The Open Window Theme

bypresents a man in need of a cure for his nerves.  Mr. Nuttel comes to the wrong house. He is
there to meet a friend, Mrs. Sappleton, of his sister. While he is waiting on Mrs. Sappleton, he
is intercepted by a creative niece who scares the man nearly to death.  If his nerves were bad
before, they will not have improved after this visit.

Themes

Reality versus
appearance

Thematically, the story speaks first to the
difference between reality and appearance.  The fifteen year old niece
likes to create stories.  In this situation, she uses one real object, the open window, to draw
in her victim.  To Mr. Nuttel, it is open because it is a hot day.

The story
becomes a story within a story.  When the niece tells the fantastic story of the disappearance
of three men and a dog, she makes the story sound so possible. The window becomes symbolic.  It
represents the possibility that the men just might walk in after being lost for three years.
This is the appearance of truth. 

Mrs. Sappleton comes
in and begins to talk about reality. She has no idea that her niece had
told Mr. Nuttel a story about the window.   Her husband is gone hunting with her brothers and
will be back soon.  She discusses hunting and other associated things. Again, the open window is
mentioned.  This is the reality of the story. 

In Mr.
Nuttels mind, he believes the nieces story; he thinks Mrs. Sappleton is awful and probably crazy
because she expects her lost husband to come walking in on this particular day.

When she sees her husband actually returning from hunting with her brothers, Mr. Nuttel
at first does not believe it.  Then, he looks out and sees three men coming. This was close
enough for him.  He heads out the door never to return to the Sappleton's home.

A most extraordinary man, a Mr. Nuttel, said Mrs. Sappleton, could only talk about his
illnesses and dashed off without a word of goodbye or apology when you arrived. One would think
he had seen a ghost.

This, of course, is dramaticsince that is what Mr.
Nuttel thought he had seen.

With the men coming in the window, appearance is
lost to the reality of the real story. The niece likes to tell romance stories which is also a
reality.

Deciphering truth

Another
theme in the story is the fine line in deciphering truth. If the reader
were unaware of Sakis stories or had never heard of this story, he might accept the nieces
story.  Mr. Nuttel is nervous and damaged; there is no doubt that he believes the story. If the
reader believes the story, then it stands to reason that a person can be easily fooled by a good
story teller.  

If a person were paying attention, he might have been able to
watch the girls face or look at her eyes and tell if she is making the story up or that it is a
true story.  Hesitation, facial expressions, and word choice are tools which might be used to
tell if someone were lying.

Deception is easy for some people, certainly
those without an active conscience. If the girl knew that Mr. Nuttel had a nervous condition, it
would have been wrong for her to tell him this kind of story to scare him. 

If she did not know, then it was a harmless prank that went wrong because of his
nervous problem.  Either way, the girl continues on with her story telling by making up a
gruesome reason for Mr. Nuttel leaving.