What is the character of Miss Strangeworth?

Miss Strangeworth is a complex character. The entire story is actually about the difference between appearance and reality in this woman's character. On the surface she appears to be a kindly, harmless, uncomplicated little old lady with a small-town woman's interests and mentality. She prides herself on being the last surviving member of the town's oldest family and as such feels responsible for watching over the other citizens of the town. Then we find out...

Miss Strangeworth is a complex character. The entire story is actually about the difference between appearance and reality in this woman's character. On the surface she appears to be a kindly, harmless, uncomplicated little old lady with a small-town woman's interests and mentality. She prides herself on being the last surviving member of the town's oldest family and as such feels responsible for watching over the other citizens of the town. Then we find out that she has only recently acquired an obsession with writing anonymous letters in which she hints at the sinful behavior of one person to a person closely connected with him or her. In one other instance she writes poison-pen letters to the parents of a six-month-old baby girl in which she refers to the infant as an "idiot child."

Miss Strangeworth seems totally unaware that her letters are causing all kinds of trouble in her town. She thinks she is only doing her duty and is being helpful. We have to conclude that this old lady is losing her mind. She spends too much time alone. She writes her poison-pen letters in secret. It is apparent that the real motives behind all of her letters are envy, bitterness, loneliness, and jealousy. She unconsciously wants to destroy the happiness of people who have someone to love or someone to share their lives with. She is a pathetic person because she keeps herself busy with petty matters in order to keep from facing the truth about herself, which is that she is all alone, has never been loved, and nobody really cares about her. She resembles Miss Havisham in Charles Dickens' novel Great Expectations and Miss Emily Grierson in William Faulkner's short story "A Rose for Emily." Her unhappiness makes her cruel. A good example is in the case of the young lovers Linda Stewart and Dave Harris. They are just enjoying an innocent high school romance, but their happiness with being in love and having someone else to fill their lives brings out the worst in Miss Strangeworth because she has always wanted this and has never had it.

In the end we feel pity for this pathetic old maid, in spite of the trouble she has caused. We also feel sorry for her when Don Crane destroys her precious rose bushes after he accidentally finds out that she is the author of the poison-pen letters he and his wife have received about the possible arrested mental development of their baby daughter. The "possibility of evil" that Miss Strangeworth sees all around her in this little town is really a projection of the evil inside herself.