When he was
sent back to England from Burma due to
ill-health, young Munro was alienated and given a strict boarding-school
upbringing by his aunts. As a result his
short stories often feature young people playing pranks on adults. “Open Window”
was first collected in Beasts and Super Beasts in 1914.
Setting
·
A rural area in
the early 20th century
Point of View:
- A third-person narrative
- This allows a narrator to portray events from a variety of points of view, conveying what all of the characters are doing and what they are feeling or thinking.
- For most of the story, the reader shares Mr. Nuttel’s point of view.
- Like Mr. Nuttel, the reader is at the mercy of Vera’s story.
- The reader remains, however, after Mr. Nuttel has fled and thus learns that Vera’s story was nothing but a tall tale.
Characters
Vera
·
“A
self-possessed young lady of fifteen”
·
Imaginative,
mischievous, and witty
·
“My aunt will
be down presently, Mr Nuttle … in the meantime you must try and put up with me”
– this is a warning to the visitor to be alert
·
She asks Nuttle
leading questions:
o
Do you know
many of the people round here?
o
Then you know
practically nothing about my aunt?
Framton Nuttle
·
Weak-willed –
allows others to direct his life
·
He had come to
Vera’s area for a “nerve cure”
·
Self-absorbed –
“laboured under the tolerably wide-spread delusion that total strangers and
chance acquaintances are hungry for the least detail of one’s ailments and
infirmities”
·
Unimaginative
o
He notes the
fact the room showed signs of masculine occupants and the window could have
been left open because of the unusual heat “for the time of the year”.
o
But he does not
make the connection between these signs and Vera’s story
·
Gullible –
o
Believes Vera’s
story completely though Mrs. Sappleton does not show any sign of insanity.
o
He believes it
was an “unfortunate coincidence that he should have paid his visit on this
tragic anniversary”
·
Lacks
confidence – “endeavours to say the correct thing” and tries to change the
topic to something “less ghastly”
Themes
·
Appearance and
reality
o
Saki demonstrating how difficult it can be to distinguish
between appearance and reality
o
Not only does Mr. Nuttel fall victim to Vera’s joke, but so
does the reader.
o
Vera, through
her stories, make her aunt appear to have gone mad
o
Her uncles to
be ghosts
o
And Mr. Nuttle
to be terrified of dogs and a hypochondriac
·
Treatment of
the outsider
o
Edwardian
society was not kind to outsiders as Munro himself had found out
o
Nora’s
treatment of Nuttle
·
Satire on the
Edwardian society
o
Edwardian
society was proud of its sophistication, manners and outside polish
o
Saki lays bare
the cruelty beneath its surface
·
Sanity and
Insanity
o
“The Open
Window” shows just how fine the line can be between sanity and insanity.
o
Mr. Nuttel’s
susceptibility to deceit is no different from that of the reader of the story.
o
Yet Mr. Nuttel
is insane, and the reader, presumably, is not.
Techniques:
1.
The structure
of the story is actually that of a story-within-a-story.
- The “frame” story is that of Mr. Nuttel’s arrival at Mrs. Sappleton’s to introduce himself
- Within this narrative frame is the second story told by Mrs. Sappleton’s niece.
2.
Irony –
“Romance at short notice” was Nora’s “speciality”
3.
Symbols
- The open window:
·
Saki uses the
symbol ironically by having the open window, an object one might expect would
imply honesty, as a symbol of deceit.
·
At the
beginning it comes to symbolize Mrs. Sappleton’s heartbreak at the loss of her
husband and younger brother.
·
When the truth
is later revealed, the open window symbolizes the very deceit itself.
The
Open Window - Analysis
o "The
Open Window" was first collected in Beasts and SuperBeasts in
1914.
o Saki's
wit is at the height of its power in this story of a spontaneous practical joke
played upon a visiting stranger.
o Saki
dramatizes here the conflict between reality and imagination, demonstrating how
difficult it can be to distinguish between them.
o Not
only does the unfortunate Mr. Nuttel fall victim to the story's joke, but so
does the reader.
o The
reader is at first inclined to laugh at Nuttel for being so gullible.
o However,
the reader, too, has been taken in by Saki's story and must come to the
realization that he or she is also inclined to believe a well-told and
interesting tale.
Style
o
“The Open Window” is the story of a deception, perpetrated
on an unsuspecting, and constitutionally nervous man, by a young lady whose
motivations for lying remain unclear.
Structure
o
The most remarkable of Saki’s devices in “The Open Window”
is his construction of the story’s narrative.
o
The structure of the story is actually that of a
story-within-a-story.
o
The larger “frame” narrative is that of Mr. Nuttel’s arrival
at Mrs. Sappleton’s house for the purpose of introducing himself to her.
o
Within this narrative frame is the second story, that told
by Mrs. Sappleton’s niece.
Symbolism
o
The most important symbol in “The Open Window” is the open
window itself.
o
When Mrs. Sappleton’s niece tells Mr. Nuttel the story of
the lost hunters, the open window comes to symbolize Mrs. Sappleton’s anguish
and heartbreak at the loss of her husband and younger brother.
o
When the truth is later revealed, the open window no longer
symbolizes anguish but the very deceit itself.
o
Saki uses the symbol ironically by having the open window,
an object one might expect would imply honesty, as a symbol of deceit.
Narration
o
“The Open Window” is a third-person narrative, meaning that
its action is presented by a narrator who is not himself involved in the story.
o
This allows a narrator to portray events from a variety of
points of view, conveying what all of the characters are doing and what they
are feeling or thinking.
o
For most of the story, until he runs from the house, the
reader shares Mr. Nuttel’s point of view.
o
Like Mr. Nuttel, the reader is at the mercy of Vera’s story.
o
The reader remains, however, after Mr. Nuttel has fled and
thus learns that Vera’s story was nothing but a tall tale.
Tall Tale
1.
Vera’s story is essentially a tall tale. Tall tales are
often found in folklore and legend and describe people or events in an
exaggerated manner.
2.
Vera exaggerates the significance of the open window by
making it the centerpiece of a fabricated tale of tragic loss.
Themes
1.
Appearances and Reality
o
It is no surprise that Mrs. Sappleton’s niece tells a story
that is easy to believe.
o
She begins with an object in plain view, an open window, and
proceeds from there.
o
The window is obviously open, but for the reasons for its
being open the reader is completely at the mercy of Mrs. Sappleton’s niece, at
least while she tells her story.
o
The open window becomes a symbol within this
story-within-a-story, and its appearance becomes its reality.
o
When Mr. Nuttel (and the reader) are presented with a
contrary reality at the end of the story, the result is a tension between
appearance and reality that needs to be resolved: Which is real? Can they both
be real?
2.
Deception
o
Were it not for deception, this story could not happen.
o
The action and irony of the story revolve around the
apparent deception that Mrs. Sappleton’s niece practices.
o
It remains to be seen, however, whether this deception is a
harmless prank or the result of a sinister disposition.
o
If the niece’s deception is cruel, then the reader must
question the motives behind the deception practiced by all tellers of stories,
including Saki himself.
3.
Sanity and Insanity
o
“The Open Window” shows just how fine the line can be
between sanity and insanity.
o
Mr. Nuttel’s susceptibility to deceit is no different from
that of the reader of the story.
o
Yet Mr. Nuttel is insane, and the reader, presumably, is
not.
o
In order to maintain this distinction, Saki forces his
reader to consider the nature of insanity and its causes.
Historical
Context
o Saki
does not
specify when his story takes place, but it is obvious that the story is set in early
in 20th
century
o During
this time, England
was at the peak of its colonial power
o Its
people enjoyed wealth and confidence because of their nation's status in the
world.
o The
wealthy leisure class was perhaps overly confident, not seeing that political
trends in Europe, would lead to World War I
and the resulting destruction of their comfortable way of life.
o It
is this complacency that Saki often mocks in his stories.
Author
Biography
o
Saki, whose real name was Hector Hugh Munro, was born at the
height of English Imperialism in Akyab,
Burma, on
December 18, 1870, to British parents, Charles Augustus and Mary Frances Munro.
o
His father was a colonel in the British military.
o
With illustrator Francis Carruthers Gould, Saki collaborated
on a successful series of political cartoons.
o
His unusual pseudonym comes from the name of a character in
Edward Fitzgerald’s translation of The Rubaiyat, a long poem by
twelfth-century Persian writer Omar Khayyam.
o
Saki is most widely known as a satirist of the English
ruling classes, and his best known short story is “The Open Window.”
o
He is also famous for the character Reginald, who appears in
a number of his short stories.
o
When World War I began, Saki joined the British military as
an enlisted man, though due to his high social rank and education, he could
have enlisted as an officer or worked for military intelligence.
o
Indeed, he refused several offers of commission.
o
He died in action in France on November 14, 1916.
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