Thesis: The message of Henry James' The Turn of the Screw is that evil in the realm of human affairs is more subtle, confusing, powerful and horrifying than most human beings would like to believe. The multiversity of interpretations and emotional and psychological responses to the story on the part of critics is evidence of the complexity and subtlety of evil as portrayed by James.
B. James "turns the screw" on the conventional notion of evil, introducing the innocence of good children.
C. James does not "Preach," but rather presents the evil in his story almost dispassionately, at least in terms of his own judgment of it.
A. Some see the story as a masterpiece; others seem to curse its very publication as a sign of evil, calling it "very cruel and untrue."
B. The story is not a scientific treatise, but an exploration of the unknown and unknowable nature of evil.
C. It is meant to entertain, but also to enlighten as to the more subtle and complex nature of evil.
A. Whatever the interpretation of the story, of the evil portrayed, James has clearly meant to convey the "message" that evil is present as a mysterious and Powerfully horrifying force.
Henry James' short novel The Turn of the Screw has as its central message the subtle and powerful suggestion that evil as it is expressed in human affairs is even more horrifying than most human beings imagine. Despite the fact that James in his own writings seems to downplay this message in favor of concentrating on the artistic aspects of the story and its telling, the fact remains that the attentive and sensitive reader of The Turn of the Screw will be affected in ways that cannot be considered uplifting or encouraging about the human condition.
We all know that evil exists in the world, or at least that intentional wrongdoing exists and, to one extent or another, we accept evil, or sin, or gross wrongdoing, as a part of the human enterprise in this im...