Manipulation in "the Aspern Papers"

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Juliana passes shortly after this scene so the narrator got part of what he wanted but he hasn’t completed the quest he came for in the first place. The narrator sees little hope in the appearance of Miss Tina which makes him think maybe he can go through with just companionship to acquire the papers. Right before anything transpires the narrator runs away from her proposal and then he returns to find out that Tina has burned the papers which brings him to end his deception because everything he did was for those papers.

Turning to the author's perspective on the manipulation and conflict of the characters between each other seem to feed the story. In a way he seems to make the deception in to a game between two sides. One side being the narrator trying to pursue the papers. On the other Juliana Bordereau looking for money and a companion for her niece. Miss Tina sort of becomes a innocent bystander being a pawn in this game of lies and manipulation. "The women are a means to an end: Juliana is an old dragon guarding a treasure, Miss Tina a simple-minded creature who exists only to be manipulated by the narrator."(leena) Some may think Tina has a hand in this giant web of lies but I think she is too naive to be caught in the mess of things. Also in the beginning of the story Miss Tina seems to like the narrator and is the only one who trusts him.

Henry James makes his characters determined in what they are chasing and don’t seem to fold in their lies. James gives the impression that people have a dark side to them and that they will cross the boundaries of their morals. People are willing to overlook other people in their way and put them behind them just to obtain something that they put on a pedestal. My point in the case of the narrator's character, he was almost willing to marry a girl he had no affection for just to get the Aspern papers for his obsession. In the example of Juliana her greed and motives put the narrator on a pursuit to a dead end. "On one hand, we spend much of our time—far more than we would imagine—morally judging the character and behaviour of others. On the other, we are also generally loath to make moral judgments about other people."(Oderberg) In a way everyone can relate to this story because between these three characters they do what we all do and that is making a constant attempt at morally judging each other to see where we all stand in life.

Overall "The Aspern Papers" was a solid depiction of how far some people will go to get the things they want. Some people see no object in money or the feelings of others around them. The story really makes you think of the motives behind these characters. In a way this novella reminds me of a Shakespeare play, not as thorough with many characters but the secrets and lies that each character keeps from each other. "So we have four possible combinations: (i) a good, true reputation; (ii) a good, false reputation; (iii) a bad, true reputation; (iv) a bad, false reputation. We all hold reputation to be of moral importance"(Oderberg) Reputation in this story is what seems to be a underlying factor in the way each character is trying to make one to persuade each other of their intentions. In the end you could say the narrator had good intentions for himself but ultimately made a bad reputation with him telling no truth through his journey.

Lies, deception, manipulation whatever it may be there's always going to be a place and time where someone is using these tactics. It could be a small white lie maybe to protect the truth from someone so they won't get hurt. Other times it could be a big manipulative tangle of lies that could eventually hurt someone. With people you can never truly tell where there true intentions may lie until you can build a trust or a moral judgment of that person but until you find out their true design they may exploit you to get to where they want to be in life.

Bibliography

James, Henry. The Aspern Papers. 1888.

Leena. Henry James: The Aspern Papers. 26 April 2013. .

Oderberg, David S. The Morality of Reputation and the Judgment of Others. 2016. .