, snobbish, and, at times, unfeeling. She lives with her father at Hartfield, their upper-class home. She is the youngest of two daughters, but her mother died long ago and her sister has already been married. She has been the mistress of Hartfield for some time. Emma has led a rather privileg...

    Read More

  • Outline For The Lottery Shirley Jackson Essay

    590 Words  | 2 Pages

    Thesis: Shirley Jackson’s usage of irony, characters, and plot portray the stories theme of the dangers of unconsciously following tradition.

    Read More

More about Who Is Miss Strangeworth's Character In The Possibility Of Evil

Open Document