1. CHARACTERS IN CRISIS
This nervous man from "The Open Window" was in the country for a "nerve cure."
Who is Framton Nuttel?
In "The Open Window," the men returning from hunting are not ghosts, but this.
What are living people / Mrs. Sappleton's husband and brothers?
Saki's use of a story within a story in "The Open Window" is an example of this narrative structure.
What is a frame story?
"My aunt will be down presently, Mr. Nuttel," said a very self-possessed young lady of fifteen."
Who is Vera?
In "The Open Window," Vera's story claims her aunt's husband and brothers died here.
What is a bog?
The clever young niece who specializes in "romance at short notice."
Who is Vera?
Theodoric's entire humiliating ordeal in "The Mouse" was pointless because of this.
What is the woman was blind?
Jonathan's mantra, "Nothing puzzles God," is an example of this, a repeated phrase or idea.
What is repetition?
"A warm, creeping movement over his flesh betrayed the unwelcome and highly resented presence... of the strayed mouse."
What is "The Mouse"?
This is the object Theodoric must retrieve from his clothes, causing his panic.
What is a mouse?
This protagonist of "The Mouse" is horrified at the thought of being indecent in front of a lady.
Who is Theodoric?
The title "Civil Peace" is ironic because this is still happening everywhere.
What is crime/theft/lawlessness?
The central struggle in "The Mouse" is this type of conflict (e.g., Man vs. Self).
What is Man vs. Self? (His internal struggle with embarrassment and propriety)
"He had come out of the war with five inestimable blessings--his head, his wife Maria's head and the heads of three out of their four children."
What is "Civil Peace"?
Jonathan uses this vehicle as a taxi to make his first pile of money after the war.
What is a bicycle?
The unshakably optimistic main character of "Civil Peace" who counts his blessings.
Who is Jonathan Iwegbu?
Vera claims Framton ran away because he had a horror of this animal.
What is a dog?
Achebe's use of phrases like "egg-rasher" and "na so" is an example of this, using language specific to a region or culture.
What is dialect or colloquialism?
"Romance at short notice was her specialty."
What is "The Open Window"?
The thieves outside Jonathan's door demand this specific amount of money.
What is one hundred pounds? (They settle for twenty)
This character's blindness is the final ironic twist in her story.
Who is the woman on the train in "The Mouse"?
Jonathan's great fortune, the "egg-rasher," is almost immediately taken by this.
Who are the thieves/robbers?
The open window itself is a powerful example of this, a concrete object representing a larger idea.
What is a symbol?
"I count it as nothing... What is egg-rasher? Did I depend on it last week?"
Who is Jonathan Iwegbu?
Theodoric is on this mode of transportation when his ordeal begins.
What is a train/railway carriage?