LAURABY: SAKI

Nicolas Espinoza

June 24, 2008

10th Literature/Composition

Biographical Facts

• Saki was born under the name of Hector Hugh Munro in Akyab, Burma (Myanmar) on December 18, 1870.– Father: Charles Augustus Munro

• An inspector-general for the Burma police– Mother: Mary Frances Mercer

• Saki’s mother died two years after his birth; she was killed by a runaway cow in an English country lane.

• Saki was brought up in an extremely strict house by his aunts and grandmother with his brothers. They would frequently birch and whip.

• Saki attended Pencarwick School in Exmouth and then Bedford Grammar School.

• In 1893 he joined the Indian Imperial Police to follow in his father’s example, and he wasted posted to Burma. Unfortunately, he had to return to English two years later due to failing health.

Biographical Facts

• When Saki returned to England, he was able to work as a journalist and wrote for numerous newspapers such as the Westminster Gazette, Daily Express, Bystander, Morning Post, and Outlook.

• Saki published his first book, The Rise of the Russian Empire, in 1900 which was a historical study.

• Regardless of the fact that his book was unwelcomed, he continued to write and published Not-so-Stories in 1902.

• Saki was killed by a sniper’s bullet on November 14, 1916 in France shortly after volunteering for the outbreak of World War I efforts.

• Saki never married.

PLOT

Summary

As the story begins, Laura and Amanda are introduced. Laura is to die on Tuesday and Amanda seems concerned. Laura then explains that she believes that she will reincarnate as an otter because, although evil, she has not been too mean in her life. Amanda points out that she might be killed by an otter hound and Laura then says that if she’s a good otter she might be promoted to Nubian boy status.

Summary

Laura dies on Monday. Amanda sits and has breakfast with Sir Lulworth. Shortly afterwards, Amanda’s husband, Egbert, comes in and explains that an otter has killed his four Sussex that were to be used for a show. Amanda is shocked and attempts to say that they should leave the otter alone; regardless, Egbert hires an otter hound and hunts the otter down and kills it.

Summary

After Aurora Burret explains to Amanda that the otter had human eyes when it died, Amanda goes through a mental breakdown of sorts. Egbert takes her to the Nile Valley where she soon recovers. Shortly after her recovery, a Nubian boy steals Egbert’s clean shirts.

CHARACTERS

Laura and Amanda

Laura A devious lady who is not afraid to die due to her belief of

reincarnation. She admits to not have been a very good person in life and expects to reincarnate as an otter… or maybe a Nubian boy. Some may say that she doesn’t take anything very seriously and thinks of life as a game. She reappears in different forms throughout the story, or so the author wants the reader to believe as much.

Amanda A more serious lady who is immediately concerned when

she hears that the doctor has only given Laura four days to live. Amanda, although upset by what Laura says, seems to be completely temperate, but does seem to be caring non the less. She is married to Egbert.

Others

Egbert He is married to Amanda and is devoted to his

poultry and his garden. Needless to say, he runs a farm of sorts and seems quite happy with Laura’s death.

Sir Lulworth He seems to like to analyze situations, but never too

far. Although he will question and point out what comes from his thinking, but he doesn’t seem to like to think of certain topics such as death. He is Amanda’s uncle-in-law.

Aurora Burret Only briefly appears to explain the otter’s death.

Not much can be told from the dialogue.

Point of View

This story is narrated in third person limited point of view.

The character Amanda is followed throughout the story.

Most of the characters’ beliefs and thoughts are meant to be implied by their speech.

Setting

Not much is said about the setting, but one can assume that it is in some type of country town, seeing as Egbert seems to run a farm.

Secondary setting of the Nile Valley is introduced at the very end of the story.

Exposition

The exposition is short lived. A girl named Laura “has been given permission” by the doctor to live until Tuesday, and Amanda is panicked because it is Saturday. Laura then explains that she would simply leave off being Laura and likely become a lesser being through the concept reincarnation. We are merely introduced to the two main characters and are meant to assume their personalities from their speech

Rising Action

Laura dies in a brief sentence and shortly afterwards Amanda speaks with Sir Lulworth while eating breakfast. Egbert enters the breakfast room explaining that four of his speckled Sussex had been killed by an otter(Laura). Those Sussex were being prepared for a show on Friday and he also points out that the otter must have been quite knowledgeable of the area for it easily destroyed his flowerbeds as well. Egbert exclaims that he needs an otter hound, and Amanda quickly protests (likely because she believes the otter to be Laura.)

Climax

Amanda imitates what she believes to be otter hound howls. Eventually, Aurora Burret comes in and tells Amanda that the otter has been killed and that as the otter fell, Burret noticed a human look in its eyes. Amanda becomes quite unstable and losses her temperate mood.

Falling Action

Egbert takes Amanda to the Nile Valley shortly after she slightly recovers from what seems to be a nervous breakdown of sorts.

Resolution

The hotel’s chance of scenery completely restore Amanda’s temperate mood.

Oddly enough, though the resolution is usually the ending of a story, a new unsolved conflict is introduced. A little Nubian boy(Laura) steals Egbert’s clean shirts.

Needless to say that this story is extremely open ended.

External Conflict

There are two external conflicts in this story

The first would be when the otter(Laura) kills Egbert’s four show Sussex and Egbert then solves this by hiring an otter hound to kill the otter.

The second is unresolved, and it is when the Nubian boy(Laura) steals Egbert’s clean shirts.

Internal Conflict

At the very beginning Amanda doubts what happens after death and considers death to be very serious; Laura does not. This is unresolved.

After the slaying of the otter, Amanda has a bit of a nervous break down. This is solved shortly afterward in a short paragraph

where Egbert takes Amanda to the Nile Valley. After Egbert’s mentioning the Nubian boy,

Amanda grows ill(mentally and physically) yet again.

Themes

Thinking over complicated things for too long can lead one to become less stable if one does not find the answer quickly enough.

One must let go of the dead and not imagine them as still alive in different beings for this could also lead to instability.

LITERARY ELEMENTS

Dialogue

Dialogue is the speech between two or more characters.

This story is narrated in a sort of dramatic way.

85% if not more of the story is dialogue while the other 15% are short descriptions of events.

We are to assume characters’ personalities through their word choice.

Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing is a form to give hints and clues to the reader as to what will happen in the near future of a story.

The very beginning when Laura says that she might reincarnate into an otter and then into a Nubian boy after she dies as an otter foreshadows the two main events of this story.

VOCABULARY WORDS

Mortuary

Definition: of or pertaining to the burial of the dead.

Sentence: When I die, I’d rather not have a mortuary

ceremony, but rather I wish to be cremated.

Marauder

Definition: One who raids in hopes of loot

Sentence: The most famous of marauders have to be

the pirates.

Furtively

Definition: taken, done, used, etc., surreptitiously or

by stealth Sentence:

The thief furtively sneaked into the creak wood floored house; he must have rolled a 20.

CONNECTIONS

Target of Ranting

When I was bored in 9th grade, I decided to get acquainted with a large group of people. I spoke to them often and I forced them to speak clearly and to listen well, for I am a bit hard of hearing and soft spoken. Every time this group spoke to me, they expected me to give them long speeches, as though I was a guru or something. With time, people tracked down my AIM system, which I only use for game-related business only, and they began to rant about daily events. Sir Lulworth had to go through the same thing with Amanda’s complaining of Laura’s death.

Mischief

Like Laura, I will sometimes get bored and do things that some people may consider cruel and unusual. I will sometimes explain and at times I will not, but when I do, much like Amanda, the target never would have realized it without my explaining.

Confident in Death

I once met a man who was very confident about his after life. His beliefs were a blend of Taoism and Buddhism; he believed in absolute peace, harmony, and moderation and also in reincarnation. This man was in his 80’s and he was sure to die from what I could see. Anytime we would speak of death, he would always tell me that when he dies, he would become a newborn human for he has always been compassionate in life.

Assessment

Score: 8 This story is quite interesting. It does not

reveal much, and the reader is meant to interpret its meaning; even the ending is technically unresolved. I enjoyed the fact that it made me think and reflect about how certain people view death and how they react to said event.