Old, lonely ladies like Adela Strangeworth could suffer from boredom. One would also think that she would probably like to work in her yard. And one could even think of her living in a small town, where she would probably also know all of the people. If one visualizes all these clichés when an old lady was mentioned, one now has a pretty good picture of Miss Adela Strangeworth, the protagonist of the short story, “The Possibility of Evil’’ by Shirley Jackson. Miss Strangeworth is 71 years old and lives in a small town.
Although the rapid dog in "To Kill a Mockingbird" only appears in one chapter and is killed rather quickly, it acts as a symbol for the reoccurring theme of the evilness in racism throughout the book, illustrates the courage that is gained from overcoming difficult situations, and being an experience that allows for the development of maturity. In a setting that is dominated by racism, such as in Maycomb, a majority of the population also have aspects of evilness due to the damaging effects of their racist behavior, which is represented by the rabid dog. During the Tom Robinson trial, Scout thought to herself how watching Judge Taylor was “like watching Atticus walk into the street, raise a rifle to his shoulder and pull the trigger, but watching
The numerous symbols throughout help the reader to get a deeper understanding of the characters and further develop the story. The symbols
People are like snakes Like snakes some people go behind your back and bite you. Shirley Jackson’s story “The possibibility of Evil’ is a very weird but good story. The story’s about an older women who’s leaved in the town basically all her life but she is very judgemental person that writes mean letters to people.
In 1948, when the New Yorker published Shirley Jacksons piece, “The Lottery,” it sparked outrage among readers, but could arguably be known as one of her most famous pieces of writing. In this short story, Shirley Jackson used literally elements such as imagery, diction, and symbolism to foreshadow the negative and harsh ending of the story; the harsh ending that sparked such outrage by society in the 1940’s. One of the main ways Jackson foreshadows the ending and true meaning of her short story, “The Lottery,” is through symbolism. Jackson uses the color black throughout the story.
Also a symbol can mean something in real life. Could be a person or an object. In this story there were a lot of different symbols with different
In the story "The Possibility Of Evil" written by Shirley Jackson there is a peculiar character called Miss Adela Strangeworth. She is an old women in a small town she has watched grow in her entire lifetime but she is less innocent than you'd think, in fact, she is a villainous women and shows how cruel and evil she is in many ways. Miss Adela Strangeworth's actions show that she is oblivious to how her methods effect her town in an evil and despicable way. She is unaware that she is the evil in the town, terrorizing its inhabitants. she writes letters to civilians who Adela thinks are "wicked" and because she is the oldest person in town, she feels obligated to protect it (Jackson 226).
“Miss Strangeworth is a familiar fixture in a small town where everyone knows everyone else. Little do the townsfolk suspect, though, that the dignified old woman leads another, secret life…”. A secret life can be evil or good, in Miss Strangeworth’s case it is suitable, but do others appreciate this secret life. In The Possibility of Evil Shirley Jackson illustrates inner thinking, revealing action, and symbolism to show how Miss Strangeworth tends the people like her roses, but truly state's them evil.
In the short story, “The Possibility of Evil” you can right away tell by the title that there will be some kind of evil going around. In the story there is a lady called Miss strangeworth who in the end turns out to be a bully. However, Miss Strangeworth is not a physical bully, she is in a way a cyber bully but instead of posting or sending messages she writes multiple letters to people in her town pointing out certain things she’s noticed. Throughout the story no one knows who is sending the letters, this is being anonymous. In the article “The Online Disinhibition Effect” it also gives examples of how one can keep their identity hidden by going as “anonymous” In the short story “The Possibility of Evil” it says that “her letters dealt with the more negotiable stuff of suspicion,” this not only proves that she would send multiple letters.
Symbolism allows the author to create a story that would otherwise be bland and monotone. Without this dark romantic element, books, short stories, and poems would not have as much meaning nor appealing detail. Symbolism in "The Raven," "The Devil and Tom Walker," and "The Minister's Black Veil," creates layers of meaning and interesting characters. Symbolism has been used for centuries to spice up the literary world. Sometimes it is used in obvious ways, but other time it has to be thoroughly studied to be imperturbably understood.
The character Miss Strangeworth in the literature “The Possibility of Evil” in inconsiderate and a perfectionist. She is inconsiderate because of her thoughts and actions. For example, Miss Strangeworth thinks this “Miss Strangeworth noticed that Miss Chandler had not taken much trouble with her hair that morning, and sighed” (Jackson 112-114). This reveals how inconsiderate she is to others solely picking out their imperfections. Miss Strangeworth is also a perfectionist who disdains imperfection or sloppiness.
For most people, the words evil and harsh are not the typical traits used to describe an elderly woman. However, in the short story “The Possibility of Evil” by Shirley Jackson, the 71 year old character Miss Adela Strangeworth, has a dark predatory nature hiding behind her highly respectable and sweet exterior. She preys upon her peers by misleading them into thinking everything is fine, only to subsequently tear them down. She accomplishes this by concealing her cruel, deceitful and perfectionist personality by maintaining an honourable reputation within her town. Miss Strangeworth shows no mercy when she anonymously reveals secrets about the family and lives of people in her community.
Mrs. Strangeworth made unethical decisions that lead to hurt feelings among the people in her town. Mrs. Strangeworth's intentions are to protect the townspeople from evil. Mrs Strangeworth corrupts the relationships of the other people in town toward one another and towards her. Truly, Miss Strangeworth thought that the town people were corrupt and evil, but it was really Miss Strangeworth. Mrs. Strangeworth made unethical decisions that lead to hurt feelings among the people in her town.
Is Ms. Strangeworth a victim OR villain In the short story “The Possibility of Evil” written by Shirley Jackson, the protagonist Ms. Strangeworth is a villain because she isn’t what everyone’s aspect of her is, she is very deceptive, and the letters she sends are the very cause of the evil she’s trying to stop. Ms. Strangeworth is a seventy-one-year-old lady who lives in a little town, which she thinks is her own. She always feels the need to know everything, about everyone. Even though, no one knows who she really is.
While other towns are starting to go away from this method, this village continues the tradition. Although it may seem like a simple story, Shirley Jackson implemented various symbols incorporated into the names, objects, and scenario in the story to hide the meaning and intention behind the lottery. Firstly, the names alone conceal a lot of symbolism. The author utilizes symbolic names to indicate reason
