Drew Patti

Mrs. Ryder

AP Literature

August 2015

Book Review: The Turn Of The Screw

“Henry James has created a different kind of ghost story…Although the imagery is remi-

niscent of the gothic genre, the approach is more subtle, inviting the reader to ponder the true na-

ture of the evil that may be present”. This snippet of info is found on the back cover of Henry

James’ The Turn Of The Screw and it couldn’t be more accurate. The Turn Of The Screw tells the

story of ghostly appearances seen at the House of Bly in England by an unnamed narrator, an-

other governess named Mrs. Grose, and the children they are there to watch over, Miles and

Flora.

The Turn Of The Screw is a gothic novella first published in 1898 in London where the

story takes place; and as stated before, it is a different kind of ghost story. Most ghost stories

keep you in suspense throughout the entire story until a big jump scare at the very end; James

takes a different approach. The first ghost, the ghost of Peter Quint, makes his appearance within

days of the narrator’s arrival. With the second ghost, the ghost of Miss Jessel, presence known

soon after Quint’s, the book isn’t even halfway over yet. Not only are the ghosts known early in

the book, their appearances are subtle. There’s no loud noise and sudden appearance out of

nowhere like in the movies; these ghosts just slowly appear in front of you and stay there.

There’s no attack or jump scare, just the pure terror of looking at a ghost who is looking right

back at you and not knowing what’s gonna happen next.

The purpose of The Turn Of The Screw, I believe, is to entertain readers with a ghost

story that goes beyond the typical horror story. The story is written from a possibly obscured first

person point of view. The reason I say obscured is because there is a possibility that the narrator

has lost part of her sanity throughout the story. In writing The Turn Of The Screw, I believe that

Henry James tries to convince the reader of a certain belief’s validity by dramatizing it in action;

the belief of supernatural spirits. With the casual appearances of ghosts during everyday life

James has succeeded in creating a new type of ghost story.

In The Turn Of The Screw, James mainly explores the theme of innocence. Innocence can

be defined simply as purity. This theme can be supported by the author’s thesis: children are eas-

ily corrupted by evil and sinister acts. Throughout the story the narrator describes the children,

especially Miles, as being innocent and pure which is why it’s hard for the narrator to believe

these kids are linked to the ghosts’ appearances. Even after Miles gets kicked out of school for

some unknown reason the narrator says “his indescribable little air of knowing nothing in the

world but love. It would have been impossible to carry a bad name with a greater sweetness of

innocence, and by the time I had got back to Bly with him I remained merely bewildered” (James

22).

The funny thing about the theme of innocence is that no one truly ends up being innocent

except for Mrs. Grose because she is too focused on the thought of imagination. This leads me to

a question; is anybody really innocent? Even when we’re born we’re born into sin, making us im-

pure as infants. So it shouldn’t be too surprising that these children aren’t innocent, but it is, be-

cause of how well James makes the readers believe they are.

The Turn Of The Screw will captivate you before Chapter 1 begins. Each Chapter ends

with a cliffhanger and the action doesn’t end until the story does. The story perfectly describes

the ghost appearances as if you were actually seeing them in front of you. I’ve seen many horror

movies before, and I can say wholeheartedly that I’ve never seen, read, or heard of a story as

uniquely terrifying as this one. If you’re a horror fan you will thoroughly enjoy this story.