Narration in The Turn of the Screw

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Narration in The Turn of the Screw

Henry James makes the governess the narrator because she keeps the

readers’ interest by also being involved in the story as a main

character. However, being involved on this personal level, it can make

the governess exaggerate at times and be over-emotional. Her

determined and curious nature makes her an ideal candidate to explore

the mysterious happenings, however her imagination keeps the reader in

suspense, as we are never sure how much she has exaggerated the story.

This also adds tension as the full picture is never revealed. This

choice of narrator is therefore challenged by Susan Hill’s description

that a narrator should be ‘unimaginative and straightforward’ as the

governess’ increasing exaggeration, hysteria and ambiguity make her

less than straightforward.

The governess’s character is established at the beginning of the novel

when she meets the master. Her impressionability is displayed when he

immediately charms her. She has little experience at being a governess

as it says she is ‘The youngest of several daughters of a country

parson’, which also indicates her simple country background. Her

naivety also makes her very romantic and imaginative. James writes

that she has ‘…come up to London from the country’ which hints that

the governess is very determined and eager for the job. Her trusting

nature is also revealed when she doesn’t question the master’s bizarre

rule; ‘that she should never trouble him again.’ She doesn’t question

him, as she is enthralled and under his spell, hinting at her

infatuation. This also could mean that the narrative would be biased

in his favour.

The governess first sees Peter Quint at dusk in the first few weeks of

her gove...

... middle of paper ...

...ry tragic and ambiguous

circumstances. It is very intense at the end, because it is just the

governess and Miles, and the governess is trying to force a confession

out of him. When he does confess, Peter Quint appears and the

governess immediately tries to protect the boy, seeing herself locked

in a battle of good versus evil, where she is good and Peter Quint is

bad. There are also several alternative reasons for Miles’ death open

for interpretation to the reader; either the governess smothered him,

shock (from seeing Quint), or Quint is involved somehow. The line

‘Peter Quint- you devil’ is in addition ambiguous. Miles is either

confessing that Peter Quint is a devil, or that he sees the governess

as tormenting him. James ends the story in this way because it leaves

the reader questioning how the boy died, and the narrator’s sanity is

also questioned.

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