Miss Strangeworth In The Possibility Of Evil By Shirley Jackson

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Roses are a beautiful creation, however thorns may hurt a person by touching it. Miss Strangeworth, a character in the story, “The Possibility of Evil” by Shirley Jackson, has been sending anonymous letters for good intention, to warn the townspeople about the possible evil approaching. Miss Strangeworth is a selfish, sneaky, and perfectionist woman who actually hurts people with the letters instead of helping them as she intended. Miss Strangeworth shows selfishness by allowing no one to pick her roses because she did not wanted “people…to carry them away, to take them into strange towns and down strange streets” (Jackson, 1941, p. 165). She shows the possessiveness of the town by often saying “There wouldn’t have been a town here at all if it hadn’t been for my grandfather and the lumber mill”, (Jackson, 1941, p. 163). …show more content…
When writing an anonymous letter, Miss Strangeworth uses a dull pencil and commonly used coloured paper to avoid suspicion. She thought to herself “If [I] had been asked…Adela Strangeworth, a name honored in the town…did not belong on such trash”, (Jackson, 1941, p. 170). Miss Strangeworth knew the letters had been scratching peoples’ emotions but instead of stopping this intolerable action, she justified it by convincing herself “the world was so large, and there was only one Strangeworth left in it”, (Jackson, 1941, p. 171), like a typical cowardly person would do.
Miss Strangeworth always keeps the house tidy and clean. She may seem to be a simple perfectionist but as a matter of fact, she is more like a paranoid woman. Miss Strangeworth casts suspicion on people without proper reasoning, and she believes what her opinions are the truth. Even when hearing the conversation between Harris boy and Linda’s that proved her suspicion to be wrong, Miss Strangeworth refused to admit the fact that she was not right. Furthermore, she continued to send her nasty
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