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Theme Of Ghost In A Christmas Carol

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Ghosts or Hoax: The Reality of the ‘Hauntings’ at Bly Throughout time, literature has raised the question of whether ghosts are real or merely figments in the minds of the people who see them. In Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge journeys through the past, present, and future events of his life with three apparitions. Forced to face the consequences of his choices, Scrooge learns the true meaning of Christmas and reforms his life. Scrooge is the sole witness of these apparitions which suggest that Scrooge's stress, greed, and guilt cause these spirit visions. Henry James also writes of ghost visions caused by personal stress and struggle. In James’s The Turn of the Screw, the governess fabricates a story of ghosts haunting …show more content…

The initial sign of her mental deterioration occurs just after her first vision of Peter Quint where, “Agitation, in the interval, certainly had held me and driven me, for I must, in circling about the place, have walked three miles; but I was to be, later on, so much more overwhelmed that this mere dawn of alarm was a comparatively human chill” (17). She becomes increasingly overwhelmed as her job duties increase. As the stress engulfs her mind, she envisions a “remarkably” handsome man (23) to create a brief escape. In addition to her mental decline, the governess does not take care of herself physically. For example, she barely sleeps, “yet I hadn't really, in the least, slept: I had only-- I had forgotten” (65). This lack of sleep causes the governess to be forgetful. Specifically, she loses track of Flora and then fabricates a story that Flora escaped to the lake to be with her former dead governess, Miss Jessel. This physical decline further challenges the governess’s mental state. The subtle visit by Peter Quint outside the living room window before church questions her sanity. She rushes outside with confidence to see her visitor, “ I remember the clear assurance I felt that none of [the big trees or shrubberies] concealed him. He was there or was not there: not there if I didn’t see him” (20). Once outside, she does not see Peter, and she begins to question her own mental …show more content…

Throughout the novella, the governess displays arrogance, boasting about how good she is for the children, stating, “I was in these days literally able to find a joy in the extraordinary flight of heroism the occasion demanded of me” along with “I confess I rather applaud myself as I look back!” (27). Furthermore, she shows that she is the best defense for the children. She never wants to tell anyone in the home, except for Mrs. Grose, that she sees ghosts. After Quint appears, she says, “This chance presented itself to me in an image richly material. I was a screen--I was to stand before them. The more I saw, the less they would” (27). In addition to being a screen, she almost perform a sort of exorcism to “dispossess” Miles of Quint (86). By not for warning anyone of these apparitions, it puts herself in a position to be the only one to protect the children. Being the sole protector increases her power in the home which is another selfish motive. Not only trying to make herself look good to appease her narcissistic nature, she also uses her position to appeal to the uncle, who is the main reason she took the governess job. It is noted that, “The moral of which was of course the seduction exercised by the splendid young man. She succumbed to it” (6). The deteriorating conditions are just a part of the burdens of taking the job, which she takes because of her infatuation with

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