Saki uses irony throughout even in the stories symbol, the open window. By having the open window, one might expect honesty. In the story, the open window symbolizes Mrs. Sappleton’s anguish and heartbreak at the loss of her husband and younger brother, who left to hunt one day and never came back. When the truth is revealed, the open window no longer symbolizes anguish, but the very deceit itself. Like the window being open, Mr. Nuttel and the reader is completely at the mercy of Mrs. Sappleton’s niece, at least while she tells her story. Irony is also used in the importance of the open window in this beginning quote, “It is quite warm for the time of the year," said Framton; "but has that window got anything to do with the tragedy?". The story is written in third person, even though all of the characters are emotionally developed, it allows the irony to take place.
Even the story starts in irony in its exposition. He came to talk with the aunt, but without her coming down and the girl entertaining him, the story would have never happened if the aunt would have answered the door. The following rising action is where the girl tells her tall tale and he meets the aunt. Ironically, the reader and Mr. Nuttel think she is insane, but in reality she is telling the truth, which sets up the climax. In the climax the “ghosts” come back and he runs for the door. Falling action is also ironic because the reader finds out that Vera was lying to the man and even lies to the aunt, leaving the family to think he is insane. Vera was lying the whole time about her family’s death just to keep herself amused, and ironically the author makes us think that Mrs. Sappleton was crazy. In the story, Mr. Nuttel is a fragile person and any little excitement or anxiety can make him in jeopardy for his sanity. However, Mr. Nuttel, originally set on going to the country to make his nervous condition better, faces a piece of fiction that, in the end, only makes his nervous condition worse. He says, "The doctors agree in ordering me complete rest, an absence of mental excitement, and avoidance of anything in the nature of violent physical exercise," which is completely an ironic statement because he does all three by the end of the short story. The concluding sentence “romance at short notice was her specialty” not only was the resolution, but it also allowed the reader to realize that Vera lied to try to provide an opening for romance or fable through the open window with a tall tale that provided an opportunity for Mr. Nuttel to think that there was a possibility for such a fictitious tale.
Saki gives the reader the conflict between reality and imagination, sanity and insanity. He demonstrates how difficult it can be to distinguish between them. Not only does the unfortunate Mr. Nuttel fall victim to the story's joke, but so does the reader. The reader is at first inclined to laugh at Nuttel for being so gullible. However, the reader, too, has been taken in by Saki's story and must come to the realization that he or she is also inclined to believe a well-told and interesting tale and question sanity. In The Open Window, Saki forms deceit for the reader by keeping the story’s symbol, plot, and even characters ironic.
