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Flashbacks
Foil
Explanation and Analysis—Vera vs. Mr. Nuttel:
In “The Open Window,” Vera serves as a foil for Mr. Nuttel. From the first lines of the story, Saki establishes Vera as a confident and clever girl with a knack for choreographing social situations. The reader does not need Vera to get the sense that Mr. Nuttel is a neurotic, insecure, and ineffectual man, as the third-person narrator provides access into his anxious musing. Nonetheless, by presenting the reader with this pair of contrasting characters when the story begins, Saki immediately emphasizes Mr. Nuttel’s helplessness. The opening lines of the story, in which the reader is given Vera's direct speech paired with Mr. Nuttel's indirect ruminations on the situation, establish this well:
‘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 endeavoured to say the correct something which should duly flatter the niece of the moment without unduly discounting the aunt that was to come.
It is significant to note that although Mr. Nuttel is presumably the protagonist, the story opens with Vera’s direct speech. He appears so concerned with “[endeavouring] to say the correct something” that he rarely feels empowered to participate in, much less initiate, conversation. The reader is not exposed to Mr. Nuttel’s voice until several paragraphs have passed, when Vera has “judged that they had had sufficient silent communion” and she invites him to speak. Despite being an adult man in conversation with a teenage girl, Mr. Nuttel begins the story as an immobilized listener and remains one until he runs off before the story has ended. The only time he speaks without having first been spoken to is when he lists out his various ailments, which no one appears to pay attention to. Vera, on the other hand, flexes her social skills as she guides the opening conversation.
The characters’ contrasting features also extend to their names. Vera’s name, which is the feminine root for "truth" in Latin, underlines her perceptiveness and guile. While this is an ironic name for the character, given her apparent talent for telling elaborate lies, it is also a sleek name that commands respect. She may not tell the truth, but she certainly presides over it. Unlike Mr. Nuttel, she is prepared to distinguish truth from fiction. Mr. Nuttel’s name, on the other hand, sounds like the word “nutty” and contributes to the reader’s and other characters’ inability to take him seriously.
Vera possesses agency, imagination, and narrative authority—all features that Mr. Nuttel lacks. The comical edge to his awkwardness and incompetence is reinforced for the reader when encountering him alongside this capable young foil. Her difference from him literally pushes Mr. Nuttel out of the frame of the story: incapable of discerning the teenager’s prank, Mr. Nuttel accepts Vera’s words as fact and runs away in fright. The reader thus loses the story’s protagonist before the story has reached its end. Not only does Vera have the first say in the story, she also has the last.
Related Themes:
