A young governess put in sole charge of two small children, Miles and Flora, in a country house called Bly records her progressive discoveries that the children are not innocent but demonic, in communication with the ghosts of their deceased former governess, Miss Jessel, and a male servant, Peter Quint. The young governess fights for the souls of the two children against the pervasive influence of the evil dead. The frustrated narrative desire of the reader mirrors the agitated state of the governess. The ghosts are a clear representation of the tenuous nature of reality.