Narrative Point of View in the Turn of the Screw

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The effects of narrative point of view in Henry James’ “The Turn of the Screw” The novel The Turn of the Screw written by Henry James is narrated in first person by a man in the beginning who is with Douglas, the one who tells the story about the governess from the letter she sent him. Therefore the story is read by Douglas, which is narrated in first person by the governess. She tells of how there are ghosts on the property (Bly) and how they are trying to get to the children. The governess tries to protect the children from the ghosts who were former employees of the house. Having the story be told in first person can create many effects on how the story is told. For example, having the story narrated by two different people sets a scene of the story, also the accuracy of the story is affected as the governess’ judgement could be clouded by her emotions and the story is shown from the governess’ eyes. In the beginning of the novel, the story starts off with a man in a room gathered around a fire with many people, waiting for Douglas to tell a story about a governess he knew. The man tells of how Douglas new the governess and how she sent him this story. The narrator creates a setting of being in the dark, which shows the same about the story they have yet to hear. “Poor Douglas, before his death – when it was in sight – committed to me the manuscript that reached him on the third of these days and that, on the same spot, with immense effect, he began to read to our hushed little circle on the night of the fourth (James 6-7).” This shows that Douglas is starting to read the story about the governess. This effect of story telling creates an interest in the governess’ story, as it seems more interesting and dark, as many people have gathered in a room to listen to it. Though the author could have kept going in the man’s point of view, he changes to the

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