Born on the 14th of December, 1916 in San Francisco, CA, Shirley Jackson struggled throughout her life with a conflict between her individuality and society's requirement that she adhere to its norms and standards. She saw a second level of human nature, an inner identity lurking beneath the one which outwardly conforms within society's expectations. She did not feel completely comfortable in the society around her, preferring to sit in her room and write poetry rather than play with the other children in her neighborhood (Oppenheimer 16) …show more content…
Jackson graduated with a BA in English from Syracuse University and in 1940 she married Stanley Edgar Hyman. They moved to a secluded shack in New Hampshire where both focused on their writing. In 1945 they moved to North Bennington, Vermont where she taught at Bennington College. The mother of four children, her life was as much baking cupcakes as making up stories. She was a loving and "good" but quirky mother, although not a tidy one, often sending the kids to school in dirty clothes and uncombed