The Downplay of Innocence

Referring to H.H. Munro’s (Saki) short story, “The Open Window”, George James Spears wrote,  “This, for a change, is pure, unadulterated humor, with no trace whatever of acerbity or bitter almonds” (Spears).

“Alexander Porterfield, whose essay in 1925 tried to analyze Munro's art
and place in literary history, called his humor the ‘non-moral humor of a child’” (Cheikin121). 

Despite critics’ claims that Saki’s work is childish and solely for the purpose of pleasure, his stories contain strong moral viewpoints. In the stories “The Open Window” and “Reginald’s Christmas Revel,” deceitful characters that lie and play practical jokes are portrayed positively, celebrating their cunning, while the gullible victims are characterized negatively. Though lying and playing practical jokes may be considered juvenile, Saki’s characterization, sarcasm, and the actions of his characters downplay innocence, advocating the moral lesson of cleverness triumphing over naivety.

 In “The Open Window”, Saki creates foils in his principle characters, portraying gullible Frampton negatively, and the deceiving niece positively, lauding the clever character and denouncing the naive one. In the story, Saki highlights the niece’s astuteness through her ability to fabricate lengthy and detailed stories on the spot. In having her schemes result successfully, Saki rewards her deceitful yet clever behavior. In contrast, falling for the niece’s joke and believing her story about ghosts makes Frampton come across as extremely gullible for trusting a fifteen-year-old stranger. In addition, Saki emphasizes the niece’s wit further with the final line of the story, “Romance at a short notice was her specialty.” This acknowledgement of her abilities to deceive fosters a positive characterization of the niece for the audience because it lauds her cleverness. On the contrary, Frampton is never portrayed positively. In fact, the first description we receive as an audience of Frampton is negative; with his own sister describing him as mopey and introverted: “I know how it will be . . . you will bury yourself down there and not speak to a living soul, and your nerves will be worse than ever from moping.” Moreover, Saki employs sarcasm to mock Frampton, “Frampton, who labored under the tolerably widespread delusion that total strangers and chance acquaintances are hungry for the least detail of one’s ailments infirmities . . .” Phrases such as “widespread delusion” and “labored” carry a sarcastic tone that mock Frampton’s tendency to mope and bother others. In highlighting the niece’s cleverness and rewarding her schemes, Saki celebrates her quickness, whereas Frampton’s negative portrayal as gullible, mopey, and bothersome denounces his character. Thus, exhibiting that naïve behavior is seen as a fault while cleverness is seen as a virtue.

Similarly, mischievous and sarcastic Reginald of “Reginald’s Christmas Revel” is portrayed positively for tricking others, while the targets of his jokes, the other members of the household and Miss Langshan-Smith, are portrayed adversely.  Reginald opens the story with a sarcastic line, “They say, (said Reginald) that there’s nothing sadder than victory except defeat. If you’ve ever stayed with dull people during what is alleged to be the festive season, you can probably revise that saying.” Reginald’s sarcastic tone in saying, “there’s nothing sadder” than staying with dull people in an “alleged” holiday season showcases his humor and wit and adds to his likability as a character. The so called “dull people” that Reginald refers to continue to be portrayed as dull and gullible throughout the story, falling for a number of Reginald’s practical jokes. For instance, Reginald convinces the household that he will participate in their book game, making them wait on him for forty minutes while he “reads up” on the plot. In reality however, Reginald is just fooling around to waste time. He concludes, “Of course these games are very educational, but, personally, I prefer bridge.” Again, Saki emphasizes Reginald’s wit with a humorous and sarcastic remark that adds to his likability. Simultaneously, the household comes across as very gullible for waiting up for forty minutes. In addition, perhaps Reginald’s most thoughtful prank is the one against Miss Langshan-Smith, described as a “formidable” and “uncomfortable” woman. Reginald successfully makes the rest of the household believe she has tried to shoot herself by falsifying a goodbye letter signed by her and then making a gunshot noise. Just as in the preceding story, Saki rewards mischief by allowing the plot to carry out successfully, while making the other members of the household appear foolish for their extreme gullibility in searching her for bullets for a quarter of an hour. To conclude, Reginald’s sarcastic and humorous remarks serve in his favor making him more likable to the audience, whereas the targets of his jokes come across negatively due to their gullibility.  Saki rewards Reginald’s practical jokes, praising his cleverness but punishes the household, reprimanding their naivety. Accordingly, Saki reinforces his moral lesson of cleverness prevailing over naivety.

Saki’s use of intricate and sophisticated rhetoric to develop and express moral viewpoints is atypical of children’s literature. Typically, children’s literature relies solely on the direct and simplistic method of demonstrating different outcomes and consequences for characters. While Saki does this as well by rewarding clever characters and punishing naïve characters, he also relies on the use of sophisticated forms of rhetoric such as characterization, sarcasm, and practical jokes to arrive at these consequences and deliver his moral lesson. The simplistic nature of children’s literature, rarely inclusive of advanced rhetoric, does not require much analysis from the younger reader and is therefore suitable for simply teaching a lesson. Saki’s work however, carries a message while also entertaining the reader with wit, humor, and sarcasm. His stories offer the reader the opportunity to witness the moral lessons unfolding by analyzing his characters, laughing at his sarcasm, and following his practical jokes. Miriam Cheikin states, “Saki's practical jokes are an act of creation that we witness unfolding, that we create with him almost simultaneously, or just a step behind” (Cheikin 127).  In featuring practical jokes as a method to relay moral lessons, Saki demonstrates the differing reactions of the characters and their consequences while also actively engaging the reader.

Although Saki centers his stories on seemingly childish characters, these characters prove all the wiser as they outsmart the others. While clever characters are lauded for their behavior, characters that are gullible are mocked via humor and sarcasm. Saki shows the audience the repercussions of naivety in order to relay his moral viewpoint that in this world those who are gullible or naive will be at the mercy of those who know better. As a reader, one can apply this moral perspective in a number of ways. First, one could interpret it as not trusting strangers or acquaintances. Second, one could apply it more seriously and avoid naivety as a means to avoid victimization in general, criminal or emotional. Whichever the mode of interpretation, Saki’s negative characterization and victimization of gullible characters is without a doubt wholly intentional to relay his message. Thus, while Saki’s stories may at first glance appear as “pure, unadulterated humor,” he uses humor not just for the amusement and pleasure of the reader, but also as an aid in relaying his moral views.

Works Cited

Cheikin, Miriam Quen. "Saki: Practical Jokes as a Clue to Comedy." English Literature in Transition, 1880-1920 21.2 (1978): 121-133. Project MUSE. Web. 21 Jan. 2011. <http://muse.jhu.edu/>.

Munro, H.H. "The Open Window." AmericanLiterature.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct.
     2011. <http://www.americanliterature.com/Munro(SAKI)/SS/
     TheOpenWindow.html>.

Munro, H.H. "Reginald's Christmas Revel." AmericanLiterature.com. N.p., n.d.
     Web. 10 Oct. 2011. <http://www.americanliterature.com/Munro(SAKI)/SS/
     ReginaldsChristmasRevel.html>. 

Spears, George James. "The Short Stories." The Satire of Saki: A Study of the Satiric Art of Hector H. Munro. New York: Exposition Press, 1963. 27-77. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Vol. 115. Detroit: Gale, 2009. Literature Resource Center. Web. 10 Oct. 2011.

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