Ambiguity And Unfulfillable Gaps In The Turn Of Th

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The abundance of interpretations and critical analyses of The Turn of the Screw points out the ambiguity of Henry James's writing style. The reality of the ghosts, their character, the nature of their relationship with the children, the type of corrupting influence they exert on the children and the reason behind Miles's dismissal are some of the ambiguous topics which have been at the centre of countless critical essays. While the reality of the ghosts can be questioned in light of the narrator's reliability, the other ambiguities mentioned above all appear in some of the governess's conversations with Mrs Grose and Miles, however, they are never tackled in an explicit or unequivocal manner. Indeed, gaps occur because the use of vague words, indefinite articles and blanks contributes to the ambiguities of the story, rather than helping to give a definite interpretation. While the reality of the ghosts and therefore their identity is questionable, it does affect the interpretation of the influence that they allegedly exert on the children. The nature of their influence stems from the personality and the behaviour of Peter Quint and Miss Jessel and from the relationship between themselves and the children, which are described in vague words in conversations between Mrs Grose and the governess. Indeed, when they discuss the character of Peter Quint in chapter 6, Mrs Grose describes Quint as “much too free” (51) and “too free with every one!” (51), which opens the interpretation of not only the object of Quint's free relationship, but also its nature. Though Mrs Grose evokes Quint in relation to Miles in this conversation, the vagueness of the indefinite pronoun she uses implies Miles was not the only one with whom Quint was “too free”. Indeed, in a later conversation, after Mrs Grose refers to Quint and Miss Jessel as “both infamous” (58) the governess guesses that
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