Symbolism In The Turn Of The Screw By Henry James

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In The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, the author uses symbols to help the reader understand the character of the governess. One of the important symbols throughout the text is light. She was unable to make any decisions in darkness. For instance, “I can’t say how long I turned it over, or how long, in a confusion of curiosity and dread, I remained where I had had my collision; I only recall that when I re-entered the house darkness had quite closed in” (James, 17). I think she meant to specify that darkness is her fear and that the light is her place. In chapter 9, when she sees Peter Quint (the ghost) for the third time and declares, “I knew that there was a figure on the stair. I speak of sequences, but I require no lapse of seconds to