The Open Window by Saki

 “The Open Window” is the most popular of Saki’s short stories, “The Open Window” first appeared in Beasts and Super Beasts, a collection of short stories published in 1914 just before Munro went to fight in World War I. “The Open Window” is appreciated most for its surprise ending, in which the reader finds that she too has been fooled by Vera’s macabre tale of death and desperation. Michael Dirda recently celebrated the story in a review in the Wall StreetJournal, in which he called this piece and others penned by Saki “masterpieces.”

Themes in “The Open Window”

Wildness/Chaos vs. Order

Saki disrupts the otherwise placid house visit with such strange occurrences as a supposed ghost siting and a tragic death. The open window is the vessel through which this chaos enters the orderly sitting-room scene. The particular type of chaos Saki utilizes in this story is closely related to his fascination with the wild: it involves wild dogs, dangerous terrain, and a forest. Saki commonly uses chaos to mock the customs of English society, preferring the chaotic to the boring order of adult life.

Empowerment (at expense of adults)

Closely related to Saki’s preference of chaos over order is his frequent positioning of children as foils for frail adult characters. Vera, the child in this story, repeatedly bests the adult characters with the power of her imagination. She finds a particularly good target in Framton, whose nerves make him a natural audience for her trickery.

Desire to Escape

Both Framton and Vera possess a strong desire to escape. Vera seeks escape from the adult world she inhabits through her imagination and storytelling. Framton is brought to the rural town out of a desire to escape and recover from his nerve disorder. While Vera’s escape proves fruitful and entertaining, Framton’s is not so successful: it provokes more chaos than calm.

Power of Storytelling

Saki commonly uses the ‘story within a story’ technique in his works. He takes this a step further in “The Open Window” by using Vera as storyteller to convey a theme about storytelling as an art form. Saki and Vera both rely on the short story to fool their audience. As one who relied mainly on the short story to capture his ideas, Saki includes storytelling in this work to communicate its unique compatibility with the comedic tale.

Rural Calm

This theme is closely related to the chaos vs. order theme. Several characters allude to the supposed peacefulness of the rural setting: Framton’s doctors suggest it as a retreat to calm his nerves and Framton himself is surprised to find that tragedy would ever occur in the rural landscape. Ironically, the setting becomes another source of anxiety for Framton with the addition of Vera’s storytelling.

Satirization of Edwardian Society

Saki is well known for his satirical illustrations of Edwardian English society. “The Open Window” is yet another example of these satirical writings. Mockingly, Saki exposes the absurdity of the house visit during conversations between Framton and Mrs. Sappleton. Both find the encounter “purely horrible” and Mrs. Sappleton can barely contain a yawn as her guest discusses his medical idiosyncrasies.

 

The Open Window Symbols, Allegory and Motifs

Supernatural (Motif)

Until readers understand Vera’s deception, the supernatural motif invades and transforms the otherwise calm Edwardian sitting room. As the men approach the house they are described in horror-inducing language; they are “three figures” (not men) that appear in the “deepening twilight” and “noiselessly” approach the house like phantasms (227). Afterward Framton bolts as though “‘he had seen a ghost’” (227). Through Vera, Saki uses the supernatural to bring some liveliness to the otherwise boring and quotidian setting.

Adult Fragility (Motif)

Adult characters are frequently satirized in Saki’s stories. In naming his adult characters in “The Open Window,” Saki highlights their fragility: The ‘Nut’ in ‘Nuttel’ implies that he is “nutty” or mentally unstable; the ‘Sap’ in ‘Sappleton’ connotes foolishness and gullibility. The only child in the story, Vera, exploits their adult fragility for her entertainment and fools both of them through her youthful imagination.

Window (Symbol)

The window is at once a symbol of the aunt’s hope that her husband and brothers will return and a symbol of Vera’s expansive imagination. Vera uses the window as a means to escape the boring, adult world and reimagine a more fantastical reality.

Man vs. Nature (Theme)

A theme in many of Saki’s stories is a battle between man and nature. A huge follower of Darwin, Saki’s stories frequently feature struggles between different species. In “The Open Window,” as in many of his other stories, nature prevails. For example, in Vera’s first fabricated story the hunters drown in a bog. In her second fabrication, several dogs chase Framton Nuttel into an empty grave.

Metaphors and Similes in “The Open Window”

"The Open Window" (Metaphor)

The title of the story (“The Open Window”) is itself a metaphor for the power of storytelling as a means of entertaining through humor and trickery. Reading the story is like looking out the window in Mrs. Sappleton’s parlor, the window that Vera controls (and Saki in creating her) and through which the storyteller and trickster devises her own creations.

Irony in “The Open Window”

Vera’s Name (Verbal Irony)

Vera’s name is a play on the word 'veracity', meaning 'truth'. Ironically, she is the trickster of the story, always spinning a new tale to her audience.

Girl Trickster (Situational Irony)

In Saki’s time girls were frequently portrayed as trustworthy and honest people. It is thus ironic that he chooses a female character to play the role of trickster and storyteller in “The Open Window.”

Framton's Fright (Situational Irony)

Framton retreats to the countryside in order to recover from a bout of nerves. Ironically, the countryside only adds to his anxiety and Framton is thrown into another nervous fit when he believes he has seen ghosts.

 

Tone and Mood

As the story features two levels--a main story and a story-within-a-story--the tone and mood oscillate between comically light and eerily dark. The story ends with a tone of the absurd as Framton makes his escape and Vera spins one more tale, this one more outlandish than the first.

 

Major Conflict

Mrs. Sappleton has delusions that her husband and brothers will return from a hunting trip so she leaves the window open until dusk. However, according to Mrs. Sappleton's niece, Vera, the party will not be returning because they tragically died during their last hunting trip. In apparent denial, Mrs. Sappleton leaves the window opens and waits expectantly for the return of the hunting party.

Climax

The hunting party approaches the window and Mrs. Sappleton exclaims gleefully. Pitying the poor woman's delusions, Framton turns towards Vera who is looking towards the window in shock. When Framton sees three figures approaching the house he takes them for ghosts and quickly bolts from the sitting room.