Quotes
"Miss Strangeworth never concerned herself with facts; her letters all dealt with the more negotiable stuff of suspicion. Mr. Lewis would never have imagined for a minute that his grandson might be lifting petty cash from the store register if he had not had one of Miss Strangeworth's letters. Miss Chandler, the librarian, and Linda Stewart's parents would have gone unsuspectingly ahead with their lives, never aware of possible evil lurking nearby, if Miss Strangeworth had not sent letters opening their eyes. Miss Strangeworth would have been genuinely shocked if there had been anything between Linda Stewart and the Harris boy, but, as long as evil existed unchecked in the world, it was Miss Strangeworth's duty to keep her town alert to it. It was far more sensible for Miss Chandler to wonder what Mr. Shelley's first wife had really died of than to take a chance on not knowing. There were so many wicked people in the world and only one Strangeworth left in the town."
This quote shows that Miss Strangeworth thinks that she's doing a wonderful thing and protecting them from evil when in reality, she's the actual evil. She thinks that it's her 'duty' to keep her town alert to the evil. This quote makes Miss Strangeworth look more like a hero rather than a villain. You can tell that Miss Strangeworth doesn't feel the least bit bad or guilty about ruining peoples lives with mere 'suspicions'. She imagines herself as a saint, fighting off the evil to protect her people rather than leaving it alone and letting everyone else deal with it themselves.
"There was only one place in town where she could mail her letters, and that was the new post office, shiny with red brick and silver letters. Although Miss Strangeworth had never given the matter any particular thought, she had always made a point of mailing her letters very secretly; it would, of course, not have been wise to let anyone see her mail them."
This quote shows that she doesn't want anyone to see her with the letters and she wants to keep it a secret.
"She was pleased with the letter. She was fond of doing things exactly right. When she made a mistake, as she sometimes did, or when the letters were not spaced nicely on the page, she had to take the discarded page to the kitchen stove and bum it at once. Miss Strangeworth never delayed when things had to be done."
This quote shows that Miss Strangeworth is a perfectionist and has to do everything right or else she has to get rid of it at once.
This quote shows that Miss Strangeworth thinks that she's doing a wonderful thing and protecting them from evil when in reality, she's the actual evil. She thinks that it's her 'duty' to keep her town alert to the evil. This quote makes Miss Strangeworth look more like a hero rather than a villain. You can tell that Miss Strangeworth doesn't feel the least bit bad or guilty about ruining peoples lives with mere 'suspicions'. She imagines herself as a saint, fighting off the evil to protect her people rather than leaving it alone and letting everyone else deal with it themselves.
"There was only one place in town where she could mail her letters, and that was the new post office, shiny with red brick and silver letters. Although Miss Strangeworth had never given the matter any particular thought, she had always made a point of mailing her letters very secretly; it would, of course, not have been wise to let anyone see her mail them."
This quote shows that she doesn't want anyone to see her with the letters and she wants to keep it a secret.
"She was pleased with the letter. She was fond of doing things exactly right. When she made a mistake, as she sometimes did, or when the letters were not spaced nicely on the page, she had to take the discarded page to the kitchen stove and bum it at once. Miss Strangeworth never delayed when things had to be done."
This quote shows that Miss Strangeworth is a perfectionist and has to do everything right or else she has to get rid of it at once.