Quote 2
I
was so determined to have all my proof that I flashed into ice to
challenge him.
“Whom do you
mean by ‘he’?”
“Peter Quint—you
devil!”
This quotation appears in Chapter XXIV
as the governess points out her vision of Quint to Miles and gives the
narrative one final, infuriating layer of ambiguity. The governess
is determined to wrench a confession from Miles, convinced that
doing so will rid him of the demon Quint, and she turns to terrifying
“ice” to get it out of him. Whether she succeeds is never clear,
and Miles’s response remains open to interpretation. If Miles is
referring to Peter Quint as the devil, then Miles’s subsequent death
may imply that he is being dispossessed by the evil demon. If Miles
is referring to the governess as the devil, then his subsequent
death may be a result of the governess’s terrifying insanity. Miles
seems to be indicating the novella’s true villain—but exactly whom
he points out is ambiguous.
The governess’s determination to challenge Miles turns
her into a frightening, aggressive woman. Her aggression may be
justified, since she may have a possessed, cunning little boy on
her hands. If this is the case, her methods can be deemed heroic
and in a certain sense successful, since although Miles dies, he
is rid of his demon. However, if the governess accuses Miles because
of her own irrational logic, her challenging him is all the more
frightening because he cannot make an acceptable defense. Reason
cannot fend off insanity. The governess’s description of herself
as determined, frigid, and cold suggests she realizes in retrospect
that she may have misjudged the situation, but again, the situation
is unclear. Two paragraphs later, the story abruptly ends.
