What is Evil?
Ryan Ciccozzi
My definition of evil:
"Disturbed and only does things for their own satisfaction"
My definition relates to the three stories because in "What a Thought" the wife seems mentally disturbed because she only has these horrible thoughts of killing her husband, my definition also relates to the story "The Lottery" because they only do this sacrifice for the satisfaction of others, and lastly my definition relates to "The Possibility of Evil" because the send of the letters (Miss Strangeworth) only sends these letters because she is disturbed and thinks she is doing the correct thing.
What a Thought
This story is a clear example of Shirley Jackson's style because it starts off seemingly normal then it later starts to escalate as the wife has thoughts of the many ways she could slaughter her husband and what would happen if she did. It ends with her striking her husband over the head with a glass ashtray, and like many other Shirley Jackson stories it leaves it up to your mind to find out whether it killed him or not.
The Lottery
This story is yet another clear example of Shirley Jackson's style because it has you think the lottery in this story is a cash prize, but then you notice how none of the characters seem to want to win this because it would break the tradition. At the end you find out that this "Lottery" is actually a sacrifice in which rocks are thrown at the winner in order to kill them and have a plentiful harvest.
The Possibility of Evil
And the final example of Shirley Jackson's style is "The Possibility of Evil" this as the other two before it starts off fairly normal, but then we see the other citizens of the town and how oddly they are acting. They all seem distressed about something, later we find out that the reason they are all acting so odd is that they are receiving anonymous letters in the mail that have harsh things written on them. At the end they find out the letters were coming from Miss Strangeworth and destroy her roses.