Twist of Fate
In the vein of the similarly styled O. Henry, Saki is one of the master of the surprise twist ending. Quite unlike O.Henry, however, the shock that fate has in store for characters in Saki’s world is usually more grotesquely ironic. His most famous twists often involve the gruesome death of a major character and lend the suggestion that the author did not much stock in the concept of leaving your destiny up for grabs, but had to be taken hold and steered toward the direction you wished to chart with every ounce of willpower you could muster. Those who allow themselves to be acted upon by the dice roll of the gods in Saki’s stories usually roll snake eyes.
British Upper Class
Saki made his name as a short story writer with a series of tales that took direct aim at the very social milieu into which he was born. The Edwardian gentry about which Saki wrote often in the early part of his career is targeted for ironic slings and arrows primary as a critique of replacing purpose and ambition with meaningless ritual nevertheless carried out with the utmost appearance of seriousness. The joy with which the less privileged classes would have enjoyed laughing at the very definition of stuff shirts helps explain why his “Reginal” series of stories were so wildly popular.
Animals and Karma
Weird things tend to happen whenever an animal shows up in a Saki story. The title of “The She-Wolf” may give an indication of the extent of this connection between animals endowed with supernatural consciousness and the delivery of a karmic payback to humans daring to put their faith in the random quality of fate. Just how macabre things can get in the darker work of Saki’s short fiction can be judged by the fact that “The Hounds of Fate” remarkably absent the population of its titular beasts while title character of “Esme” turns out to be a hyena.
Illusion v. Reality
In many of the stories that have become most famous for Saki after his death, the most common thematic strain is a peculiar examination of the notion of appearances providing an illusory sense of reality. “The Open Window” can itself be viewed through the prism of what is really taking place here: mere childish mischief or something indicative of a much darker and disturbing potential for malevolence. “The Storyteller” covers territory that ultimately gives on pause over whether there isn’t something to be said for keeping the construct of a nice illusion together as long as possible for children before giving way to its inevitably smashing with the hammer of the knowledge of the real world.
