The Lumber Room

Background of the author: H. H. Munro

The British author Hector Hugh Munro (1870 -1916) published his work under the
pen name Saki. Munro was born in Burma (Myanmar) in 1870. His father was an
inspector general of the Burma police. His mother died in 1872 when Munro was
only two years old. After her death , he with his two older siblings were sent to
England. Their childhood in England was not happy as their two maiden aunts,
Charlotte and Augusta, were very strict disciplinarians who resorted not only to
physical punishment but also cruelty which resulted in psychological trauma.
Religion too played a strong role in the household.

The setting

The setting is in an upper middle class (suggested by the horse –drawn carriage,
with a library and a lumber room with rare items) house in the 19 th century
Edwardian England.

Characterization

The readers are introduced to the main characters: the Aunt and Nicholas and the
minor characters: boy-cousin and girl-cousin and Nicholas’s brother. While the
two main characters are used to develop the dramatic quality of the short story the
minor characters are static.

Nicholas

Nicholas is the protagonist of the story. Some characteristics of Nicholas are as

follows:

 Ability to create and control events

Nicholas is portrayed as a child who is capable of creating and controlling events.

The shrewd way he does this depicts the intelligence of the character too. For
example at the beginning of the story he creates a situation where the Aunt has
‘been proved to be profoundly in error’ in matters about which she had ‘expressed
the utmost assurance’. Further, the dialogue which ensues after the children are
sent on the hastily planned expedition conveys that Nicholas uses impromptu
strategies to put the Aunt who does not have his quick, sharp brain into a difficult
position as she is made aware of the truth, i.e.the children would not enjoy the
expedition, by Nicholas. She loses control of the situation and changes the subject
as she is confronted with loss of face.

Additionally the question and answer session between Nicholas and the Aunt
when while she was in the rain-water tank not only conveys his shrewdness but
also the maturity in strategic handling of the situation.

"Now I know that you are the Evil One and not aunt," shouted Nicholas gleefully;
"when we asked aunt for strawberry jam yesterday she said there wasn't any I
know there are four jars of it in the store cupboard, because I looked, and of course
you know it's there, but she doesn't, because she said there wasn't any. Oh, Devil,
you have sold yourself!"

Thus Nicholas excels in creating and controlling situations to his benefit during a
very short period of time especially when pitted against his slow witted Aunt.

Maturity

Nicholas’s maturity is especially clear when compared with the juvenile behavior
of the other children. Nicholas does not shed a tear when he is excluded from the
expedition though it is expected from him. But in contrast his girl-cousin howls
and weeps when she scraped her knee and ‘the tightness of Bobby's boots had had
disastrous effect on his temper’. The other children suffer without complaining but
Nicholas is not afraid of the Aunt and is smart enough to point out her flaws. He
criticizes her child rearing capabilities pointing out her lack of attention to the
children’s needs which is suggested through the following line.
‘You often don't listen when we tell you important things’.

Thus it seems that he is the only child who rebels against the tyranny of the Aunt.
But what is admirable in his personality is that he remains cool and composed in
all situations. His maturity is shown yet again when his assessment of the outcome
of the expedition is proven correct. The reader does not see happy children at the
tea table describing the fun time they had at the Cove. The reasons pointed out by
Nicholas and one thing overlooked by the Aunt: high tide had destroyed their
enjoyment.

Yet we do not witness a gloating Nicholas as evidence around him was proof
enough for the fact that the expedition had lost its main purpose: make Nicholas
repent his deeds. Furthermore Nicholas has the mature ability of escaping from the
depressing atmosphere around him to enter a fantasy world of his liking
recollecting happy events.

Vivid imagination

Another characteristic is the power of his vivid imagination which is shown

through his response to beauty. In the Lumber room Nicholas sees a tapestry where
‘a man, dressed in the hunting costume of some remote period, had just transfixed
a stag with an arrow’. The tapestry becomes a ‘living-breathing story’ for
Nicholas. His creative ability is brought out vividly as he builds the story and
pictures the fate of the hunter.

‘Nicholas sat for many golden minutes revolving the possibilities of the scene; he
was inclined to think that there were more than four wolves and that the man and
his dogs were in a tight corner’.

Later Nicholas recalls the scene on the tapestry during ‘fearsome silence’ at the tea
table. He creates the end to the story:

‘The huntsman would escape with his hounds while the wolves feasted on the
stricken stag’.
Furthermore his imagination is always ready to animate the inanimate. The sight of
the colourful mandarin duck makes him commence on ‘assigning a life-history to
it’.

All examples above convey and strengthen the idea that Nicholas is not a mere
dreamer but has a vivid imagination and creative power which allows him to
escape the hostile world outside.

Strategist

Nicholas is a strategist. The lumber room was a ‘region that was so carefully sealed
from youthful eyes and concerning which no questions were ever answered’. As
entering the lumber room was prohibited Nicholas strategically plans a way of
exploring its ‘mysteries’. He finds the place where the key is kept and practices
unlocking doors waiting for an opportunity to put the practiced skill in to use by
making his entry to the lumber room quick and smooth.

Yet again the strategic manner Nicholas convinces the Aunt that he was planning
to enter the gooseberry garden not only creates humour but shows that he is able to
outwit his aunt. Accordingly he is able to ‘put into execution a plan of action that
had long germinated in his brain’. The Aunt is made to stay under ‘self-imposed
sentry-duty for the greater part of the afternoon’ leaving him enough time to
explore the ‘unimagined treasures’ hidden in the lumber room. Thus the strategist
in Nicholas takes maximum advantage of all available opportunities not only to
deride the Aunt but also to put his preplanned activities into operation.

Observant

Nicholas is observant. The fact that Bobby has told the Aunt twice that the boots
were hurting him because they were too tight but she was not listening had been
noted down by the sharp-eyed Nicholas.

Intelligent and smart

Nicholas is intelligent and has a sharp, quick mind. The logical built up of the
argument to prove that it is not the aunt but ‘the Evil One tempting him to be
disobedient’ conveys how quick thinking and intelligent he is.

Escapism
The world of Nicholas is a lonely one. Even his younger brother is ‘quite
uninteresting’. But Nicholas when the surrounding becomes hostile and filled with
fearsome silence escapes to his private world. There he ‘has much to think about’.
His private world is a rich source of beauty triggering creativity and provides him
much happiness which is lacking in the real world.

Mischievous rebel

Nicholas is not all good. Saki’s realistic portrayal of his protagonist as a

mischievous rebel shows the complexity of Nicholas’ complex personality. The
Aunt is the victim of his mischievous rebellious nature.

The Aunt

If Nicholas is the protagonist of the story the Aunt is the antagonist. Though slotted
under the category “the older and wiser and better people” much criticism is aimed
by the author at the Aunt’s conventional upbringing methods and her inability in
child-rearing. Some of her flaws are as follows:

Unimaginative

The Aunt is a 'woman of few ideas' though she thinks that she is wiser. Her
weaknesses are indirectly conveyed to the reader through her of behaviour and
thoughts. The most pleasurable outings for the children she devises consist of an
expedition to the seaside or circus in a neighbouring town. These planned outings
are so boring to Nicholas. His resourceful mind finds alternative ways of enjoying
himself. She spent a long time in the gooseberry garden doing ‘trivial gardening
operations’. It took the whole period Nicholas spent in the lumber room for her to
grow suspicious about his disappearance. Throughout that period she imagined that
he was still trying to get in to the gooseberry garden.

For her ‘wholesome’ food for breakfast is the unappetizing ‘bread-and-milk’. We

can infer that bread-and-milk has been served continuously at breakfast as
Nicholas rebels against the loathsome food by putting a frog in it. Within the
limited scope of the Aunt’s mind she could only picture the whitish, gooey,
tasteless bread-and-milk as ‘wholesome’. In contrast the author shows us what the
children like: strawberry jam which is bright red, delicious and nutrious.

The lack of imagination in her resulted in failing to understand not only the
psychological needs of children but also their behaviour.

Punishes through withholding enjoyment

Instead of giving love to Nicholas the Aunt took every opportunity to punish him.
The other children too did not escape punishment. Her readiness to punish through
withholding enjoyment turns her into an infuriating grown-up even in the eyes of
the reader.For example after withholding the enjoyment of going on the expedition
she punishes Nicholas further for being bold enough to point out that the other
children would not enjoy the outing. Assuming that Nicholas would try to spend
his time in the gooseberry garden she tries to withhold his enjoyment and
commands Nicholas in an arrogant manner as seen in the following line.

"You are not to go into the gooseberry garden" "Because you are in disgrace," said
the aunt loftily.

But Nicholas artfully turns this punishment into a far better form of enjoyment in
the lumber-room. The Aunt’s form of punishment can be so petty as to deprive the
children from having strawberry jam when there were four jars of it in the store
cupboard

Themes

Generation gap

This is the distancing of two generations due to inability to understand needs of

each other and express their feelings. These needs and emotions are based on the
values and preferences they have. The Aunt who represents the older generation is
unable to understand a simple feeling as the food preference of a child. As a self-
righteous and moralistic person she considers herself to be right in all her decisions
and actions. She misuses the power she has over the young children. She loses her
temper when she is ridiculed and out witted. She lacks the aesthetic ability to
respond to beauty. The older generation as represented by the Aunt assumes that a
child’s needs are all physical: food, expeditions etc. But what are missing are
praise, smiles, love and attention.

Innovativeness of children

Nicholas invents a situation where he avoids eating the ‘wholesome bread-and-

milk’ and he does so knowing that he would not escape punishment. Nicholas is
not saddened by his punishments. Instead the ‘skilled tactician’ in him finds a way
of obtaining maximum pleasure through deceiving the Aunt.

Misuse of religion

Throughout the story we witness negative religious terminology such as sin, Devil,
the Evil One recur. These words are used to instill a fear against misbehaviour in
children. Nicholas, the most disobedient of the children, states that,

‘Aunt often tells me that the Evil One tempts me and that I always yield’.

Nicholas uses a pretended fear of temptation by the Evil One when he says that

‘This time I'm not going to yield’

Analyzing the statement the words ‘this time’ clearly suggest that he has been
tempted by the Evil One in many prior instances. Though religion is used to instill
fear what we witness is that it was not effective.