The Turn of the Screw

It was as if, at moments, we were perpetually coming into sight of subjects before which we must stop short, turning suddenly out of alleys that we perceived to be blind, closing with a little bang that made us look at each other--for, like all bangs, it was something louder than we had intended--the doors we had indiscreetly opened.

The Turn of The Screw makes its appearance in season one where it marks the hiding place of the Swan Orientation Film. There were two comparisons between the book and the show that I wanted to focus on, they each leave me with questions and they each get a bullet:

Juliet’s Story?

• The first thing I was struck by was the way that the governess was hired and eventually was transported to Bly. To me it seemed to parallel Juliet’s story. The governess recalls the circumstances of her hiring as something that she, “…took a couple of days to consult and consider. But the salary offered much exceeded her modest measure, and on a second interview she faced the music, she engaged.” That was pretty much Juliet’s story. She was made an offer, the money would enable her to do so much and the research aspect of the position was hardly something she could pass up. Yet, she was hesitant to take the job on the island as she didn’t know what it entailed, and for the fact that she would be cut off from her family. Turn of the Screw even goes on to detail the travel arrangements of the governess which include long hours in a “swinging, bumping coach” to a stopping place where they are met by another vehicle that would take her to the house, This is very much like the plane ride and eventually the sub that took Juliet to the island.
  

• When the governess arrives at Bly she instantly is struck by how perfect the children are. Even Miles, who was expelled from school for “something”, can do no wrong. She is quick to see small acts of "badness" as flaws in them and she thinks they are becoming corrupted by the ghosts she keeps seeing. I wonder if that’s how we’re meant to see the island, and specifically is how the island was sold to Juliet. It was meant to be her perfect haven for research. Is that one of the reasons this particular book leads to The Swan Orientation Film? DHARMA was billed as this perfect place, where research could be done without financial limitations or pesky regulations. A place where Juliet could do her research, or where Roger and his son Ben could start a new life and leave their hardships behind. All of the characters that have willingly (Kelvin) signed up for island duty seem to be under the impression that they are signing on to a place that is good, just, and the answer to what they have been looking for. Much like the governess taking the position where she finds the children to be perfect. She learns that Flora and Miles are not perfect, just as the DHARMA recruits learn the same about the island. The orientation films want try to paint us a rosy picture of perfection, while at the same time alluding to something being afoot indicating “the incident” and that the computers should not be used to try to communicate with the outside world. Nothing is as perfect as it initially seems…but we already knew that about the island didn’t we.
  

Ghosts or Madness?

• The second thing that stood out was the ghosts, and seeing people that are not there. Throughout the book the governess sees what she thinks are the ghosts of Peter Quint and Miss Jessel. We are never really certain if she actually sees the ghosts or not, as no one else seems to see them (maybe Miles and Flora, but we're never really sure). She thinks the children are being taken over by the ghosts who are causing them to be bad. It seems that indeed at the end Miles dies because of seeming otherworldly intervention.

• I find it interesting that this character is haunted by the ghosts of people that no one else sees. How many times on Lost have we see the dead walking, and appearing to individual characters only? Jack sees Christian Shepard, Eko sees Yemi, Ben sees his mother. On another level Hurley sees Dave, and again we have the semi transparent shapes of Walt and Jacob. They certainly could be dead, but we don’t know for sure. Ultimately though, we have lots of characters seeing people that for all intensive purposes should not be there.

• In the book it seems that the governess might be going mad. Is that what we are supposed to wonder about the characters on Lost? Are the things they think they are seeing (the impossible things) real, hallucinations, or their minds slipping into madness? Is there some kind of mass hysteria going on here, where like the governess, the characters are trying desperately to pull someone else into their delusions?
  

• In the story Mrs. Gross and Flora eventually cast the governess aside. Becoming horrified at her behavior and delusions, as well as frightened of her. Flora and all of her things are removed from the bedroom of the governess and she is left by herself. Mrs. Gross, claims to believe the governess, then takes Flora away, but not before disobeying her direct order to keep Miles and Flora apart. I wonder if something is being hinted at here. Ben and Locke are the only ones that we know of that have seen Jacob. Up until now it seems the others are willing to accept Ben's word on Jacob. But what if this book is foreshadowing for us some things to come? Perhaps the others will begin to be less accepting of the idea of Jacob and will eventually think that Ben and Locke are going mad. Maybe they think that already, Like Mrs. Gross suspected early on that the governess was acting strange, but kind of went along with it because of her stature in Bly.
  

Final Bullets:

• Is Ben Miles? Is he being bad because he can, and following ghosts or so it seems. Is Ben really as bad as we think he is, or are we just seeing him from the wrong point of view?

• Is Sawyer Miles? Is he being bad because he can, not really following ghosts, but certainly making choices based on the ghosts in his past.

• We were shown this book twice in season one. Were the writers trying to foreshadow Juliet and her story, and/or some sort of impending madness that will soon come to a head?

Later this month: Of Mice and Men