The Turn of the Screw - Book Report/Review Example

The text of Henry James "The Turn of the Screw" has been judged the "finest he has ever done" (James. H. 1989 publication. Page number 155) and it was seen as a ". a deliberated, powerful, and horribly successful study of the magic of evil" by the New York Times in 1898. The book had quite a few film and operatic adaptations too. Ambiguity means unclearness by virtue of having more than one meaning or an expression whose meaning cannot be determined from its context. A written story can involve ambiguity in the characters or the story plot.

There can be a sense of uncertainty attached to every factor in the story. The book found itself under a lot of criticism because of its different interpretations and ambiguous nature. Till the end of the book the reader is not able to stick to one conclusion. There is more than one understanding or analysis to this book's context. One wonders whether it is a ghost story or a study of sexual repression. There is a complex interaction between the living and the dead. The real struggle ultimately becomes, not the fight between good and evil, but between contrasting and conflicting aspects of the power of love.

It is a psychological thriller. There is no blood and killing. The readers wonder till the end what really happened. Were ghosts really present or was it just the governess's imaginations Was there something going on with the children They seemed impossibly well-behaved and she constantly pondered over their goodness and beauty.Some people might just consider it a ghost story haunting an old house in an isolated place which eventually leads to a child's death. While to some it may be a story of a strange woman with delusions of people who are no more alive.

Others might feel it was the governess's frustrated hopes or some may even just analyze pure love and protection for the children All of these assertions are true because it depends on how you interpret a certain situation or feeling. These interpretations, no matter how dubious or how absurd they seem, are all possible in the book.The central character is the governess and the plot revolves around her psychological state. She is a young woman of about 20, brought up in a disturbed family with no love and affection.

She was put in charge of supervising two children and fulfilled her responsibility obediently. She is both intelligent and sensitive. She believed her duty to be a protector and zealous guardian for the children and challenge the evil. With just two interviews with her employer, she fell in love with him and somehow wanted to further communicate and win his approval. The employer is the children's uncle who is a charming and wealthy bachelor living in London. His attractiveness was one of the reasons why the governess agreed to take the job at Bly.

Belonging from a poor family where the governess's father is thought a person with a "psychically unbalanced nature" (James. H. 1989 publication. Page number 161) She feels this strange bond towards the children because of her loneliness and lack of warmth and protection from her family and she sees herself as a protector from evil, an evil that might be her imagination or hallucination. "Her whole being tingles with the craving to perform some act of inexplicable courage." (James. H. 1989