In the novel The Turn of The Screw by Henry James, the title foreshadows the literal torturing by turning a screw in the body to draw out a confession. The reader of the novel has been swayed to believe that the governess imagines that the ghosts are real. If they are not, the governess herself is wrong in professing confessions of evil possession from the children. She acts like a torturer, at one point saying that `another turn of the screw' may be necessary to extract a confession. By reverberating phrases from the title, James is able to unfold the symbolism throughout the novel.

As the governess arrives to the household, she feels welcomed. While strolling through the grounds of the home, she encounters her first ghost, believing he is an ordinary man. Although not frightened about the fear of it being a ghost, she is more afraid...