Must contradictory personalities get the best of us? “The Possibility of Evil”‚ a short story by Shirley Jackson focused on the odd behavior of Miss Strangeworth. Though Miss Strangeworth do not change throughout the story‚ people just don’t know how awful she is. Miss Strangeworth has written small anonyms notes filled with cruel comments about toward her towns folks throughout the story. Miss Strangeworth enjoyed writing harsh letters to her neighbors‚ showing her jealous personality towards
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Everybody has evil in them. No matter how nice‚ pleasant‚ or sweet that person is; everyone carries evil inside. Whether they show it or psychology know they are evil‚ is up to them. In the “possibility of Evil” by Shirley Jackson‚ Miss Strangeworth has that evil in her and it is expressed through her age‚ education‚ and personal ambition. First‚ in the physiology section the reader can learn that Miss Strangeworth acts the way she does because of her old age. In the short story‚ Miss Strangeworth
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Is everyone capable of evil? Evil is described as all of the wrong doings in society‚ as well as the urge to do wrong (Romig). It is said that everyone has the ability to act in evil ways but don’t necessarily act upon it. Everyone has the capacity to commit evil acts‚ but the severity of the act and the darkness of their intent is dependent on their morals and the society they reside in. Ordinary people have the capacity to commit extraordinarily evil acts. When people are outside of their comfort
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The stories “The Lottery” and “The Possibility of Evil‚” both written by Shirley Jackson‚ can be depicted as similar as they collectively use the literary devices imagery‚ symbolism‚ and foreshadowing. Jackson is able to utilise the literary tool of imagery in both “The Lottery” and “The Possibility of Evil” to elaborate and expand on the many different aspects of her stories. At the beginning of “The Lottery‚” Shirley Jackson utilises imagery to create a clear‚ concise setting of the story. “The
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In Shirley Jackson’s "The Possibility of Evil"‚ the title is not appropriate because of the pleasant setting of the story. This can be proved by the respect that Miss Adela Strangeworth gave to the town and her nice as well as caring behavior towards the people in the town. Primarily‚ the setting of the story is calm and peaceful like a decent society. This can be proved by the quotation‚ " Miss Strangeworth’s little town looked washed and bright". This analyzes that in a little town everything
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Possibility of Evil Envy‚ greed‚ lust - all examples of "evil" things done by us all; nevertheless‚ what is evil? Can we stop it‚ and if so‚ are we obligated to? Before we speak about the obligation of the normal person to stop evil‚ we have to understand what evil is. Evil is what a person accepts it as true; this can be seen in the story inside Miss Strangeworth. She does not believe her letters create problems rather than solve them. And that in another person’s eyes‚ she can be perceived as
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Chayce Riley Kenis 1:30-2:50 David Lydic The Possibility of Evil (REVISION) Paper 2 1-19-14 English II Shirley Jackson’s “The Possibility of Evil” is a short story about a seemingly sweet little old woman‚ living in a small town with a house and prized bed of roses outside that has been in her family for three generations. The woman‚ Miss Strangeworth‚ is narrated as she goes through her normal Tuesday routine stopping to chat with the other locals. Upon
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Smith 1 John Smith Mrs.Jones ENG2D1-06 March 5 2009 The Possibility of Evil: Critical Response Journal The Story‚ The Possibility of Evil is a truly interesting story that demonstrates the evil of a community that seems almost perfect. This story demonstrates how there is probably no place on Earth that evil has not reached. The story bases itself on a small suburban town and the people that live there. The reader meets Miss
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Possibility of Evil Response Small towns are very susceptible to questionably informed gossip because everyone knows each other and “everybody’s business” (Sulzberger). In the article In smalltown Us‚ gossip moves to the web‚ and turn vicious a social media Web called Topix starts a “cesspool of character assassination” (Sulzberger). Outings‚ such as grocery shopping‚ brought people to glance at each other in disproval. Similarly in The Posibility of Evil by Shirley Jackson‚ going to the grocery
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"The Possibility of Evil"‚ by Shirley Jackson‚ is a twisted story. It starts off with Ms.Strangeworth‚ the main character‚ having pride in her family and roses. She goes to the grocery store and has friendly conversations with the town’s people‚ but goes back home to write anonymous‚ cruel letters to the same people she talked to. She later on gets caught and everyone knows all the letters were from her. By writing the letters‚ she thought she was stopping the evil in her town‚ but‚ the ironic part
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