Fear Not

This episode is a psychological study of characters’ insecurities. The heated argument between Buffy and Willow at the hunted house revealed their own fears. Buffy wished the gang to leave the hunted house at once and used Giles as an excuse. She then admitted that her true reason was that she doesn’t think she could protect everyone. Thus, the fear demon separated the gang. Willow wanted to use her magic to help Buffy, but got scorned by Buffy for her inconsistent magic. Thus, when Willow summoned a guidance light, it backed fire. Oz, trying hard to fit in with other people, worried most about the wolf inside him overpowering him and come out. Xander felt out of the loop, when his friends were going to a party that he didn’t hear about. This translated to him becoming invisible. At the end, when everyone prepared for the worst for the entrance of the fear demon, they were surprised at how small fear demon was. This was commenting on the source of the fear being small, but people magnify it out of proportion, which was what the governess did in The Turn of The Screw. One of the central enigmas in the novel was what got Miles expelled from the school. The answer to this is simple. Had the governess asked the school, she would learn the truth. However, she didn’t ask that question until the very last chapter, and before hand she allowed her speculation keep on growing, such as the possible relation between Peter Quint’s Ghost and Miles.