She sends individuals anonymous letters in order to "alert their eyes" to "potential evil lurking close." Miss Strangeworth "never troubled herself with facts" in the letters, according to the paragraph in the tale that describes her motivation for writing them, because she believed it was vital to elevate people's level...
...even if it meant sending them to jail when they didn't deserve it. This is what causes readers to view her actions as immoral; even though she only wrote letters people never showed up at court and were never found guilty, which means she had no proof of their guilt.
In conclusion, Miss Strangeworth was a moral coward who sent innocent people to prison by using only her perceptions of danger.
Hover to find out more. Miss Strangeworth mostly shows her nasty nature through anonymous, poisoned pen letters she delivers to her little town residents. They are full of harsh remarks and misleading insinuations. Even though most people ignore her bad comments, a few good souls do stand up to Miss Strangeworth. One day a young woman named Emily comes forward to admit that she is the mysterious "Miss Strangeworth." She tells everyone that despite being poor, she has always felt proud to be able to call herself an honest manor.
Emily goes on to say that although she has received many threats for coming forward, she believes it is her duty to protect her secret heroines. She wants people to know that even though Miss Strangeworth has been cursed with anonymity, she still manages to save many innocent people every year. At the end of her speech, everyone agrees that Emily has done something very noble. After this revelation, Miss Strangeworth decides to break her curse and reveal her true identity.
Many people come to see her exposed, standing in front of her mansion door. Some want to thank her for saving their lives while others come only to laugh at her misfortune. But no matter what they do or say, Miss Strangeworth doesn't respond. She simply stands there, staring at her reflection in the window.
Explain Miss Strangeworth's perception of her position in the community. She believes it is her responsibility to keep her town informed of all that is going on. Miss Strangeworth sits down to tea after finishing the letters. She was sending messages that spread evil rather than eradicating it.
Miss Strangeworth sees herself as an ambassador for her country, working to maintain good relations with other nations. She feels it is her duty to use her position to inform others about what is happening in Torland and to encourage them to come together to fight evil.
Miss Strangeworth has two main enemies: trolls. They threaten to destroy both her business and her home. To protect herself against these threats, Miss Strangeworth builds a huge wall around her house. She also hires guards to watch over her property at night.
Inside the wall lives Miss Strangeworth, her son John, who is serving in the military, and his wife Susan. Mrs. John loves to cook dinner for their guests after they have stopped by to visit with her husband away at war.
Near the town square lives Mr. Whipple, the mayor of Torland. He wants to make sure everyone is happy with how things are running in his town and will do anything to avoid making enemies. Mr. Whipple knows that trolls are attacking people in order to steal their treasure.
Miss Strangeworth feels justified in distributing the letters to the villagers in Shirley Jackson's "Possibility of Evil" because she believes it is her job to keep the town "clean and lovely." She believes the town to be "her town," and the inhabitants to be "her people," thus she feels obligated to be aware of everyone else's issues.
Furthermore, she enjoys writing letters, so this task doesn't seem like a burden to her.
In conclusion, Miss Strangeworth feels justified in writing letters because it's her job.
In The Possibility of Evil, it was nearly surely shown that Miss Strangeworth exhibited the character qualities of self-consciousness, discretion, and self-righteousness. Miss Strangeworth may be imaginary, yet people like her exist in society all the time. In fact, there are probably many people who feel exactly as she does about evil deeds being covered up by governments.
People in general have characters which make them worthy or not of trust. If you can't trust someone, they aren't worth trusting. Miss Strangeworth is clearly an intelligent woman, since she is able to think up such novel ideas as covering up evil deeds with magic. She also seems very honest, since she complains about slavery even if the person she is complaining to (the king) isn't listening. Finally, she exhibits self-control since she doesn't act on her feelings when she realizes that the slave trader is going to kill Noah. Instead, she covers up her evidence and goes to talk to the king about it.
Noah certainly appears to be a good man, since he wants to do what is right even if it means sacrificing himself. However, we only see his good side, since we are told repeatedly that he is kind and innocent. I think it's safe to say that nobody is completely good or bad - everyone has some degree of both characteristics.
Miss Strangeworth is quite proud of her flowers. When she is identified as the author of the poison pen letters at the end of the novel, she receives her own letter informing her that her roses have been destroyed. She begins to "weep quietly for the depravity of the world" as she reads the letter. Then she dies.
This scene was likely included by Burney later in the novel when it was believed by some readers that Mrs. Radcliffe would write a sequel. It is possible that she received permission from the publisher to include this material even though it did not appear in any of the novels she wrote before Richard III (which was published after her death).
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