the open window 赏析

本科生课程大作业
课程名称：英国短篇小说赏
析
开课时间：2014年秋
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提交日期：2014-11-10
The Open Window
The author is Hector Hugh Munro, whose pen name is Saki. Saki is an excellent author and playwright. The scholars always compare him to O Henry. The stories of Saki are very short, usually about five hundred. But readers enjoy a lot about his vivid plot, humorous words and extraordinary description of characters. Being similar with O Henry, Saki is famous for his bedding, the unexpected end and an amazing suspense. The Open Window is outstanding in above features. The whole story is only approximately 1,000 words while the vivid plot and highly logic structure bring us a delicious breast. Apart from his wonderful description, the subtle feeling of irony in the story is also worth analyzing. That’s also the reason I like this short story.
The niece, Vera first in the story employs the ghost as the hook or suspense, which draw the attention of Mr.Nuttle immediately. Framton Nuttle is a slightly nervous person who is undergoing a nerve cure. His sister introduced him to visit Mrs. Sappleton in anther town to take a rest. The Vera actually leads the whole conversation. Then Vera tells a few words about the tragedy of Mrs. Sammpleton and takes the French window into Mr. Nuttle’s eyes. In her statement, she emphasizes the tragedy just 3 years ago , which is because that Mr. Nuttle’s aunt lived there 4 years ago. The hook is so great and captivated. In England, an October day was a little cold especially in the evening, nearly below 0 Celsius. But the window is still open. It is abnormal for Mr.Nuttle. The whole suspense is so successful for the Mr.Nuttle who is curious about the open window and asks the reason. Next, Vera has the chance to continue her lie and tell Mr.Nuttle that Mrs Sammpleton believes that her husband and her brothers, who were killed in a shooting accident three years before, will come back one day. In this sense, if her husband and brothers are back, they must be the ghosts.
To make Vera herself more trustful, Vera shows her excellent play. When Mrs Sammpleton points out that her husband and her brothers are coming, Mr.Nuttle sees the facial look of Vera and look out of the window. Vera “was staring out through the open window with a dazed horror in her eyes”. The facial look of Vera is appealing and creating a horror atmosphere. There must be something unusual thing happening. To Mr.Nuttle’s horror, he thinks he is seeing ghosts and running away. Vera employs all the normal elements to establish the ghost story which successfully make the nervous Mr.Nuttle get away. But the end is different from the ghost story and also reasoning in logic. There is no ghost actually. It is only the tricks by Vera. And it is the ghosts in Mr.Nuttle’s mind that tease himself.
However, the short novel is more than telling a wonderful story. The unnecessary and over-elaborate formalities in society is also an irony.
On this point, we need to focus back to Saki’s life experience. Saki was brought up by his two aunts who flatter their status and emphasize on rituals only, without loving and mercy actually. In their mind, being a good manner, obeying the law and to be polite kid is better than one with fair sole, mercy, loving and tolerance. Undergoing the parenting by aunts, Saki had experienced a bored childhood. On this
point, Saki began to hate the social nonsense formalities. In the open window, we can find the results.
Mr.Nuttle is the social person who begins to call a series of visit to strangers introduced by his sister. Actually, the strangers are not only to Mr.Nuttle, but also to his sister even. His sister lived here 4 years ago only for a while. She declared to have lots of good friends but actually they are only strange friends. This kind of visit is only killing time. After reading the story, you may ask why does Vera lie in the story? Is it just because of her love for making up stories, or is there something else? I think the answers are the attitudes of hating social etiquette rather than rejecting it. Mr.Nuttle was out of innovation, rigidness, self-centered and nervous man. You can imagine how boring it will be getting along with him. According to the social tradition, Vera could not leave the guest alone. So she had to stay there. And this is the original idea of teasing Mr.Nuttle. In the normal sense, the lie is easy to find. In Victorian era, people could not show others their mind or ask others what they want. That’s why the public topic is usually the weather or unimportant things. Mr.Nuttle “tried to say correct something which should flatter the niece of the moment without discounting the aunt that was to come”. When he heard the Mrs. Sammpleton talked of her husband, he failed to ask more details. If Mr.Nuttel had the courage to ask, the little girl’s trick would have been revealed easily.
In the open window, we can see the human relationships are not bound together strongly. The sister knew little about the brother. The guest knew no more than the address and name of the host. The aunt knew only some about the niece, for example the aunt did not know Vera is an excellent story-maker. Although the story does not refer the relationship between the aunt and the niece is good or bad, obviously they are not very well. If they get along well enough, when Mr.Nuttle ran out, Mrs.Sammpleton would know it was the tricks by her niece Vera.
The window open looks like only an amazing ghost story. On the other hand, it is an irony picture of the social life at that time. At a typical occasion, all the present three people said meaningless words to each other, with the different own minds indeed. The aunt Mrs.Sammpleton was waiting his husband back; Vera was thinking how to tease the guest; Mr.Nuttle was abandoning himself into the self-complaining in his own world. It is the hypocritical and tedious occasion that make the smart and self-possessed Vera show her specialty of “romance at short time”. The story is extremely wonderful even in a tiny detail.。