Fear And Loathing: The Turn Of The Screw By Henry James

Life in Fear and Loathing
Boo! In Henry James’ novella The Turn of the Screw, the Greene theory is the most plausible explanation of the events. The Governess is the murderer of Peter Quint and Miss Jessel, and Quint and Jessel return to haunt Bly. The events result in Mrs. Grose gaining a sense of trepidation around the Governess while her plans to take over Bly are unsuccessful. The Governess has no limits when it comes to getting what she desires.
After killing Quint and Jessel, the Governess comes to Bly to carry out the rest of her machination. She begins by applying to work at the palatial Bly home after very chary waiting for the job opportunity to open up. The children at Bly behave consummately and feign having a sweet personality
to direct the attention of visitors away from the evil horrors at the home.9 The Uncle, who interviews the Governess, chooses not to entail himself because he is overworked and cannot find the time to care for the young children.1 The storyteller describes how she waits to “…answer in person an advertisement…” (James 295). The Governess knows that to gain blatant control of Bly she needs to become an employee and eventually kill everyone at the home. The Governess hears a small child crying outside of her room on her first night at Bly.2 The Governess previously killed Quint and Jessel and it remains a conundrum of the true cause. Mrs. Grose explains how “’They were both here- last year… Mr. Quint is dead’” (James 321). Mrs. Grose speaks of the Uncle in past tense because of a mere a slip of the toungue.4 The Governess eventually kills Miles in his own home, completing a step of her plan. “…I held him… his little heart…had stopped” (James 403). Miles dies because the Governess is psychotic and cannot control her baneful desire for death, resulting in Miles getting strangled.22 The Governess will kill or get rid of any disruptions in her way and complete any task on her journey for complete control of Bly. Many supernatural events occur after the Governess begins her occupation at the Bly home.
Peter Quint and Miss Jessel begin to haunt Bly with the help of Miles and Flora, sanguinely hoping to scare away the Governess forever.
Flora and Miles never speak about Quint and Jessel because they pretend to be ignorant regarding the topic of the ghosts at Bly.7+8 The Governess’ first sighting of Quint takes place on the tower roof. She describes how “He did stand there!- but high up, beyond the lawn and at the very top of the tower…” (James 310). Quint stays speechless, hoping to daunt the Governess and maker her leave Bly.12 Shortly after the roof sighting, Quint appears outside of the window, being auspicious that the Governess will become scared. The Governess recalls, “His face was close to the glass…” (James 316). The Governess remains completely scared after the encounter at the window before church and goes to Mrs. Grose for help because she is now aware that Quint appears to intimidate her.13 Miles goes on the lawn at night to talk to Quint because the Governess sleeps during the later hours of the night, so no one will notice him.10 Jessel scares the Governess the most when she appears across the pond for the second time. Mrs. Grose claims not to see Miss Jessel because she knows it will be a jocular prank towards the Governess.19 She asks Flora and Mrs. Grose, “’You don’t see her exactly as we see’” (James 382). The Governess goes mad after this event because her peers deny the ghost, and to add to the madness, Flora fakes becoming ill.18 Flora gets to the
other side of the lake by taking a boat with the assistance of Miss Jessel.17 The first time Jessel appears, when a child’s presence remains obvious, aims to scare the Governess while she sits down and sews when Flora plays with a toy.16 Quint and Jessel succeed when it comes to scaring the Governess; yet still remain unsuccessful because they allow the Governess to castigate the children. The Governess attempts to learn more about Miles and Quint, but Quint stops the conversation by opening the window so wind easily blows out the candle flame.15 Miles and Flora play a major role in Quint and Jessel’s plan to haunt and scare the Governess away from Bly. Mrs. Grose notices how the Governess behaves with the ghost encounters, and it changes her recapitulating view on the young woman.
Mrs. Grose becomes very fearful of the Governess after realizing what she is capable of doing. She acts happy to see the Governess upon her arrival because she grows sick of Bly and the imputing responsibility of taking charge.3 Mrs. Grose disobeys the Governess without second thought. The Governess remembers how “…he had breakfasted… with Mrs. Grose and his sister” (James 391). The Governess clearly orders that Miles and Flora shall not be with each other and Mrs. Grose breaks the rule. At the pond, Mrs. Grose develops a fear of agreeing with the Governess and denies seeing ghosts along with Flora. Mrs. Grose exclaims, “’She isn’t there, little lady…’” (James 382). Flora and Mrs. Grose know the ghosts exist but deny it towards the Governess in order to aid in Quint and Jessel’s plan.11 Miles is not actually expelled from school, but Mrs. Grose tells the Governess he is to scare her into thinking that he is a cynical child.5 He never speaks about the expulsion because he wants to avoid talking to the Governess about the events.6 Anxious to leave Bly because of the Governess, Mrs. Grose accepts the job of taking Flora to London for better care. Mrs. Grose states in agony, “’Take me away, take me away- oh, take me away…’” (James 383). Mrs. Grose discovers the Governess’ baleful intentions and feels the need to leave Bly immediately. She claims Flora behaves oddly so that she gains a reason to leave with Flora and go to London.20 Even the Governess becomes fearful of her own self after witnessing the damage on the old and tired Mrs. Grose. Mrs. Grose leaving Bly partially ruins the Governess’ plans.
The Governess’ plan to take over Bly and kill the children only partially succeeds and becomes slightly abortive.
She is surprised at how fearful she becomes of the ghosts and fails to realize what they are capable of when it comes to mental destruction. The Governess underestimates the children’s ability to scare the woman, resulting in the Governess banishing Flora from Bly. The Governess feasibly declares, “He must take them away” (James 353). She cannot handle Flora’s games anymore and decides to take her out of the situation by sending her away to London. Mrs. Grose becomes very assiduous in getting the Governess to contact the Uncle because the woman goes crazy and needs someone to oust the Governess form her job.14 The Governess becomes over-fearful of the ghosts and attempts to gather evidence against them. The Governess recalls being “…so determined to have all… proof…” (James 402). Since nobody at Bly arrogates to believe the Governess, she starts to doubt herself and needs proof that the ghosts are real. The Governess remains successful in the sense that she kills one of the children. She grabs Miles with “…what a passion…heart…had stopped” (James 403). Miles truly sees Quint in the dining room and he acts as if Quint is evil, but the Governess catches on and receives motive to kill the boy.21 Miles acts as one of her main targets and succeeds in murdering him. When Flora leaves Bly, the Governess’ plan to take over the home with no witnesses results in
ruin.