Miss Strangeworth In The Possibility Of Evil By Shirley Jackson
`In the short story “The Possibility of Evil” by Shirley Jackson, the readers are reminded through Miss Strangeworth’s character that even though one’s intentions may be to help another person, their advice is not always appreciated. Miss Strangeworth is a very well respected person in the small town she lives in. She is always happy and willing to talk to everyone. Throughout the short story, she sends anonymous letters to people with advice in hope to make the town a peaceful place. One of the letters is sent to Mr. Lewis, claiming that his grandson is stealing money from the family run store register (Jackson 5). Her intention is to help Mr. Lewis realize that someone might be taking money from the store’s register and she simply wants
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The letter she sends to Mr. Lewis about his grandson stealing from his store is meant to help him but it does the opposite, it makes him very upset and stressed (Jackson 1). Miss Strangeworth has good intentions for sending the letter to Mr. Lewis, she wants to tell him about the possibility about theft in his store, but the letter just gets Mr. Lewis stressed and it gets him worried about something he may have never given a second thought before. Her letter to Linda’s parents about Harris also causes more harm than good (Jackson 8). Linda’s parents never thought about her relationship with Harris and everything was normal before they received the letter, however, a lot of problems arose after they saw Miss Strangworth’s letter. Linda’s parents, Linda and Harris, all get very upset over the letter and over her father’s decisions about restricting her from seeing Harris. She creates a vast problem in their family by interfering with issues which did not concern her at all by trying to help them. Lastly, her letter to Helen Crane about her child also creates unnecessary stress in Helen’s life (Jackson 5). Miss Strangworth tries to offer her advice about how her child may not be normal. All the letters she sends are based completely on her own assumption and she possesses no facts to prove what she
The letter she sends to Mr. Lewis about his grandson stealing from his store is meant to help him but it does the opposite, it makes him very upset and stressed (Jackson 1). Miss Strangeworth has good intentions for sending the letter to Mr. Lewis, she wants to tell him about the possibility about theft in his store, but the letter just gets Mr. Lewis stressed and it gets him worried about something he may have never given a second thought before. Her letter to Linda’s parents about Harris also causes more harm than good (Jackson 8). Linda’s parents never thought about her relationship with Harris and everything was normal before they received the letter, however, a lot of problems arose after they saw Miss Strangworth’s letter. Linda’s parents, Linda and Harris, all get very upset over the letter and over her father’s decisions about restricting her from seeing Harris. She creates a vast problem in their family by interfering with issues which did not concern her at all by trying to help them. Lastly, her letter to Helen Crane about her child also creates unnecessary stress in Helen’s life (Jackson 5). Miss Strangworth tries to offer her advice about how her child may not be normal. All the letters she sends are based completely on her own assumption and she possesses no facts to prove what she