Question

In "The Open Window" by Saki, the young woman Vera makes up stories about her aunt and uncle and the visitor Mr. Framton. The last line of the story is, "Romance at short notice was her specialty." What does this quote mean and what does it reveal about Vera’s character? How do Vera’s words and actions support this quote?

Answer 1

Answer:

She could make up the best romance story’s in the shortest notice. Vera is a curious young girl that loves to spin tall tales.

Explanation:

Vera is capable of blurring the lines between imagination and reality as she entertains guests of Mrs. Sappleton. Her story about the males of the Sappleton family who went hunting and were lost resides between truth and fiction. Later, rather than depicting the guest, Framton Nuttel, as capable of great achievements and "chivalrous devotion," Vera satirically portrays him as a weak and cowardly man who has been pursued by vicious dogs and spent the night in a freshly dug grave to escape injury.

She tells her aunt and uncle that Nuttel is terrified of dogs ever since being hunted into a cemetery in India by wild dogs and having to spend the night in a newly dug grave.