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Examples Of Ambiguity In The Turn Of The Screw By Henry James

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In the novella The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, the story revolves around the unchanging ambiguity that constantly questions the reader of the book, do the ghosts exist or is it just a figment of the governess’ imagination. Although obscure at first, to a certain audience, James is able to prove the existence of the occult by creating situations and actions that are considered absurd when questioned, so that the only possible reasoning has to be something impossible that in some way, shape, or form, the supernatural is involved. Throughout the course of the novella, many instances and scenes feature and focus on the presence of otherworldly specters. The governess within the story considers them ghosts, and they manifest themselves …show more content…

One significant moment of such, is shown in this quote, “She’s not alone, and at such times she’s not a child; she’s an old, old woman” (77). This quote may seem like its being directed towards Flora and Flora only, but instead portrays a sense of ambiguity that suggests that Flora is working with an old woman, perhaps Miss Jessel, the currently departed former governess. However within the context of that quote, there seems not to be a logical explanation as to why Flora had suddenly decided to sail a boat across the river, it’s infallible, to the point where all reasonable explanations are replaced with theories that only the supernatural could have caused it. With the governess assuming that Flora is in league with the ghost of Miss Jessel, it causes the governess to assume that the ghost of Peter Quint is associated with Miles, as seen in her description of the scene, “Peter Quint had come into view like a sentinel before a prison” (97). In this scene James depicts Peter Quint as Miles’ over watch, which is contrary to what was said earlier about Peter Quint, saying that he [Peter Quint] did what he wanted with them all, that he had freedom, which now contrasts showing that he controls Miles’ life. This claim is only further supported when Peter Quint “leaves” Miles after he is

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In his novel, Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses the conch shell to represent structure and togetherness among the boys’ society. The boys’ are first brought together by Ralph blowing the conch. An it soon becomes a tool of power, even getting Ralph elected as chief just for being the one holding it “there was a stillness about Ralph as he sat that marked him out: there was his size, and attractive appearance; and most obscurely, yet most powerfully, there was the conch” (16). Rules were created where the boys can only speak in the group while holding the conch. But this rule is quickly disregarded as the boys talk over each other as often as possible in their meetings.

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The governess’s sanity in Henry James’s Turn of the Screw is often disputed over in literature. Because the governess sees ghosts in the novel, she is often argued as insane. The definition of sanity proves otherwise, stating that it is the “state of being sound of mind or having appropriate judgment skills” (Psychology Dictionary). The governess is sane because she behaves rationally, protects the children above all costs, and is not the only character witnessing a supernatural presence.

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When the governess attempts point out Peter Quint in the room, the author mentions how she “grasp[s]” him and “[holds]” him with passion (James 87). This may suggest that the governess is too rough when it comes to protecting Miles, and that she actually killed him. Her physical actions during this scene border violence - grasping and holding the boy and even shaking him. The governess is experiencing an emotional breakdown and holds Miles so tightly for so long that she suffocates him and kills him. Ultimately, the governess’ insanity drove Miles to his death at a young

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The novel, Turn of the Screw, by Henry James takes place in England and is told from the point of view of the Governess, whose sanity is questionable. The Governess is insane because throughout the novel, she is the only one who sees the ghosts, she is in love with the master, and she allows her desire to protect the children to drive her to insanity. First, the Governess is insane because she is the only character in the novel to ever have seen the ghosts. Early in the novel, the Governess claims she sees the ghost of Peter Quint, and immediately tells Mrs. Grose.

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The governess is insane because she is the only person at Bly to witness the ghosts of Peter Quint and Miss Jessel. During her employment, the Governess claims to experience several ghostly interactions, however no one else could relate to her sightings. For example, after claiming to see two ghosts, the Governess confides in Mrs. Grose and later says “she herself had seen nothing, not the shadow of a shadow, and nobody in the house but the governess was in the governess’s plight,” (James 24). Mrs. Grose is eliminated as a witness and cannot argue if the paranormal activity at Bly was real. Since no one can support the governess’s claims, then presumably, they were hallucinated by

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The protagonist from “The Turn of the Screw”, is perceived to be despearate as she tries to achieve her dream but her personal pride leads her to an unstable condition. The author depicts the Governess believing that to attain her goal of gaining attentionby her employer, she must be a hero. Therefore, she invents lies about seeing her predessors haunting her pupils. Nonetheless, the more times James makes the Governess mention the ghosts the more she believes they are real and they, “want to get them (the children)” (82). The Governess is blinded by making it appear she sees the ghosts that she looses herself in her own lies leading her to an unstable condition of not knowing what is real or not.

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In detailing the events that led up to her change in perspective, she made note of the honeysuckle that covered the walls of the well-house, the warm sunshine that accompanied going outdoors, and the cool stream of water that she felt as she placed her hand under the spout. These details kept the reader with her in the moment as she felt something less simple, but still universal; the returning of a, “ misty consciousness as of something forgotten.” In using rich diction, she maintained a sense of intimacy with the reader which allowed her to call on personal details from her own life and theirs. Later in the passage, she described how, once the reality of language was opened to her, and she returned to the house, “every object which I touched seemed to quiver with life.” She had gone through a complete shift of perspective, one that, to her, was felt entirely through senses other than sight or sound.

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James uses words like “hesitated”, “timid”, and “nervousness” to describe the young man as inferior to Mrs. Moreen. This not only creates tension as he is afraid, but also

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The governess progressively believes in things around her that are pseudo and assumed. Nobody else at Bly can see the ghosts that she claims even when the children tried to believe her, they just could not see the ghosts she could see. Things slowly but surely fell apart at Bly, and it seemed to start right when the governess made assumptions about the ghosts she had met. The governess had done many things at Bly, but proving her insanity is something she could not

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Soon some of the stones that he had labeled were soon thrown back at them again. No one on that night saw any culprits and had no explanation of what had just occurred. Although, this did occur at night so it was hard to see anyone that could have been hiding. In this phenomenon stones were not the only objects that were thrown in the air other objects such as hammers were also thrown. The crowd inside the tavern were unable to conclude an explainable conclusion and believed that this supernatural phenomenon was derived from the Devil himself.

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