Many studies of Saki (Hector Hugh Munro) to date have concentrated on the development of technique and treatment in his short stories, linked to the scant details of his life and depending often on an imperfect chronology.  This dissertation aims to build on the foundations of previous studies but by closer textual analysis places greater emphasis on the deeper meanings and the methods by which Saki arrests his reader's attention.

While he wrote considerably more than the short stories, much of his earlier work, for instance his history: The Rise of the Russian Empire; his political sketches collected in "The Westminster Alice" (pp.817-39) and the Not So Stories¹ which appeared intermittently in the Westminster Gazette (1902); and his plays (pp.845-944), may be seen as Saki searching for his true voice.  His two novels, The Unbearable Bassington (pp.569-687) and When William Came (pp.691-814) share many of the characteristics of the short stories but in lesser concentration.

It is generally accepted that Saki's technique as a satirist is to reveal human follies or vices by means of an inversion of the natural order of things.  Sometimes he does this by use of the supernatural, sometimes animals are superior in wisdom to people, and often children triumph in an adult world.  His attack on the conventional society of the day has long been established as the purpose of his satire and the uses of indirection and inversion both provide the strength of his writing and at the same time give rise to misunderstandings.  By concentrating on these elements of his work, "the elusive undercurrents" (p.30)², it is hoped to establish both the consistency of his approach and the rich variety within his self-imposed limitations.

Some stories will always be difficult to assign to any one group and for this reason it is useful to see how other critics have tackled the problem.  Elizabeth Drew, for instance, states that Saki has "but three strains in his nature: the high spirits and malicious impudence of a precocious child; the cynical wit of the light social satirist; and the Gaelic fantasy of the Highlander",³ all of which is true but too general.  Don Henry Otto divides them into "sketches", "stories without heroes" and "characteristic plots"⁴ and while this is very useful as an analysis of form and technique, it is unsatisfactory in giving any clues as to the more nebulous qualities that give his stories their own distinctive flavour.  John Letts in his attempt to categorise the stories sums up the difficulties in saying, "the various strains weave in and out of each other in many different stories: but certain elements remain, which seem to be a standard part of the method".⁵

In an attempt to isolate the patterns in this shifting kaleidoscope, the stories have been divided into the main "voices" which seem to proclaim the truth.  Chapter One, entitled "Inexorable Child-Logic", is the child's voice, where the adults are brought to see the error of their ways by the clear-sighted vision of the child, three stories being explored in depth.  In "The Domain of Miracle", the supernatural voice is discussed, nine of the stories being examined in some detail and the remainder more generally.  The third chapter, "The Realms of Fiction" is divided into two sections: (1) lies with a purpose and (2) practical jokes, the point of all of these stories being to disconcert the complacent or arrogant.  The babbling voices of Chapter Four, "Elaborate Futilities", are a kind of "white noise" in which the idiocies, ineptitudes and false values of a superficial society are exposed.

Throughout the stories certain recurrent words and motifs seem to draw attention to deceptive appearances and invite closer examination of Saki's purpose in their constant reiteration, and this is dealt with in Appendix A.  Surprises abound, in choice of word and in twist of plot, in figure of speech and in the variety of allusion - topical, historical, Biblical and mythological; and everywhere, in country house, fashionable restaurant or remote farm, is the voice of the jungle.

Notes

1. A parody of Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories which appeared earlier in 1902.  There were five in all, bearing such titles as, for instance, "The Dalmeny Cat that Walked by Itself" (31 October, 1902), p.3.
2. "Reginald's Drama".  All page numbers refer to The Penguin Complete Saki (London: Penguin, 1982), unless otherwise specified.
3. Elizabeth Drew, "Saki", Atlantic Monthly, 164 (July 1940), 97.
4. Don Henry Otto, 'Development of Method and Meaning in the Fiction of Saki' (Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of S. California, 1969),pp.25 - 131.
5. John Letts, "Introduction", Saki : Short Stories (London: Folio Society,1976), p.11.

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