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Feature
The Open Window
by H. H. Munro (Saki)
“You may wonder why we keep that window wide open on an October afternoon,” said the niece, indicating a large French window that opened on to a lawn.
“It is quite warm for the time of the year,” said Framton; “but has that window got anything to do with the tragedy?”
“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. In crossing the moor to their favourite snipe-shooting ground they were all three engulfed in a treacherous piece of bog. It had been that dreadful wet summer, you know, and places that were safe in other years gave way suddenly without warning. Their bodies were never recovered. That was the dreadful part of it.” Here the child’s voice lost its self-possessed note and became falteringly human. “Poor aunt always thinks that they will come back some day, they and the little brown spaniel that was lost with them, and walk in at that window just as they used to do. That is why the window is kept open every evening till it is quite dusk. Poor dear aunt, she has often told me how they went out, her husband with his white waterproof coat over his arm, and Ronnie, her youngest brother, singing ‘Bertie, why do you bound?’ as he always did to tease her, because she said it got on her nerves. Do you know, sometimes on still, quiet evenings like this, I almost get a creepy feeling that they will all walk in through that window—”
"The Open Window" by H.H. Munro ("Saki")
Question
Use the story “The Open Window” to answer the question.
In this excerpt, the niece is playing a trick on Framton by inventing a story about her aunt. What real details of the setting play a role in the niece’s story?
(1 point)
Responses
the open window, the October weather, and the moor
the open window, the October weather, and the moor
the open window, the bog, and the aunt’s nerves
the open window, the bog, and the aunt’s nerves
the gun, the moor, and the treacherous bog
the gun, the moor, and the treacherous bog
the gun, the dreadful wet summer, and the quiet evening
1 answer
The correct response is: the open window, the October weather, and the moor.
These details set the scene and provide context for the niece's story about the tragedy that befell her aunt's family. The open window symbolizes hope that they will return, the October weather suggests the passage of time since their disappearance, and the moor is the location where the tragedy occurred.
