hsmom3tn Posted August 8, 2009 Share Posted August 8, 2009 (edited) WARNING: SPOILERS!! If you haven't read the book or are currently reading it, you may not want to read this... Has anyone read The Turn of the Screw, by Henry James? I read this recently and can't get it out of my mind because I can't decide what really happened in the story. I don't know anyone else who has read this, so I don't have anyone else to ask, LOL. Are we left to interpret the story as we wish, or are there definite answers and I just can't figure out what happened? Were there really ghosts? Were the children possessed by the ghosts or were the children just somehow "evil" because of their contact with the ghosts? Are we supposed to assume that the former employees did something unnatural to the children while they were alive, and are continuing to do so after death? - or - Were the ghosts just hallucinations? Did the governess make the whole thing up or did she really think she was seeing them? If she made it up, did she do it so that she'd have a reason for keeping them so close to her? Was there really no other school that would take Miles or did she just want to keep him there with her? If there really were ghosts, did Miles die because Quint did something to him? Had he really not seen Quint until then, and it literally scared him to death? Did he die of shame because he realized that the governess knew everything? Or did the governess accidentally kill him in her state of madness? Why did the book keep mentioning how beautiful they were? Was that supposed to make us understand why she became so attached to them? Edited August 8, 2009 by hsmom3tn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangermom Posted August 8, 2009 Share Posted August 8, 2009 I'm not sure you're supposed to be able to figure out the answers to those questions. I know I never have--I've read it like three times, trying to figure it out, and never have really understood it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelly in the Country Posted August 8, 2009 Share Posted August 8, 2009 This is one of my all time favorite books! I had to write some type of literary analysis paper in high school on any work I chose, and I chose this one :001_smile:. It's been a number of years, but if I recall correctly there is no pat answer to this. For my paper I had to read analysis of this book by other people. Both interpretations have their followings. Again, it's been awhile, but I also seem to remember Henry James being asked about this (or maybe it was another story with a ghost in it) and he seemed to acknowledge he liked to play around (imaginatively) with the idea of there being ghosts, so this would seem to support the notion that it's just a straight up ghost story. But then the governess could have just been a little loony. Who knows? But isn't it a great book? I love Henry James. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Word Nerd Posted August 8, 2009 Share Posted August 8, 2009 I think you could read it either way because it's intentionally ambiguous, but I prefer the idea that they were really ghosts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeAndTheBoys Posted August 8, 2009 Share Posted August 8, 2009 I do think it's vague intentionally--I read this in college and now you're making me want to read it again :) thanks! Betsy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OhM Posted August 8, 2009 Share Posted August 8, 2009 Thanks for mentioning - I've never read it. And I've been looking for something to pick up next - I'll have to check it out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mothersweets Posted August 8, 2009 Share Posted August 8, 2009 I'm in the middle of reading this and am starting to wonder the same thing. Is the governess a little off her rocker or are the kids just kinda creepy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsmom3tn Posted August 8, 2009 Author Share Posted August 8, 2009 If you haven't read it, or are currently reading it, I'm very sorry for the spoilers. :( I'm glad that there don't seem to be an correct answers to these questions, because I've been feeling like an idiot for not figuring it all out, LOL. When the governess found Flora by the lake and neither Mrs. Grose nor Flora could see (or would admit to seeing) Miss Jezzel, I thought then that maybe it was really all in her head. I thought I had it all figured out and then the ending made me confused all over again. It was a very interesting story, though. I like a good ghost story without all of the gore that Hollywood has to add to it. You don't need all the blood and guts, just suspense... and a maybe a crazy lady, too. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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