Andrew Hollowell

Mrs. House

8/23/07

“As long as evil existed unchecked in the world, it was Miss Strangeworth’s duty to keep her town alert to it.” Miss Strangeworth’s knack for finding others’ insecurities brings her security and ultimately devastation when the story closes. The people of Pleasantville want to live typical American lives, but they have received letters that have made their lives anything but normal. Shirley Jackson provides the reader a great display of irony in the short story: The Possibility of Evil.

I find it very ironic that someone with the name Strangeworth lives in Pleasantville on Pleasant Street in a pleasant home. The story starts on a sunny day where the town looks washed and bright. Soon, the mood of the story begins to change when she runs into numerous people who reside in Pleasantville. They each seem upset about something, which little does she know is caused by her own self. It is ironic that the people of a town called Pleasantville are anything but pleasant. The symbolic meaning of white meaning innocence and roses meaning love stands for just the opposite in the story. What lies within these two beautiful and adored possessions lays someone of absolute cruelty.

Not long after returning from the super market, Miss Strangeworth pulls out her multicolored pad of paper to write yet another letter. The choice of multicolored paper is ironic because it does not reflect her personality that is dull and dry. Miss Strangeworth feels that she is a help to the people of Pleasantville, while she is just giving them misery. The reader can tell how confused she is when she thinks, “There were so many wicked people in the world and only one Strangeworth left in town.”(Page 371) In addition to feeling to feeling that can control the town, she also feels that the people of Pleasantville know not to wake Miss Strangeworth from her daily nap, when nobody actually wanted to talk to her at all. The way Miss Strangeworth thinks and functions is made clear in this story and provides for excellent irony.

Again, Miss Strangeworth truly believes she is respected when she is greeted by the skateboarders at the post office. They respect her to her face, but they state her name as “old lady Strangeworth” when she passes by. When Miss Strangeworth drops one of her letters drops one of her letters outside of the post office, the Harris boy picks it up and says, “It’s for Don Crane.” The boy decides that it would be good of him to deliver the note because, “Maybe they need some good news tonight.” This is ironic because what lies in the envelope is something that caused the town much trouble. The next morning Miss Strangeworth receives a letter saying, “Look at what used to be your roses.” This event sums up the whole theme of the story. Her favorite part of life is ruined in return for destroying others’ lives.

Irony is what makes this story as interesting as it is. Without it, the theme could not have been made as clearly and with so much emphasis. The saying “What goes around comes around” is what I view as the morale of this story. Miss Strangeworth ruined a town and the people in it, and eventually the people of Pleasantville ruin her life, which were her roses.