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Dusk
by H.H. Munro (Saki)

Norman Gortsby sat on a bench in the Park, with his back to a strip of bush-planted sward, fenced by the park railings, and the Row fronting him across a wide stretch of carriage drive. Hyde Park Corner, with its rattle and hoot of traffic, lay immediately to his right. It was some thirty minutes past six on an early March evening, and dusk had fallen heavily over the scene, dusk mitigated by some faint moonlight and many street lamps. There was a wide emptiness over road and sidewalk, and yet there were many unconsidered figures moving silently through the half-light, or dotted unobtrusively on bench and chair, scarcely to be distinguished from the shadowed gloom in which they sat.

The scene pleased Gortsby and harmonised with his present mood. Dusk, to his mind, was the hour of the defeated. Men and women, who had fought and lost, who hid their fallen fortunes and dead hopes as far as possible from the scrutiny of the curious, came forth in this hour of gloaming, when their shabby clothes and bowed shoulders and unhappy eyes might pass unnoticed, or, at any rate, unrecognised.

A king that is conquered must see strange looks, So bitter a thing is the heart of man.

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Question
Use the passage to answer the question.

Which details from this story help develop the story into a satire? Select the two correct answers.

(1 point)
Responses

Gortsby listens closely to the story that the young man tells of his misfortunes.
Gortsby listens closely to the story that the young man tells of his misfortunes.

The setting, which takes place in Hyde Park at dusk, is dark and mysterious.
The setting, which takes place in Hyde Park at dusk, is dark and mysterious.

The three characters in the story are strangers whose lives cross paths only briefly.
The three characters in the story are strangers whose lives cross paths only briefly.

Gortsby changes his view after finding a bar of soap on the ground.
Gortsby changes his view after finding a bar of soap on the ground.

Gortsby is very cynical and distrusting of the young man he meets.
Gortsby is very cynical and distrusting of the young man he meets.
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Answer 1

The two details from the story that help develop it into a satire are:

1. Gortsby changes his view after finding a bar of soap on the ground. - This detail illustrates the theme of superficial judgments and the irony of Gortsby’s cynical nature, highlighting how easily his perception can be altered by a trivial object, which satirizes people's quickness to judge others based on appearances and coincidental evidence.

2. Gortsby is very cynical and distrusting of the young man he meets. - This detail underscores Gortsby's attitude toward society and speaks to the broader theme of skepticism in human interactions, thereby contributing to the satirical tone of the story, which critiques social norms and the nature of trust among people.

These responses illustrate how Munro (Saki) uses Gortsby’s character and his interactions to satirize social attitudes and behaviors.