Beyond the Layer: The Truth of Miss Strangeworth in "The Possibility of Evil" Nikki Jane Celomine Ballesta 11th Grade

Miss Adela Strangeworth, from the short story “The Possibility of Evil” by Shirley Jackson, is a 71-year old pensioner who lives in Pleasant Street. She takes pride in her home, the people’s respect for her, and especially her roses. To most people who are oblivious of the letters that she has been writing, she is considerate, proper and polite because she had to stop every minute to say good morning to someone or ask for someone’s health but to the one person who had discovered her secret, she is pretentious and a “chismosa”.

The narrator had mentioned that Miss Strangeworth “had to stop every minute or so to say good morning to someone or to ask after someone’s health” which shows her first important trait. She is considerate, proper and polite. This trait of hers is also apparent when she noticed that Mr. Lewis “looked worried,” and when Mrs. Harper’s hand “shook slightly as she opened her pocketbook,” and Ms. Strangeworth thought that she “could use a good, strong tonic.” It is also showing that Ms. Strangeworth is indeed proper when she encountered the librarian, Ms. Chandler, and she noticed that Ms. Chandler “had not taken much trouble with her hair this morning” and the narrator had claimed that Ms. Strangeworth “hated...