Turn of the Screw Unreliable Narrator

Turn of the Screw Unreliable Narrator Vision or perspective is a key theme that reoccurs in both the film entitled The Innocents by Jack Clayton, and novel Turn of the Screw by Henry James. They both suggest that the governesses vision is not dependable making her an unreliable narrator. Throughout the novel and the film the governess is certain that she sees ghosts and tries to convince Mrs. Grose, the housekeeper, to acknowledge their presence as well. The crucial question that is left unanswered in both novel and film is the existence of the ghosts. According to Banard, the governess is a neurotic spinster whose repressed passion for her employer, the childrens bachelor uncle causes her to hallucinate (Banard 199). The governess comes across similar to a boy crazy teenager who sees a man and falls head over heels in love with him. The governess exhibits much behaviour which makes her seem like she has a couple of her screws loose in her head. From the beginning of the novel the governess presents herself in a way that barely qualifies herself for the job as the childrens governess. The initial narrator, Douglas describes the governess as young, untried, nervous (James 121). From the first chapter the governess suggests that she is a somewhat moody person describing her past as a succession of flights and drops (James 123). It makes her seem like taking the job as a governess would be a bad idea because she is quite sensitive and fickle. By making us aware of her changes in mood, it makes her come across as nervous, emotional, and not necessarily reliable. Her instability creates a feeling of uncertainty to the readers which makes us uncertain that we can trust her point of view in the narrative. While the instability makes us, the readers doubt her, the uncle does not pick up on that unstableness at all for all he wants is someone to keep his niece and nephew out of his way so he can continue his life as an eligible bache lor. She even doubts herself, saying she feels she is making a mistake, felt all my doubts bristle again, felt indeed sure I had made a mistake.'(James123). It is the uncle who makes the mistake because he hires her even though she has no experience and does not know much about the job. When she arrives to Bly, she becomes irrational when she discovers that Miles, one of the children she is to care for has been expelled from school. As she constantly inquires about why he was sent away, Miles never answers her questions as to why he was expelled which makes her much more sceptical of him because he is acting like he is hiding something. Instead of writing to the school to investigate the real reason why Miles was expelled she conquers up her own reason rather than finding out the truth. She lets her imagination run wild about a little boy she barely knows concluding that Miles is an evil child which is why he was thrown out of school. The governess is very curious about the reason b ehind Miles expulsion but chooses to complicate the situation rather than just contacting the school. Her scepticism is obvious more in the film for she asks Miles quite frequently and never really responds. Without any proof she labels Miles and spends the rest of the novel and film trying to help him. In the end she discovers the truth finally; Miles was expelled because he said things to other boys at the school. The governess finally gets some answers when interrogating Miles in the last few chapters of the text although they are still vague: No, I didnt steal my handsshook him as if to ask him why, if it was all for nothing, he had he condemned me to months of torment. What then did you do? Well- I said things. Was it to everyone? I asked No- only a few. Those I liked. And did they repeat what you said? Oh yes, he nevertheless replied- they must have repeated them. To those they liked. (James 233-235). Even early on the novel she is proving herself to be unfit for the position she has acquired, in this particular scene she is interrogating Miles to find out answers. Instead of being the comforting caregiver like she was hired to be, the governess cross-examines the children similar to a criminal that is on trial. Even finding out the truth frustrates her because his answer is so vague. The governesses attitude towards the children makes her perspective as a narrator seemed biased and somewhat deceitful, she labels the children early on in the story which prevents us from seeing the childrens perspective as well. The technique James uses in his writing makes the text ambiguous for her chooses to tell the story from the perspective of the governess, an unreliable narrator which characterizes his writing. As Voltteler indicates in his argument, by using this technique the reader often witnesses events through the eyes of the character whose perception may be clouded by personal jealou sly, misunderstanding or self-deception (Votteler 263). In the case of the governess, her vision is clouded by her lust for the uncle. In addition to her desire for the uncle, she often sees Peter Quint or Miss Jessel but nobody else seems to acknowledge their presence when she points them out making it seem like she is the crazy one. In the film, the governess who is named Miss Gibbons goes looking for Flora by the lake and Miss Jessel appears and she tells Flora to look. When Flora indicates in the film that she has no idea what the governess is talking about she interrogates her and tries to force Flora into saying that she sees the ghost of Miss Jessel, someone whom Flora was close to and who died within the past year. When Mrs. Grose admits that she didnt see the ghost either, she is accused of betraying her for Mrs. Grose never did disagree with Miss Gibbons claims in neither the novel nor the film. In the novel, the governess calls Flora you little unhappy thing (James 213) and points Miss Jessel out from across the lake implying that Flora sees her. Flora replies scared and horrified that Miss Jessel was eve n brought up. I dont know what you mean. I see nobody. I see nothing. I never have. I think youre cruel. I dont like you!'(James 215). In the film, Clayton accentuates this scene by making Flora seem like she is corrupted not by the ghost but by Miss Giddons. In the film Flora seems like an innocent young girl and when Miss. Giddons questions her Flora looks as if she really does not see Miss. Jessel and it makes her quite upset. This scene emphasizes that Flora now sees that her governess is unfit and is corrupted. In forcing Flora to admit that she sees her previous governess, Flora then begins to think that Miss Giddons is wicked and cannot be trusted anymore. According to Wilson, there is never any reason for supposing that anybody but the governess sees the ghosts. She believes that the children see them, but there is never any proof that they do (Wilson 117). Not many questions are answered in the novel and the film; Clayton keeps with the ambiguous tone that is evident in the novel. Even the title of the film, The Innocents gives the viewer the idea that the governess is crazy and the children are merely just being children, a concept which the governess chooses to ignore. So when the children act in way that the governess does not understand she thinks that the children are corrupt and she must save them. In keeping with a similar representation among both the film and novel, it allows the viewer to decide for themselves. Either she is a crazy, hallucinating governess or the ghosts are real and the children are in on the plan to drive her out of Bly. Additionally, in the novel the governess has a fascination with gothic literature therefore she is hallucinating because she is a disturbed because she reads dark stories in her free time. What the governess first does after she sees Quint is compare it to her reading of gothic novels with romantic heroines. Was there a secret at Bly- a mystery of Udolpho or an insane, an unmentionable relative kept in unsuspected confinement?'(James 138). Since she loves reading such dark stories, they are all she has to compare what is happening in Bly to. When she first sees a man walking along the roof of the house all she can describe is what the figure looked like, but on her second sighting she feels that Quint was looking for someone other than her. This is important because as the story progresses her claims about the ghosts get more biased. Even though in the film there is no mention of her fascination with gothic books we still grasp that Miss Giddons mentality is not stable, making her an unfit caretaker. Afterwards the governess claims to know many things that cannot be proven, ridiculous claims based on her senses undermine her trustworthiness as a narrator in the novel. As well, when she sees these ghosts she is not certain that they are the deceased governess and valet until Mrs. Grose tells her that Miss Jessel, the previous governess and Peter Quint, the valet died nearby the house in Bly. The governess has no proof in the novel, whereas in the film an addition point is added, while playing hide and seek with the children, Miss Giddens finds an old photo of a man who Mrs. Grose identifies as Peter Quint. The additional proof added in the film makes the plot more believable because it means that Miss Giddens had some evidence to back up her claims. In the novel, all we are told about Quint is that he is handsome but it is really impossible to know how much the ghost the governess sees resembles Quint. According to Wilson, James knew what he was doing and he int ended the governess to be suffering from delusions. The governess could have learned about Quints appearance from the people in the village who with whom we know she had talked and who had presumably also told her of the manner of Quints death (Wilson 153).There are many ways she could have found out more information about the deaths of these two former employees which could have made her more delusional. Although neither the novel nor the film discuss her speaking to the other people in the town, we must not assume that the mansion is the only home in that part of England. So in conclusion, in both novel and film there is a recurring theme of unreliability of perception. The governess is shown as an unreliable narrator preventing us from seeing more than just her perspective. Her vision is contaminated by her lust for the childrens uncle who she falls head over heels in love with. From the beginning she is described in terms which make her perspective not trustworthy since she is described as moody. Throughout the novel and the film the governess is certain that she sees ghosts and tries to convince Mrs. Grose and the children that the ghost of Peter Quint and Miss Jessel are a reality. Lastly, her fascination with gothic literature enables her to see aspects of evil which may not be really there. As she imagines scenes from her book, she believes she is seeing ghosts which are not really there. So on the whole, many incidents contribute to the belief that the governess is just hallucinating the ghosts and corrupting Flora and Miles by frightening them .

Republic Day Essay

Our country celebrates our Republic Day on the 26th of January every year. This day is of a great importance in the history of our freedom struggle. On this day in 1930 we took a pledge on the banks of river Ravi at Lahore that we will struggle for the achievement of complete indepen-dence ( Poorna Swarajya ) of India. We became independent on 15th August 1947. We chose 26th January 1950 as our Republic Day. Our new Constitution came into force from this day. India was declared to be a Sovereign, Socialistic, Secular and Democratic Republic. It means the people of our country govern themselves. We have no king and are free of external domination. Every year on 26th January we celebrate our Republic Day with great pomp and show. At National level a grand function is held at Rajpath in New Delhi. The President of India unfurls the National Flag and the National Anthem is sung. The Rashtrapati takes the salute from all the three wings of our Armed Forces. Police, Home Guards and N.C.C. also participate. The march past is followed by a display of tanks, aeroplanes and guns of the armed forces. Military bands also take part in the parade and play patriotic tunes. The school children in colorful dresses take part in the parade and give colorful P.T. show. Jhankis’ from all the States and Union Territories of India participate in the parade. Folk dances from all the States participate in the celebrations. They present their traditional dances and culture to the people. Airplanes in various formations fly overhead and drop petals of’ roses and other flowers. At night all the important Government buildings are illuminated. Similar functions are held at all the State capitals and major cities in the country. Our National Festivals remind us of all the sacrifices made by our people for the sake of our freedom. This reminds us that our freedom is hard won and we should defend it by all means.

12 Angry Men: Art of Persuation Essay

According to the legal system of the United States, every man put on trial is considered innocent until proven guilty. In the beginning of the film 12 Angry Men, however, this theory can almost be considered false to the jurors involved in a murder case. This 18-year-old Italian boy from a slum is on trial for stabbing his father to death. It is apparent that most jurors have already decided that the boy is guilty, and that they plan to return their verdict quickly, without even taking time for discussion. However, one juror, Juror Eight, stands alone against eleven others to convince them that the boy is not guilty, which means that he needs to persuade 11 other jurors from all walks of life, each with his own agenda, fears, and personal demons. In order to do so, he must prove with enough valid evidence that this boy is wrongfully accused of killing his father. Although this sounds like an impossible mission, he ultimately persuades the other 11 jurors to change their mind, with the reasonable doubts he finds during the debate, and more important, the superior persuasion techniques. See more: Is the Importance of being earnest a satirical play essay To sum up, Juror Eight uses incremental persuasion during the debate in the small private room. When persuading, he does so one small step at a time. He gets the rest of jurors to agree to a small point, and then gets agreement on a further smaller point. Then another and another until he has got them to his final destination. The brilliant part of it is that Juror Eight makes each small point very easy to accept and as logical as possible so none of the rest can really object to it. The debate starts with the first round of vote, in which all jurors except Juror Eight vote for guilty. After the first round of vote, he calls into question the accuracy and reliability of the only two witnesses to the murder, the rarity of the murder weapon and the overall questionable circumstances. He further concludes that he cannot in good conscience vote â€Å"guilty† when he feels there is reasonable doubt of the boy’s guilt. However, it looks like Juror Eight has no way to change his situation at all unless he can obtain additional support from any of the rest, and it is obviously difficult to persuade one juror to be the first one changing his vote. At that point, Juror Eight subtly use a persuasion method called final request. By doing so, he simply completes his argument, and asks the jurors to do just one more thing. He then takes a bold gamble that requests another anonymous vote. His proposal is that he will abstain from voting, and if the other eleven jurors are still unanimous in a guilty vote, then he will acquiesce to their decision. The secret ballot is held, and a new â€Å"not guilty† vote appears. Juror Nine becomes the first to support Juror 8, feeling that his points deserve further discussion. To continue, Juror Eight points out the first reasonable doubt. Based on his argument, one of the witnesses’ testimony, which claimed to have heard the boy yell â€Å"I’m going to kill you† shortly before the murder took place, could not be treated as sound evidence. In this situation, the persuasion technique being used by Juror Eight is Plain Folks. He tries to sell the jurors a message as an ordinary person, and the jurors are to believe that because they feel that Juror Eight is just like them and can be trusted. Juror Eight states that he used to live very close to the rail, and he cannot hear anything while the train passes. Therefore the old man is unlikely to hear the voices as clearly as he had testified. Also, he stresses that people say something like â€Å"I’m going to kill you† constantly at daily life but never literally mean it. Eventually, he persuades Juror 5, who had grown up in a slum, to change his vote to â€Å"not guilty. † In addition, Juror Eight uses another scheme to question the witness’s other claim. Upon hearing the murder, the witness had gone to the door of his apartment and seen the defendant running out of the building. However, he had an injured leg which amputates his ability to walk. Juror Eight tries to persuade the jurors by using evidence this time. In order to maximize the evidence’s effect, he lets the audiences engaged and involved in a walking experiment. Upon the end of the experiment, the jury finds that the witness wouldn’t have made it to the door in enough time to actually see the defendant running out. And come to the conclusion that, judging from what he heard earlier, the witness must have merely assumed it was the defendant running. At the same time, Juror Three, who looks irritated throughout the process, is about to explode. Juror 8 cleverly catches the chance and applies the persuasion technique called double bind to it. Double bind is a situation where a person has a choice (typically between two options), but whichever way they choose, they lose out, often with the same result. This situation may occur by chance, but in persuasion it is often carefully engineered by the persuader. He calls Juror Three a sadist, saying that he wants the defendant to die purely for personal reasons rather than the facts. This led to Juror Three’s explosion. He can’t help shouting out â€Å"I’ll kill him! And Juror Eight calmly retorts, â€Å"You don’t really mean you’ll kill me, do you? † Thus proving the point he mentioned earlier. This eventually turns Juror Two and Juror Six decide to vote â€Å"not guilty†, tying the vote at 6 to 6. This is absolutely a turning point in the film. At that time, every juror, no matter what his vote is, has started to realize Juror Eight might be eventually capable of changing the verdict. Furthermore, Juror Four states that he doesn’t believe the boy’s alibi, which was being at the movies with a few friends at the time of the murder. Juror Eight then tests how well he can remember the events of previous days. Juror Eight uses a persuasion technique called logos here. He focuses on cool logic and rational explanation to concrete his argument. When Juror Four only remembers the events of the previous five days, Juror Eight can easily draw to a conclusion that even an intellectual person like Juror Four cannot remember every single detail in his life. He continues to set up another premise: the accused has a huge fight with his father, and he was accused by the police soon after he finds out his father is dead. Therefore it is reasonable to conclude that he is under great emotional stress. With that saying, the jurors should not attribute the fact that he forgets the movie’s name as evidence that he kills his farther. Another question by Juror Two is that whether the accused, who was nearly a foot shorter than his farther, was able to stab him in such a way as to inflict the downward stab wound found on the body. Again, Juror Eight uses evidence by conducting an experiment to see if it’s possible for a shorter person to stab downward into a taller person. The experiment proves that it’s possible. This result probably is leading to juror’s incline to â€Å"guilty† again. However, Juror Five then explains the correct use of a switchblade, that no one so much shorter than his opponent would have held a switchblade in such a way as to stab downward, as it would have been too awkward. With Juror Five’s help, Juror Eight then continues to persuade the jurors by one of the most complex techniques in persuasion, reframing. This technique requires the person to step back from what is being said and done and consider the frame. Then he leads people to consider alternative lenses, effectively saying ‘let’s look at it another way. ‘ And finally he changes attributes of the frame to reverse meaning. In this case, With Juror Five’s word, Juror Eight successfully reframes the outcome of the experiment as sound evidence that provides another reasonable doubt for the accused. This revelation augments the certainty of several of the jurors in their belief that the defendant is not guilty. The last reasonable doubt is that the witness who allegedly saw the murder had marks in the sides of her nose, indicating that she wore glasses. To persuade Juror Four, Juror Eight tries to use the method called truth by association. He cannily asks Juror Four if he wears his eyeglasses to sleep, and Juror Four admits no one does. Here, in order to produce a convincing argument that something is true, Juror Eight first associates it with something else that is already accepted as true. He proves that the witness must wear glasses, and then explains that there was thus no reason to expect that the witness happened to be wearing her glasses while trying to sleep, not to mention that the attack happened so swiftly that she would not have had time to put them on. According to these truths, Juror Four finally admits that there is reasonable doubt in the case and changes his vote as â€Å"not guilty†. Throughout the debate, Juror Eight always seeks to increase the significance of certain elements that he wants the jurors to take more seriously or see as particularly important. The persuasion technique applied here is repetition. He continuously repeats sentences such as â€Å"We are deciding on a man’s life. †, â€Å"It is possible. †, â€Å"People can be wrong. † and â€Å"Are you sure? †, etc. The repetition of words not only causes it to become remembered (which is persuasive in itself), it also leads the jurors to accept what is being repeated as being true. With no doubt, by doing so, Juror Eight achieves the result he wants. In conclusion, this film shows how Juror Eight’s excellent persuasion skills can change other’s life. More important, while keeping his persuasion so effective, he has never done something unethical to persuade others, such as threating or lying. One of the insights that everyone should learn from this film is that one ought to stand up and exert his utmost efforts to fight for his point of his view. And with the powerful persuasion technique and the faith in ethic, everyone has the chance to make a difference.

Simple Analysis of Diction in the Scarlet Letter - 715 Words

Passage 1 Analysis In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne often demonstrates the frailty of humans. Nature is often described as beautiful, while the Puritan society and human nature are viewed in a harsh light. Hawthorne illustrates that human nature is flawed and judgmental through use of figurative language, critical diction, and symbolism. Figurative language plays a vital role in The Scarlet Letter, and this is evident as early as the first chapter. The passage pertaining to a rosebush in particular contains many instances of figurative language, as the rose-bush had been â€Å"kept alive in history† and may have existed because Ann Hutchinson entered the prison door. Hawthorne directly tells the reader that he wants the†¦show more content†¦The very scarlet letter from which the novel’s name is derived from is a symbol of sinning; the scarlet letter represents how Puritan society views sinning as unforgivable and something for public speculation. 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