The Turn of the Screw [Paperback]

In a way, this book is not so much about ghosts, supernatural powers, horror etc. At the end of the day, it poses some deeply psychological, ethical and possibly causal questions that interest most of us in life. Namely, concerning the consequences of our actions, thoughts, desires and especially our attitudes towards other humans. Despite being children, the allegedly evil protagonists in the book appear really contradictory, insincere but convincing. The governess, on the other hand, seems to be willing to help them correct their wicked ways, thus indirectly saving their lives and future. The real cause for concern is that the kids eventually would not change for the better, improve or learn something beneficial.
I suppose, the story is somewhat allegorical. Basically, the author does not give any direct answers or explanations on the storyline. We could speculate as long as we want, but we will never be sure whether our suggestions are true or not. By all means, this book makes us think seriously about our life goals.
In the mean time, the writing talent of Henry James is indisputable.

If, as so many readers have, you view this novella as Henry James's entry into the field of the horrific and the macabre, you will be sorely disappointed. The first person presentation by its main character, the live-in nanny/teacher, gives us an endless series of haunting, yet laborious, internal thoughts about how she views the world about her. Yes, she does perceive the existence of two malevolent spirits that are attempting to overtake the children in her charge and, yes, she sees herself as being the only person who can save them from this demon possession and, yes, the final sentence of the book which relates the death of Miles in her arms could be interpreted as being caused by his spiritual fright (?!). But, no, this is not a book that has anything to do with an unseen evil spiritual world which exists outside of our own internal consciousness.

This is a book about the inner psyche of a person who is undergoing a severe emotional breakdown and, being so, it deserves all the merit that it has received. Alas, our heroine is, at best, a paranoid schizophrenic. She is the only person who has a view of these spirits while her only companion, the house maid, after continual coaxing, will only claim that the children to have said a few inappropriate things. She is the only one who is able to develop this entrancing scheme about prior relationships the children and the now dead subjects and presently entertains how they had become evil and seek to overtake the souls of the children. She is the one, through her rambling and droning thoughts, that continues to reinforce the ego building concept of needing personal strength to see herself through this ordeal. She is the one who refuses, until the very end, to discuss with the children not only her perception of these spirits but also why Miles was expelled from his previous school (his answer to which was diffuse, at best). The house maid, herself, while acting out of class respect to the teacher/nanny never fully engages in our heroine's fantasies and, most of the time, continues to support the children. And finally it is in her arms that Miles dies. Rather than `spiritual fright', did she smother him in order to protect him from being captured by the delusions that she had created. I, as a serious reader, feel most certainly that she did. In then end only his sister that survives her evil fantasies for she has been whisked away previously due to the emotional fear she has of her teacher.

Today's readers may not find Henry James's masterpiece "The Turn of the Screw" as creepy as it was when first published. To begin with, there is no gore in the book --the moments of horror are so subtle, but they get under one skin.

"The Turn of the Screw" was first published as a serialized novel in Collier's Weekly. After that it was published in the novel format, both in England and USA. When James wrote this novella was a period of increase of the popularity of spiritual issues. Many people were searching for new ways of explaining death, and they were also loosing their Christian faith. Many were trying to communicate with the Other Side.

But the dead in the novella, as James once stated, are not ghosts, as we know them. However, this belief persisted through time, and even today, most readers assume that Peter Quint and Miss Jessel are spectrums or a so-called entity.

On the form, "The Turn of the Screw" has some innovations. Prior to James, most novels were written through one point of view --this narrator told the story and the characters and actions are under his/her way of viewing, judgments, and conclusions. On the other hand, most of James's novels count with a difference: the narrator/character is not aware of everything. In this particular novella, we see the story through the eyes of governess and we know as little as she. Not only she, but also we, has a limited knowledge of the events.

Much can be concluded from the story --it is impossible to have a definitive conclusion. Some say the governess was a good character fighting against evil to protect the two children. But some scholars have researched and concluded that, as a matter of fact, the governess had a troubled mind. In 1934, Edmund Wilson wrote an essay that has become one of the most influential works on Henry James's ambiguity. Based on Freudian theory, Wilson argues that the governess's sexual repression leads her to neurotically imagine and interpret ghosts.

However, postmodernism have led critics to a different conclusion, which adds the two main chains of sturdy of "The Turn of the Screw". Not only are the ghosts in the novel, but the governess can also be mad. For these scholars, every incident can be interpreted as to prove that the governess is mad and to prove that there are ghosts. This irresolvable controversy makes James's work so brilliant and timeless.

Now it is up to each reader to find his/her own ghosts in this brilliant novella --so short and so deep and complex. Contemporary readers may be stunned and still scared with the smartness of the text. As the first narrator introduces the text, he says in the first line "the story had held us", "The Turn of the Screw" will hold every sophisticated reader in his/her seat.