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READING DISCUSSION: The open window is a short story, written between 1911and 1914, by the British writer and journalist Hector Hugh Munro, under the pen name Saki; Some say, this pseudonym is derived from Omar Khayyam’s Rubiyate, translated to English by Edward Fitzgerald.This story that is published in 1914, could be enlisted among the growth in arts and culture that the Edwardian England saw,for instance,the famous statue of Peter Pan, created by George Frampton in 1912 and displayed in Kensington Gardens in London. So what is the plot of the story, its writer’s aim behind writing it and what are the positions of its essential characters? The story opens on a man called Mr.Framton Nattel who has just reached one of the village’s houses, his sister recommended; He firstly met,Vera, a young girl of fifteen who asked him to wait till her aunt came. The narrator described the girl as a “self-possessed of fifteen”. Generally, Vera’s character and alike has been present in Saki’s literary world as Spears insisted “Invariably we find a six-year-old boy or a self-possessed young lady … inflicting a mortal blow against the "amour propre" of an adult”. Being the niece, a member of the family, and after she found out that he hadn’t known much about her aunt Mrs Sappleton except her name and address, as it was consisted on the introduction letter,Vera told him a story about a tragedy, she said it touched Mrs.Sappleton ‘s life, as her husband, her two brothers and a brown spaniel vanished, three years ago, and never come back, she said: “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…places that were safe in other years gave way suddenly without warning. Their bodies were never recovered…Poor aunt always thinks that they will come back some day… That is why the window is kept open every evening till it is quite dusk’’. Later, Mrs.Sappleton came, and Framton Nutell told her about his illness, saying his sister suggested he visits the village.“The doctors agree in ordering me complete rest, an absence of mental excitement, and avoidance of anything in the nature of violent physical exercise”Fromton announced. Suddenly Framton, saw a three men heading to the house, walking on the grass; influenced by the niece’s story about Mrs Sappleton’s tragedy and her sorrow, Framton Nutell fleed the house, can’t believe his eyes. Mrs.Sappleton was quiet surprised by Framton’s reaction, especially when she tried to answer her husband query about the person who fleed surprisingly?! “Who was that who bolted out as we came up?” Mrs.Sappelton answered: “A most extraordinary man, a Mr. Nuttel…could only talk about his illnesses and dashed off without a word of good-bye or apology when you arrived. One would think he had seen a ghost.” the niece created another imaginative story to justify Framton’s flee, saying “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.” Clearly, Framton, the passenger who is exausted by his nerve illness, visited the village to find a cure; he found himself full of doubts about efficacy of his visit to get recover from his condition.These doubts in addition to his ignorance about that family history, led him to believe the girl’s unreal tale and escaped the house.The writer uncovered her lies saying “Romance at short notice was her specialty” referring to Vera. Though, Saki’s short story,the open window celebrates the improvement in healthcare services in the Edwardian England, as proved by Framton’s quote “The doctors agree in ordering me complete rest …” it criticizes the continuity of some traditional practices to cure certain diseases such as visiting people in the country side instead of hospitals. The narrator denounces the spread of unreal news, hypocrisy and superficiality, among some parts of the British society, and showed the harm it causes to some individuals, such as Framton who was deceived by the girl, this latter that represents some mediating structures then. Spears describes this feature in Saki’s world as follows:”His satiric artillery is light but his aim is deadly and … hypocrisy, greed, envy…and fatuity easily fall In the face of his withering barrage”. The return of the three figures (Mrs.Saplleton’s husband and two brothers) from a shooting trip, reflects on the one hand, the habit of some middle class gentlemen to practice the hoby of hunting .On the other hand, the end of the prosperity and security atmosphere, as the narrator confirmed with Vera’s voice“places that were safe in other years gave way suddenly without warning “and it may also refer to war in general and world war one in particular (the story was published few months before war started)! In which Saki ironically was killed by a German sniper, during the Battle of the Ancre,France, in 1916. All in all, the open window introduces, in four pages prose, a sample of Saki’s satire.A visit of Framton Nuttel,the main character, to the country side for medical purposes .He faced series of suspenseful events, presented in fast scale narration that serves the mystery, the reader encountered at first reading…