The possibility of Evil
By: Shirley Jackson
Handout
Journal question:
Do you believe that the punishment Mrs. Adela Strangeworth gets at the end of the story is appropriate? Explain.
Test Questions:
1) How does Mrs. Adela Strangeworth warn people of “possible evil”?
2) Do you think Mrs.Strangeworth has lost her sanity?
3) What would you say the people of the town think of her as after her secret activity was discovered?
Vocabulary Words:
Degraded- corrupted and depraved
Rambler- a rose plant that grows upward like a vine, by clinging to support
Infatuated- intensely fond
Rapt- fully absorbed
Negotiable- able to be bargained with
Petty cash- a small fund of money kept handy for miscellaneous expenses
Translucent- allowing light to shine through
Reprehensible- deserving blame and criticism
Other paper: 
Setting: Small town. Quite modern.
Mrs. Adela Strangeworth: (main character) Blue eyed, 71 year old, snobby, nosy, picky old lady. She is a perfectionist and adores her red roses. She knows everyone in the town and their issues. She calls the town her own because it was her grandfather who built the first house on Pleasant Street (the main road). The house she lives in is the house her grandfather built and is over one-hundred years old. Her grandmother planted the red roses and so did her mother and she continued the tradition.
PLOT: Mrs. Adela pretends to understand and be on everyone’s side yet she criticizes them and sends mean letters to them (without her name). This leads to the buildup of tension between some characters and leads to the cruel ending.
Conflict: Mrs. Strange worth’s letters bring tension, trouble and issues to the townspeople.
Foreshadowing: Throughout the story, we can tell that Mrs. Adela has an evil side. We get his idea from the title and the way she acts in front of people and then the letters she sends are complete opposites.
Mood: the town is sunny and calm but at the same time is gloomy and depressing because of the atmosphere that is given from the letters that Mrs. Adela sends.
Theme: What goes around comes around. Since she hurt many of the townspeople, it all came back to her and her roses that she adored, were all ruined.
Symbols: the letters are the symbol of evil in the story.
**IRONIC** Mrs. Adela doesn’t realize that it’s HER letters that are causing trouble and evil in the town.
For example: If I were to warn Estelle that people talked about her, this is just informing the person and helping them out. But sending a letter saying “your child is an idiot” is quite different. So Mrs. Adel a thinks she’s just informing people about things when she is really just causing trouble.
