The Open Window (Style)

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.

Media Adaptations

• Richard Patterson directed a film adaptation of “The Open Window” in 1971. Produced by the American Film Institute, it is a 12-minute short.
• In 1980, The Open Window/Child’s Play offered video interpretations of two of Saki’s short stories. It is 28 minutes long and available in VHS format from Monterey Home Video.
• “The Open Window” was also adapted for video in 1990, available in VHS format from Pyramid Films & Video.

Topics for Further Study

• What different things does the open window in the story symbolize to the characters? Give some other examples of symbols that mean different things to different people.
• Has the country provided Mr. Nuttel with a respite from his nervous condition? What does this say about the nature of his nervous condition?
• When and how do readers know that Mrs. Sappleton’s niece has been lying? Once it is revealed that she has been lying, can you find anything earlier in the story that, in retrospect, might seem like a clue to her deception?
• Try to formulate a theory about why Mrs. Sappleton’s niece would behave in this way. Is she sinister? Bored? Both?