First Course- First Term Prepared by Lect.

University of Al Kitab Farah Ch. H.

College of Education Lecture 2

Short Story

Saki`s The Open Window

Author Biography
His father was a colonel in the British military. Following the death of his mother,
he was sent back to Devon, England, where he lived with his grandmother and
aunts. In 1887, his father returned to England after retiring and subsequently
traveled throughout Europe with his children. Saki returned briefly to Burma in
1893 as a police functionary but returned to England due to his poor health. He
turned to writing and became a foreign correspondent, traveling in Eastern Europe
and France, from 1902 to 1909, writing for The Morning Post. With illustrator
Francis Carruthers Gould, Saki collaborated on a successful series of political
cartoons. 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. Saki is most widely known as a satirist of the English
ruling classes, and his best-known short story is "The Open Window." He is also
famous for the character Reginald, who appears in a number of his short stories.
However, though he is primarily known for his short fiction, including the volumes
Reginald (1904), Reginald in Russia (1910) and Beasts and Super-Beasts (1914),
he was also a novelist and playwright and the author of two works of nonfiction.

THE OPEN WINDOW

What is the plot in this story?
Mr. Nuttel visits Mrs. Sappleton according to his sister's advice since he
has a nerve disease. Thus, he comes to the town to ease himself. He meets
her niece and she narrates to him a false story which is Mrs. Sappleton's
"great tragedy," when her husband and brothers went hunting and never
returned, apparently engulfed by a bog. Mrs. Sappleton keeps the large
French window open every day, hoping for their return. He believes her
and acts upon this belief. He meets Mrs. Sappleton and because of her
distracted gaze through the open French window, he is even more
convinced of Vera's story. Mr. Sappleton, his two companions and the dog
come back from hunting. The moment Mr. Nuttel sees them, he runs away
without even saying good bye making everybody think that he is insane.
1-THEMES
Appearance and Reality: Vera, the fifteen years old, appears to be a
very sweet girl while in fact she is very playful since she makes up stories
so well, that even her aunt is deceived by her act. The reader also believes
Vera to some extent. The window is real whereas Vera's story is
imaginative.
Deception: Vera deceives Framton Nuttel with her story of her aunt's
brothers being lost in the marsh and never returning. She also deceives
her aunt by giving a reason as to why Nuttel rushed out of the house after
seeing the three men telling her aunt that he fears dogs.
Sanity and Insanity: This short story explores the sanity and insanity
of all the characters. Nuttel is insane to believe Vera without
being more observant. He thinks that Mrs. Sappleton is insane but he is
insane for real.
Characters:
- Round:
Vera, Saki's playful protagonist, is indeed a dynamic, or round, character.
For one thing, she is a smart young lady who is able to identify people's
weaknesses and to create a convincing tale that will deceive her audience.
She plays with Nuttel's feelings telling him a fabricated story and
deceiving her aunt telling her that Nuttel's fled related to the fear of dogs.
Framton Nuttel is the nervous, unconfident type. He came to the country
side to cure himself from the nerve disease but instead, he met Vera who
plays with his feelings. He even worries about Mrs. Sappleton's reception
of him when he is introduced, and he is uncomfortable throughout the
telling of Vera's tale.
- Flat:
Mrs. Sappleton is the relaxed gentlewoman, concerned only with herself
and those for whom she cares. For, she takes no interest in Framton
Nuttel's coming. When Nuttel mentions his condition as explanation for
his visit, she responds in a voice that hardly overwhelm a yawn. After
Nuttel's sudden escape, she merely remarks upon his behavior and
displays no concern for his feelings, expressing a slight curiosity for his
actions which Vera's cleverly calms.
Nuttel's sister
Nuttel's sister once spent time in the same town to which Framton has
come for relaxation. She has given him a number of letters of Introduction
with which he is to make himself known to a number of people in the
town.
Many other flat characters are expressed through the story like the
haunters (Mr. Sappleton and Mrs. Sappleton's two young brothers) and a
dog.
The setting.
Time: October
Place: Countryside, England; the Sappleton's house.
Identify 3 literary devices in the short story and their significance.
Irony
One of the examples of irony in this short story can be seen when
Vera says that a "great tragedy" has happened to her aunt, Mrs. Sappleton.
It is a form of verbal irony because the story told by Vera is the opposite
of the truth. As readers read on, they will find out that the "missing" Mr.
Sappleton, Mrs. Sappleton's two brothers and the dog are still alive.

Personification
Personification means inserting human traits into non-living things.
the phrase "a treacherous piece of bog" is one of the examples of
personification. The non-living thing, bog, is given a human trait, which
is treachery.
Contrast
Contrast can be seen between the characters Vera and Nuttel. Vera is
"a very self-possessed young lady of fifteen" and full with confidence.
She is very convincing that Nuttel and even Mrs. Sappleton believe
everything she says. Nuttel is a confused character who is suffering from
nerve disease. He has a weak personality since he needs his sister's help
to introduce him to people.
Style
- Structure
The construction of Saki's story "The Open Window" is remarkable. The
structure is actually that of a story-within-a-story. The first story is that
of Mr. Nuttel's arrival at Mrs. Sappleton's house for the purpose of
introducing himself to her (real). Within this narrative frame is the second
story, that told by Mrs. Sappleton's niece (imaginative).
- Symbolism
The most important symbol in "The Open Window" is the open window
itself. When Vera tells Mr. Nuttel the story of the lost hunters, the open
window comes to symbolize Mrs. Sappleton's sadness and heartbreak at
the loss of her husband and younger brother. When the truth is later
revealed, the open window no longer symbolizes anguish but now it
symbolizes deception.