Saki’s Purpose

In reading “The Storyteller,” the author gives us some clues about what his purpose might be. Read the following clues, and then write about how they might illustrate his purpose.
· The aunt’s story is “deploringly uninteresting.”
· The aunt keeps saying “don’t” and the children keep asking “why?”
· The children think the bachelor’s story is beautiful, but the aunt thinks it is improper.


H. H. Munro, better known as Saki, spend a large portion of his childhood living with his grandmother and aunts, housed under a straight-laced and strict environment. Due to this experience, many of his stories center around the topic of a strict upbringing, and most of the stories also involve strict aunts. These stories are often satires, poking fun at such a topic, and at the same time portraying a negative impression towards the issue. The short story "The Storyteller" is also like this.


In the story "The Storyteller", the aunt tells a story which is tasteless, lackluster, and "deplorably boring". In addition the aunt's feeble attempts to calm the children only make them more restless. When the bachelor tells his story, the story's purpose was of course to calm the children down, but the main reason was to mess with the aunt's years of careful education. I think that this story is a satire; it pokes fun at the child-raising methods of the 19 century aristocracy, especially its strictness and solemness. In addition, due to Saki's own childhood experiences, the story may be a clear portrayal of his dislike and dissatisfaction with the way that his aunts raised him. I don't blame him either; I would have hated it, since this is honestly no way to raise children. It is in the nature of children to frolic and have fun, and forcing them to obey strict statutes is cruel and unthoughtful.