Enn315-Turn of the Screw - 2028 Words

‘The Turn of the Screw is essentially an ambivalent text. Its narrative prompts divergent, even opposite readings, but does not reconcile them. What happens remains irrevocably uncertain’ James uses the prologue to the novel to introduce the themes with in this Novella but more importantly he encourages the readers to be active in reading between the lines , and not to accept what is said at face value , James achieves this by surrounding Douglass with a group of people who are clearly and intently open about reading into the manuscripts further , they are critical and sceptical, James also encourages the readers to search for sexual insinuations as Mrs Griffin does about the sexual history between Douglas and the governess in the†¦show more content†¦As readers we join her in these fears but we are conflicted as know the irrationality and we are aware of her untrustworthiness as a narrator. We as readers begin to see the ambivalence that the children embodied; they are delightful and angelic but we are unconvinced of their nature. Her overbearing approach to protecting the children seems to have an adverse effect on them , however we are only left to assume how they feel as we do not know what they feel. We start to see the cracks in the governesses armour and we become aware that she is trying to find out what if the children are seeing the ghosts, to the reader this seems like a harmless thing to do, and possibly the children are at faulty, but when looking at it from the perspective of the children on can see that the governess is struggling to hold it together and may be terrifying. This puts more doubt about the ghost existence or purpose at Bly. There is a passage of text where Miles enquires about going back to school to free him from the pressure from the governess. This passage is an ambiguous one as we read little actual interactions and more thoughts and paranoia from the governess. Miles bests her by mentioning that he will contact his uncle to discuss his education. The governess become disconcerted as she was subverting her attraction for her employer to be a hero to the children an d she becomes overwhelmed and decides not to go to church , butShow MoreRelatedEnn315-Turn of the Screw2040 Words   |  9 Pages‘The Turn of the Screw is essentially an ambivalent text. Its narrative prompts divergent, even opposite readings, but does not reconcile them. What happens remains irrevocably uncertain’ James uses the prologue to the novel to introduce the themes with in this Novella but more importantly he encourages the readers to be active in reading between the lines , and not to accept what is said at face value , James achieves this by surrounding Douglass with a group of people who are clearly and