Wednesday, July 16, 2014

The Open Window : Analysis

Analyzing Saki's "The Open Window"

Taken form

            “The Open Window” by Hector Hugh Munro, who is better known by the pseudonym Saki, is an
ironic short story. Letters of introduction, formal visits, and polite conversation with total strangers are revealed as empty and trite in “The Open Window.” It is a thematic mockery on the principles of social etiquette. In this essay, I will analyze the story. I am going to break the story down into parts to show what parts of the story are portrayed through which elements.
            The first element is the exposition. The purpose of the exposition- to set the tone and mood, introduce the characters and setting, and provide necessary background information- is achieved. In the exposition, the narrator provides the reader with necessary background information to help create the setting and the mood by informing the reader about Mr. Nuttel’s sister (Mr. Nuttel will be more thoroughly introduced in the next paragraph) and her letters of introduction. Mr. Nuttel is introduced as a nervous guy versus Vera (who will also be introduced more thoroughly in the next paragraph) who is a very self-possessed young woman. Overall, the exposition is reached when the nervous Mr. Nuttel and self-possessed Vera meet.
            In “The Open Window,” the character of Framton Nuttel is created and introduced through direct description and portrayal of behavior, two techniques of characterization. Placed opposite the ineffective and earnest Mr. Nuttel is Vera. “My aunt will be down presently, Mr. Nuttel,” said Vera, a very poised fifteen year old, creating the setting. Mr. Nuttel tried to say the “correct something” to compliment Vera while awaiting Mrs. Sappleton, which sets the mood as nervous and uncomfortable. Vera is Mrs. Sappleton’s niece, who has a rather eccentric approach to formal visits and polite conversation with strangers, while Mr. Nuttel is more of a nervous guy.
            The second element is the inciting incident, which is the event that introduces the central conflict. The inciting incident occurs when Vera mentions her aunt’s “great tragedy” and the open window. It all began when Mr. Nuttel met Vera, and she began to tell him the story of her aunt’s tragedy of her husband, two brothers, and dog. For Mr. Nuttel, tragedies seemed out of place because it was restful country spot. Vera asked Mr. Nuttel if he knew people there, and in turn, he told her about his sister and her letters of introduction.
            Mr. Nuttel was supposed to be undergoing nerve treatment. His sister told him when he was preparing to migrate that he would bury himself there not speaking to a living soul, and his nerves would be worse than ever from moping. So she decided she would just give him letters of introduction to all the people she knew there. That is how he met Vera. He didn’t think that the formal visits to complete strangers would do any good towards helping his nerve cure. Then, Vera questioned if Mr. Nuttel knew her aunt, and he replied only her name and address.
            In the next element, the rising action develops the conflict to a high point of intensity. In this story the rising action is reached when Vera dramatically relates a story about how her aunt’s husband, two brothers, and dog left through the window to go hunting and never returned. “Her great tragedy happened just three years ago; that would be since your sister’s time,” said Vera. “You may wonder why we keep that window wide open on an October afternoon,” said the niece indicating a large French window. Then, she continued on with her story.
            Three years ago, her husband and two brothers went off with the dog for their days shooting through that window, but never came back. In crossing the moor to their favorite bird hunting ground they were all engulfed in a perilous piece of marsh, and their bodies were never recovered. As Vera told her story, she lost her self-possessed voice and became a faltering human. She claims her aunt always thinks that they’ll come back some day with the little brown spaniel that was lost with them and walk in that window just as they used to, and that is why the window is kept open every evening until dusk. She often says how they went out, her husband with his white waterproof coat over his arm and Ronnie, her youngest brother, singing, ‘Bertie, why do you bond?’ as he always did to tease her because it got on her nerves. Vera says on still quiet evenings she gets a creepy feeling that they will walk in that window.
            The fourth element is the climax, the true high point of interest in the story. Mr. Nuttel was relieved when Mrs. Sappleton came into the room with apologies for being late in making her appearance. “I hope you don’t mind the open window; my husband and brothers will be home directly from shooting, and they always come in this way,” Mrs. Sappleton informed Mr. Nuttel. She continued on cheerfully about the shooting and the insufficiency of birds and the predictions for duck in the winter, but to Mr. Nuttel, it was all purely horrible. He made a desperate but only partially successful effort to turn the talk on to a less frightful topic; he was conscious that his hostess was giving him only a fragment of her attention, and her eyes were constantly straying past him to the open window. He felt it an unfortunate coincidence that he should have paid his visit on this tragic anniversary.
            Mr. Nuttel was telling Mrs. Sappleton about his nerve treatment, and then she suddenly brightened into alert attention- but not to what Mr. Nuttel was saying. “Here they are at last!” she cried, “Just in time for tea, and don’t they look as if they were muddy up to their eyes!” Mr. Nuttel shivered slightly and turned towards the niece with a look intended to express sympathetic understanding, but the child stared out through the window, dazed with terror. In a chill shock of nameless fear, he swung around in his seat and looked in the same direction, and there were three figures walking across the lawn towards the window, carrying guns under their arms, one with a white coat hung over his shoulders, followed by a tired, brown spaniel kept close at their heels. They quietly neared the house, and then a hoarse young voice chanted out of the dusk: “I said, Bertie, why do you band?” The climax is frightening because as Mr. Nuttel chats with Mrs. Sappleton, the three hunters and their dog stroll toward the window, expected by the family, but unexpected and impossible to comprehend for Mr. Nuttel.
Following the climax is the falling action. Once Mr. Nuttel saw them coming, he grabbed wildly at his stick and hat; the hall door, the gravel drive, and the front gate were dimly noted stages in his head long retreat. The hunters questioned Mrs. Sappleton about who bolted out as they came up, and she told the guys that Mr. Nuttel was an extraordinary man who could only talk about his illnesses and dashed off without a word goodbye or apology. Vera claims to expect it was the spaniel because Mr. Nuttel told her he had a horror of dogs. According to Vera, he was once hunted into a cemetery somewhere on the banks of the Ganges  by a pack of outcast dogs and had to spend the night in a newly dug grave with the creatures snarling, grinning, and foaming just above him. Romance at short notice was Vera’s specialty.
In conclusion, the dramatic irony in the story is that the reader knows that Vera’s story is a lie, and Mr. Nuttel does not. The story’s conflicts include the external struggle between Mr. Nuttel and Vera and the internal struggle within Mr. Nuttel between his nervous and reclusive tendencies and his decision to try to calm his nerves by meeting total strangers. The situational irony occurs when the hunters return, violating Mr. Nuttel’s expectation that they are dead. When Mr. Nuttel expects to be welcomed by “nice” people, he instead ends up being driven away. Also, when Mr. Nuttel expects to calm himself through social interaction, he becomes highly agitated.

Taken from


In this context Saki uses the word "Romance" to mean made-up stories of a wild or improbable nature. This meaning of the word is older than the modern association with falling in love (although this usage was also known in Saki's time.) It used to be quite common to accuse someone of "romancing" if they told you a tall or improbable story.

In "The Open Window" Vera has just finished making up a long, elaborate 
ghost story to scare Frampton, her aunt's visitor - she knows that her uncles will soon be coming home, so she pretends that they have died and their ghosts haunt the house. So of course, when they come home Frampton thinks they are ghosts and runs away screaming. 

Vera then explains his sudden departure by telling her realtives that Frampton had run away from her uncle's spanie; because he has a "horror of dogs" due to a terrible experience in india. She only has a few seconds in which to 
make up this second story, so it's clear that she excels in "Romance at short notice."

The Open Window - Analysis

"The Open Window" is Saki's most popular short story. It was first collected in Beasts and SuperBeasts in 1914. Saki's wit is at the height of its power in this story of a spontaneous practical joke played upon a visiting stranger. The practical joke recurs In many of Saki's stories, but "The Open Window" is perhaps his most successful and best known example of the type.
Saki dramatizes here the conflict between reality and imagination, demonstrating how difficult it can be to distinguish between them. Not only does the unfortunate Mr. Nuttel fall victim to the story's joke, but so does the reader. The reader is at first inclined to laugh at Nuttel for being so gullible. 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
“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
The most remarkable of Saki’s devices in “The Open Window” is his construction of the story’s narrative. The structure of the story is actually that of a story-within-a-story. The larger “frame” narrative is that of Mr. Nuttel’s arrival at Mrs. Sappleton’s house for the purpose of introducing himself to her. Within this narrative frame is the second story, that told by Mrs. Sappleton’s niece.
Symbolism
The most important symbol in “The Open Window” is the open window itself. 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. When the truth is later revealed, the open window no longer symbolizes anguish but the very deceit itself. Saki uses the symbol ironically by having the open window, an object one might expect would imply honesty, as a symbol of deceit.
Narration
“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. 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, until he runs from the house, 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.
Tall Tale
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. Good examples are the story of John Henry and his hammer, and the story of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox. Vera exaggerates the significance of the open window by making it the centerpiece of a fabricated tale of tragic loss.
Themes
Though it is a remarkably short piece of fiction, “The Open Window” explores a number of important themes. Mr. Nuttel comes to the country in an attempt to cure his nervous condition. He pays a visit to the home of Mrs. Sappleton in order to introduce himself, and before he gets to meet the matron of tha house, he is intercepted by her niece, who regales him with an artful piece of fiction that, in the end, only makes his nervous condition worse.
Appearances and Reality
It is no surprise that Mrs. Sappleton’s niece tells a story that is easy to believe. She begins with an object in plain view, an open window, and proceeds from there. 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. The open window becomes a symbol within this story-within-a-story, and its appearance becomes its reality. 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?
Deception
Were it not for deception, this story could not happen. The action and irony of the story revolve around the apparent deception that Mrs. Sappleton’s niece practices. It remains to be seen, however, whether this deception is a harmless prank or the result of a sinister disposition. 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.
Sanity and Insanity
“The Open Window” shows just how fine the line can be between sanity and insanity. Mr. Nuttel’s susceptibility to deceit is no different from that of the reader of the story. Yet Mr. Nuttel is insane, and the reader, presumably, is not. In order to maintain this distinction, Saki forces his reader to consider the nature of insanity and its causes.

Open Window Analysis
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The Open Window Plot Analysis

 
Exposition: "My aunt will be down presently, Mr. Nuttel," said a very self-possessed young lady of fifteen; "in the meantime you must try and put up with me.

The story starts off by the narrator giving details and back round descriptions of the characters.

Inciting Incident: "Her great tragedy happened just three years ago," said the child; "that would be since your sister's time." 

"Her tragedy?" asked Framton; somehow in this restful country spot tragedies seemed out of place.
 

"You may wonder why we keep that window wide open on an October afternoon," said the niece, indicating a large French window that opened on to a lawn.
 

"It is quite warm for the time of the year," said Framton; "but has that window got anything to do with the tragedy?

Framton, the main character, gets introduce to a plot and he takes it as truth. 

Rising Action: "I hope you don't mind the open window," said Mrs. Sappleton briskly; "my husband and brothers will be home directly from shooting, and they always come in this way. They've been out for snipe in the marshes today, so they'll make a fine mess over my poor carpets. So like you menfolk, isn't it?" 

She rattled on cheerfully about the shooting and the scarcity of birds, and the prospects for duck in the winter. To Framton it was all purely horrible. He made a desperate but only partially successful effort to turn the talk on to a less ghastly topic, he was conscious that his hostess was giving him only a fragment of her attention, and her eyes were constantly straying past him to the open window and the lawn beyond. It was certainly an unfortunate coincidence that he should have paid his visit on this tragic anniversary.
 

Framton gets introduce to Mrs. Sappleton and he thinks she is insane, but in reality she is telling the truth; this is setting up for the climax. 

Climax: In the deepening twilight three figures were walking across the lawn towards the window, they all carried guns under their arms, and one of them was additionally burdened with a white coat hung over his shoulders. A tired brown spaniel kept close at their heels. Noiselessly they neared the house, and then a hoarse young voice chanted out of the dusk: "I said, Bertie, why do you bound?" 

The main character sees that the husband and the sons were walking towards the house, the character reaches the point of no return. 

Falling Action: Framton grabbed wildly at his stick and hat; the hall door, the gravel drive, and the front gate were dimly noted stages in his headlong retreat. A cyclist coming along the road had to run into the hedge to avoid imminent collision. 

"A most extraordinary man, a Mr. Nuttel," said Mrs. Sappleton; "could only talk about his illnesses, and dashed off without a word of goodby or apology when you arrived. One would think he had seen a ghost."
 

"I expect it was the spaniel," said the niece calmly; "he told me he had a horror of dogs. He was once hunted into a cemetery somewhere on the banks of the Ganges by a pack of pariah dogs, and had to spend the night in a newly dug grave with the creatures snarling and grinning and foaming just above him. Enough to make anyone lose their nerve."
 

The main character reacts to the climax by running out and away from the ‘ghosts’.

Denouement (Resolution): Romance at short notice was her speciality. 
The resolution of the story consists of the family thinking that Framton is insane because he ran away. 


1. Look up the meaning of the name Vera. How might Saki's choice of this be considered verbal irony?

The name Vera means truth but she was lying to Framton about her family dying.
 

2. In what ways is the story's last line ironic?

Vera was lying the whole time about her family’s death just to keep her amuse, and the author makes us think that Mrs. Sappleton was crazy.
 

3. Find two other ironic statements in the story.

"The doctors agree in ordering me complete rest, an absence of mental excitement, and avoidance of anything in the nature of violent physical exercise."

"It is quite warm for the time of the year," said Framton; "but has that window got anything to do with the tragedy?"
 

4. What is the point of view in the story? How does the point of view create irony?

The point of view in the story is in third person view and it is limited to knowledge. We only know what Framton is thinking and no one else. We wouldn’t have known that Vera was lying until the end of the story.
 

5. Identify important character traits of Framton Nuttel, and Vera. What action and lines of dialogue are the most important in the development of their characters?

Framton is on the edge of insanity, he cant take anymore stress or else he’ll go insane. He is a fragile person, any little excitement or anxiety can make him insane. Vera is a lair and a fifteen year old girl. She lies to Framton only to keep herself amused by his terror. When Vera greeted Framton at the door, the story would have never happened if Mrs. Sappleton opened the door instead of Vera.
 
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