The Open Window Analysis

Both “the open window,” by Saki, and “the monkey’s paw,” by Jacobs, are structured in parts; and each of these parts correspond to an occurrence during the story. Saki and Jacobs also both introduce ghosts during the climax of the stories- however in the Monkey’s paw we never really find out if the ghost is real, and in the Open window, we explicitly find out that the ghost is not real. Finally, both Saki and Jacobs make use of powerful language to instill fear in the reader and pull them deeper into the story. In both the open window and the monkey’s paw, Saki and Jacobs use a metaphor between the structure of the story, and the story’s content. In his story, “the open window,” Saki tells two stories- one which he uses as a “frame story,” and the other which he embeds within the frame. The frame story is the one in which Mr. Nuttel visits Mrs. Sappleton, and Vera tells him a story. Vera’s story, the embedded story, convinces Mr. Nuttel that her uncles are dead, and causes him to flee frantically when he sees the three men walking towards the house. The metaphor occurs when Vera …show more content…
In “the open window,” the name “Vera” means truth; however, Vera’s entire story is a lie. Next, the name Mr. Nuttel might hint that Mr. Nuttel is a nutcase; in fact, he may have appeared so to Vera’s family. However, Mr. Nuttel is perfectly sane but has fallen victim to Vera’s lie, portraying him as a nutcase. Finally, Mrs. Stapleton’s name implies that she is wise, which she is not, as evidenced by the fact that she is unaware of her niece’s tale. In the Monkey’s paw, Jacobs uses foreshadowing in a subtler manner. A critical example of foreshadowing is the use of the number three. Jacobs also employs foreshadowing by mentioning the previous owner of the monkey’s paw, and how their third wish was for death. This signals to the reader that the monkey’s paw is truly dangerous and should not be taken