Utopia

The Open Window

by H. H. Munro (Saki) (1870-1916)

"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."

Framton Nuttel endeavored to say the correct something which should duly flatter the niece of the moment without unduly discounting the aunt that was to come. Privately he doubted more than ever whether these formal visits on a succession of total strangers would do much towards helping the nerve cure which he was supposed to be undergoing

"I know how it will be," his sister had said when he was preparing to migrate to this rural retreat; "you will bury yourself down there and not speak to a living soul, and your nerves will be worse than ever from moping. I shall just give you letters of introduction to all the people I know there. Some of them, as far as I can remember, were quite nice."

Framton wondered whether Mrs. Sappleton, the lady to whom he was presenting one of the letters of introduction came into the nice division.

"Do you know many of the people round here?" asked the niece, when she judged that they had had sufficient silent communion.

"Hardly a soul," said Framton. "My sister was staying here, at the rectory, you know, some four years ago, and she gave me letters of introduction to some of the people here."

He made the last statement in a tone of distinct regret.

"Then you know practically nothing about my aunt?" pursued the self-possessed young lady.

"Only her name and address," admitted the caller. He was wondering whether Mrs. Sappleton was in the married or widowed state. An undefinable something about the room seemed to suggest masculine habitation.

"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?"

"Out through that window, three years ago to a day, her husband and her two young brothers went off for their day's shooting. They never came back. In crossing the moor to their favorite snipe-shooting ground they were all three engulfed in a treacherous piece of bog. It had been that dreadful wet summer, you know, and places that were safe in other years gave way suddenly without warning. Their bodies were never recovered. That was the dreadful part of it." Here the child's voice lost its self-possessed note and became falteringly human. "Poor aunt always thinks that they will come back someday, they and the little brown spaniel that was lost with them, and walk in at that window just as they used to do. That is why the window is kept open every evening till it is quite dusk. Poor dear aunt, she has often told me how they went out, her husband with his white waterproof coat over his arm, and Ronnie, her youngest brother, singing 'Bertie, why do you bound?' as he always did to tease her, because she said it got on her nerves. Do you know, sometimes on still, quiet evenings like this, I almost get a creepy feeling that they will all walk in through that window--"

She broke off with a little shudder. It was a relief to Framton when the aunt bustled into the room with a whirl of apologies for being late in making her appearance.

"I hope Vera has been amusing you?" she said.

"She has been very interesting," said Framton.

"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.

"The doctors agree in ordering me complete rest, an absence of mental excitement, and avoidance of anything in the nature of violent physical exercise," announced Framton, who labored under the tolerably widespread delusion that total strangers and chance acquaintances are hungry for the least detail of one's ailments and infirmities, their cause and cure. "On the matter of diet they are not so much in agreement," he continued.

"No?" said Mrs. Sappleton, in a voice which only replaced a yawn at the last moment. Then she suddenly brightened into alert attention--but not to what Framton 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 the eyes!"

Framton shivered slightly and turned towards the niece with a look intended to convey sympathetic comprehension. The child was staring out through the open window with a dazed horror in her eyes. In a chill shock of nameless fear Framton swung round in his seat and looked in the same direction.

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?"

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.

"Here we are, my dear," said the bearer of the white mackintosh, coming in through the window, "fairly muddy, but most of it's dry. Who was that who bolted out as we came up?"

"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."

Romance at short notice was her speciality.

The Open Window Summary | Detailed Summary

Framton Nuttel has been sent to a small country town in England to recover from some type of nervous condition. Framton's doctors have told him to avoid any "mental excitement" or "violent physical exercise." He is to take a "complete rest." Framton's sister has provided Framton with letters of introduction to people she met when she had visited the same town, four years before. The sister provided the letters to counter what she knows is Framton's tendency to hide from everyone and mope. Framton is leery of meeting strangers, but has decided to venture out on a formal visit to Mrs. Sappleton, hoping that she would be one of the people his sister had remembered as being "quite nice."

When he arrives at Mrs. Sappleton's house, he finds that she is not immediately available, so he is received by her 15-year-old niece, Vera. Vera is a very confident young lady, and rather than putting Framton at ease, her manner flusters and disconcerts him, magnifying his natural tendency toward social awkwardness.

Making small talk, Vera asks him if he knows many people in the area. Framton replies that he knows no one and explains about his sister and the letters of introduction. When Vera discovers that he knows almost nothing about Mrs. Sappleton, she proceeds to tell him the tale, of what she calls, her aunt's "great tragedy."

Vera calls Framton's attention to the large, French window in the room, which is open despite the fact that it is October. Framton comments that the afternoon is quite warm for autumn, and then asks if the window has something to do with her aunt's tragedy. Vera relates that it was exactly three years ago that her aunt's husband and two brothers went hunting for snipe. They left through that very window, but they never returned, having been swallowed up by a wetter than usual section of the bog. Their little dog was lost with them. While she tells the tale, Vera becomes less self-possessed, and her voice takes on a faltering quality. She confides to Framton that her aunt believes that the men will return one day, that they and their spaniel will simply walk across the lawn and enter the house the way they left, through the open window. Vera explains that this is why the window is kept open every evening until dark; her aunt expects her husband to return, carrying his coat, and accompanied by her brothers, one of whom will be singing his customary tune when they return from the day's shooting. Vera confides, with a shudder, that she gets a "creepy feeling" on evenings such as this. When it is quiet and still, even she half expects the men to return.

Just when she finishes her story, Mrs. Sappleton enters the room, apologizing to Framton for being late in her arrival and hoping Vera has kept him good company. Mrs. Sappleton says she hopes the open window does not bother Framton. Mrs. Sappleton cheerfully explains to him that her husband and brothers have gone snipe-shooting and always come back through that window, tracking mud all over her carpets. Mrs. Sappleton then continues talking about hunting, and how the birds are scarce, and wondering whether there will be duck in the coming winter. Framton finds her comments and the discussion about hunting "horrible" after what Vera has told him. Framton also finds it disconcerting that Mrs. Sappleton's eyes continually look past him to the open window and the lawn outside, giving him only a small part of her attention when he attempts to change the subject. Framton thinks it is unfortunate he has come to visit on the very anniversary of the men's disappearance.

While trying to change the subject, Framton blurts out to Mrs. Sappleton, under the mistaken impression she will be interested in the specifics of his ailments, that his doctors ordered him to take a complete rest, to avoid any type of mental stress, or any excessive physical exercise. Framton finishes by noting his doctors were not in agreement about what type of diet would be best for him. Mrs. Sappleton finds his conversation boring. Mrs. Sappleton suppresses a yawn, but then she suddenly becomes alert and announces that the men have arrived, at last, and just in time for tea.

Framton shivers and looks to the niece, Vera, hoping that he conveys the appropriate note of sympathy for her aunt's obvious delusion. Instead, he sees that Vera is staring through the open window with a look of horror on her face. Framton turns to follow her gaze and sees, coming across the lawn in the darkening light, three figures, one who has a coat hanging over his shoulders, accompanied by a tired spaniel that is struggling to keep up with them. Framton hears a man singing while the figures approach the house.

Framton grabs for his hat and walking stick and races out of the house without saying goodbye. Framton runs down the drive and through the front gate, without a memory of passing any of these things, and nearly collides with a bicyclist when he enters the roadway.

Back at the house, Mr. Sappleton, carrying his coat over his arm when he enters the room through the open window, announces the men's arrival to his wife and niece. Mr. Sappleton asks her about the man who just ran out of the room when they approached.

Mrs. Sappleton describes Framton Nuttel to her husband as a boring visitor who could only talk about his illnesses and who rushed off without even saying goodbye or apologizing. Mrs. Sappleton remarks it was as though he had seen a ghost.

Vera speculates to the family that it was the appearance of the spaniel that probably sent Mr. Nuttel rushing away. Vera says Mr. Framton had told her he was afraid of dogs. Mr. Framton's fear stemmed from a time he was chased into a cemetery on the banks of the Ganges River by a pack of wild dogs; he was forced to spend the night in a newly dug grave, with the dogs snarling above him. Vera comments that this would be enough to make anyone afraid.

short summary

At the beginning of this story, Frampton Nuttal, a man who is in the countryside as a rest cure for his nerves, is sitting talking to Vera, a 15 year old girl. Vera is a niece of Mrs Sappleton, a woman to whom Frampton has been given a letter of introduction by his sister.

While they are waiting for Mrs Sappleton to come downstairs, Vera tells Frampton that her aunt's husband and two young brothers were drowned in the marshes while out shooting several years ago. The tragedy sent the aunt out of her mind, and she always keeps the French window (glass door) into the garden open, believing that they will come back.

Mrs Sappleton then arrives, apologising for the open window and explaining that she is expecting her husband and brothers any moment. Frampton plays along with her, until he is horrified by seeing three figures, and a dog, coming out of the dusk towards the house. He runs away in panic; the husband and brothers arrive, very puzzled by the guest's strange behaviour. Vera calmly tells them that it must have been the dog; he told her he was terrified of dogs after being attacked by wild dogs in India.

Vera is very good at making up stories quickly.

[ Summary of Story: H.H. Munro's (Saki) "The Open Window" brilliantly portrays how one's nerves affects his/her personality. As Framton embarks on a trip intended as a "nerve cure," he finds himself in an unfamiliar situation that ultimately has a negative effect on his seemingly nervous personality. The story allows students and teachers a glimpse at the reality of two characters, and, ultimately, the reader will side with one of the characters in the story. This is a perfect story for a rainy day or during the fall season!]

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.

Characters

Framton Nuttel’s Sister

Framton 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. Mrs. Sappleton is the recipient of such a letter, and it is this that brings Nuttel to her home.

Mr. Framton Nuttel

Mr. Framton Nuttel suffers from an undisclosed nervous ailment and comes to the country in hope that its atmosphere will be conducive to a cure. He brings a letter of introduction to Mrs. Sappleton in order to make her acquaintance for his stay in her village. While he waits for Mrs. Sappleton to appear, her niece keeps him company and tells him a story about why a window in the room has been left open. He believes her story, that the window remains open in hopes that Mrs. Sappleton’s husband and brother, who the niece says are long dead, will one day return. Later, when Nuttel looks out the window and sees figures approaching who match the descriptions of the long-dead hunters in the niece’s story, he suffers a mental breakdown and flees the house.

Ronnie

Ronnie is Mrs. Sappleton’s younger brother, who, with Mr. Sappleton, has been away on a hunting expedition.

Mr. Sappleton

Mr. Sappleton is Mrs. Sappleton’s husband. He has been away during most of the story on a hunting expedition with Mrs. Sappleton’s younger brother, Ronnie.

Mrs. Sappleton

Readers are first led to believe that Mrs. Sappleton is a widow, keeping vigil for her departed husband and brother, who have disappeared during a hunting trip. She lives with her young niece.

Vera

Vera is the niece of Mrs. Sappleton, the woman to whom Framton Nuttel plans to give a letter of introduction. She is a teller of tales, a young woman whose forte is “romance at short notice.” She is an exquisite and intuitive actress, equally skilled at deceit and its concealment. While Nuttel waits with her for Mrs. Sappleton to appear, Vera relates an elaborate story surrounding a window in the room that has been left open. It is this story, of the death of some relatives who went hunting long ago, that eventually causes Framton Nuttel’s breakdown. She tells Nuttel that the window is left open as a sign of her aunt’s hope that the dead hunters will one day come home and provides a detailed description of the men, their behavior and attire. After Nuttel flees upon seeing these men return, just as Vera has described them, Vera invents a story explaining his departure as well. Saki refers to Vera as “self-possessed,” which literally means that she has self-control and poise. In the context of this story, it is clear that this is the quality that allows her to lie so well — Vera’s self-possession allows her to maintain a cool head and calm believability while relating that most outlandish of tales.

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?