Satire in “The Storyteller”

What aspects of “The Storyteller” make it a satire? What is Saki poking fun at with this story? How does he use humor and exaggeration to make his point? Support your answers with details and examples from the story.

I feel as if I have answered this already in my earlier blog posts, but here goes...

A satire is a genre of literature that takes vices, shortcomings, or other issues and hold them up to ridicule, usually with the intent of poking fun at specific individuals and society to assert their views on how the individuals or society should improve. A typical satire will contain some irony and a deep message; even the most comical and lighthearted satire will have a serious assertion and theme. It relies on exaggeration and irony to create humor, which fuels the comical side of a satirical piece of literature.

In "The Storyteller" by Saki, Saki includes aspects of exaggeration in order to oppose the subject that he is making fun of - the conservative, rigid means of upbringing children. He does this by, through the third-person omniscient perspective, showing how the aunt's ways of teaching are ineffective and her dullness and insipid personality do nothing to calm or satisfy the children. I can see this reflected in today's society; on principle, children who are forced to learn and behave against their better nature usually end up rebellious (this is a big hint on a theme that can be derived from the story). The bachelor, on the other hand, tells a captivating story that leaves all the children in awe.

This brings me to another point. Saki uses the character of the bachelor to bring to light the issue of how society insists on upbringing children to be "good" against their true nature. Saki was raised in a rigid household, and because of his hatred towards it he wrote a good number of satires about the topic; this story also includes the implication that there should be room for children to grow based on their true nature. Such a serious theme is brought up with humor. The bachelor's story is exaggerated (and as a result it is intriguing), and what basically happens is Bertha, the main character of his story, is killed as a result of her good behavior. The situational irony and the humor in which it is presented also encloses a deep issue of society.

In short, Saki's story includes the basic aspects of a satire; exaggeration, irony, and humor in order to ridicule a topic and through these methods he also bring up serious societal issues that are worth contemplating about.