Humankind is more evil than good. The mass of men is profoundly misguided, seemingly incapable of enlightenment. Lacking either the capacity to reason or the strength to act upon moral convictions, their lives are dictated by habit and convention. They often behave with callous disregard of those around them. Set against this backdrop are the victimized protagonists. They may be victims of society, of family or friends, or victims of their own fragmented and disintegrating personalities. Yet even in the novels and stories that deal almost exclusively with the private worlds of individuals, the isolation of these lonely figures is intensified by the sense that the world surrounding them is cruel—peopled with weak or malignant characters. Emotional warmth and closeness are rare in Jackson's fictional universe; there is little to sustain a healthy personality.
The origin and development of Jackson's vision of society and mankind necessarily remain speculative, since she was reluctant to discuss either her fiction or her life before the public. The daughter of Leslie Hardie Jackson and Geraldine Bugbee Jackson, she was born into a family of successful San Francisco professionals. She seemed to have wanted to be a writer from an early age.
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