The Turn Of The Screw Literary Analysis Essay

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When facing the truth, often the mind cannot comprehend events that are dear to you and your beliefs. In The Turn of the Screw, Henry James’s critically acclaimed novella, he presents a point of view that provides visuals and insight into the narrator’s mind. The story fundamentally deals with supernatural forces. However, through different interpretations, the reliability of the narrator can be questioned. Her own confessions thought process and concrete that is hidden by Henry James. When the book was published during the Victorian era, little to no emphasis was based on the idea of mental health. The majority of readers claimed this as a ghost story with nothing more. When researched and analyzed, it is clear that the story is a mentally …show more content…

When the governess first arrives at Bly, her incapability of realizing that these two children are not hers, led her to be defensive when threatened by the ghost she was seeing. When the governess first encountered a sighting with flora by the lake, it can be seen as an example of this. “No, for God’s sake don’t! She’ll say she isn’t – she’ll lie!” (James 157). When asked by Mrs. Grose if she should confront flora and confirm the sighting, the governess rejects this idea, because in her mind she believes that Flora is her child, she believes her motherly instinct will protect flora, but in reality, she feels Flora will reject her. Victorian women were seen just as stereotypical house mothers, who lived only to serve as caretakers. In the case of the governess, this was her livelihood, which along with a lack …show more content…

Her memory of these events is a justified version of what she believes happened. This may alter the truth in her narration, leading to question the credibility of the source. According to Antonio Damasio, a comparable construct of dynamic memory may be fundamental in establishing human consciousness, which is a process that is linked to two stages known as "autobiographical self". This includes “core self” which creates an autobiographical identity which emerges through a special kind of story. This initial stage both enhances the awareness of the imagery of the “temporal and spatial context” and imposition of an experiential perspective. An instant projection made over and over which is the sense of the self in the act of knowing. This means that the governess reflecting her past, may have led to memory alteration, and what the readers are exposed to, is far from the truth. “That is, consciousness, seemingly a collection of disparate mental projects- thinking, daydreaming, planning, observing, as well as what we usually think of as remembering- occurs in the conjunction with the continuous reproduction of the “self”, or the unifying perspective that lends each separate construction its coherence.” (85). Perhaps her mental illness may have led to hearing needing an identity, along with the times she lived in, she projected her own fears onto the children, as a way to feel a sense of "self". Henry James used a

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