Vera's True Intentions

Vera’s Motives: Her True Intentions

Vera in “The Open Window” by Saki provides a very interesting personality. It is clearly shown that she has intelligence in many parts of this short tale, but what are her motives? Is she just attempting to get a quick laugh, or is there a hidden darker side of her? Is this just a very convincing scare, or is Vera cruel? Although it might seem that she has mixed intents at first glance, it becomes clear that Vera is in fact just a mischievous girl by analyzing the text further. This thought can be verified with three statements. These three statements are that she could have utilized her abilities to do more to Nuttel, that Frampton Nuttel provided an easy target, and for Vera to have a little more happiness

If she could have created a very convincing scare at this at ease, then why not step it up a level? In “The Open Window”, Vera demonstrates her ability to create decisions quickly, while also using information gathered to create a personalized scene, which makes creates an element of depth that makes the story believable beyond doubt. On page 242 of “The Open Window”, in the fifth paragraph down, Vera asks the question “Do you know many of the people around here?” Frampton Nuttel replies by telling Vera that he, in fact, does not know many of the people in the area but that his sister was staying here four years ago. Utilizing the new-found knowledge, Vera quickly switches to telling the tale of her aunt’s great tragedy, then telling him that it happened three years ago. Because of Vera’s quick thinking, there would have been no way for Frampton Nuttel to check if her statements were valid because he didn’t know many people, and because his sister stayed four years ago which is beyond the range that Vera is suggesting. It is also evident that Vera has impressing storytelling, as it was required in manipulating Nuttel. With these abilities that Vera demonstrates with ease, it’s no wonder that she could trick Frampton Nuttel at ease using this strategy. With the ease that she used to pull off this stunt, then a new question emerges; why not take this further? Vera could slowly build up an

If an opportunity this good was presented to her, naturally she would show her mischievousness and put her skills to good use. In “The Open Window,” the only reason why Nuttel would arrive in the place would be for some sort of treatment, which was common knowledge to Vera at the time. Because of this obvious knowledge to Vera, she would know that pulling off a scare like this would not be too difficult. Although Vera did not know Nuttel’s problem, it would be clear to her that he would be in the retreat for some sort of rest. Knowing that Nuttel would not expect such an event as the one that occurred in the story, she can easily fool Frampton Nuttel. With all the common knowledge that is easily available for Vera, it is evident that the people migrating to the retreat would be easy targets. Nuttel also not having any knowledge of the people around, as revealed in paragraph 6 on page 242 by saying that he knew “Hardly a soul.” Clearly, Nuttel is clueless, which makes Vera’s job a lot easier and in turn, makes it very easy for Vera to get a bit of