Think Before Taking Action In Saki’S “The Interlopers”
A significant theme in the story, “The Interlopers”, by Saki (H. H. Munro), is that it is very important to think twice before committing an act. Firstly, the main characters in the story take action without giving thought to their plan. Ulrich von Gradwitz ventures into the forest during a stormy night for a hunt, while thinking about killing his enemy. Coincidentally, Georg Znaeym does the same. They do not consider any of the possibilities this night can bring, except for the fact that they are both enemies who are driven to kill the other. On this fateful night, the two inevitably meet: “The two enemies stood glaring at each other for a long silent moment. Each had a rifle in his hand, each had hate in his heart and murder uppermost in his mind”.
This is a person vs. self-conflict, meaning that the character is their own rival. The characters are internally arguing with themselves when deciding how to overcome their obstacle: the fact that they are holding a gun and have the freedom to do whatever they want with it. Although, the men are eager to finally murder each other their trigger finger halts, as they think about how this act will affect their lives in the future. This one moment of hesitation brought Ulrich and Georg back to reality, saving each other's lives. Moreover, the actions that the main characters take to solve their problems are careless, which is the reason why they usually end up in trouble and regret. Without thinking, Ulrich von Gradwitz and Georg Znaeym went to the gloomy forest, during a cold winter night. An unexpected event, leads to them being trapped in nature’s possession: “A fierce shriek of the storm had been answered by a splitting crash over their heads, and ere they could leap aside a mass of falling beech tree had thundered down on them”.
This is a person vs. nature conflict signifying that the characters are in a struggle against nature. As they are pinned down to the ground by the tree, nature is against them. If Ulrich and Georg thought beforehand, they probably would not have come to the forest during such harsh weather, and this accident would not have occured in the first place.
Lastly, the characters in the story have good ideas but they do not execute these ideas properly. Ulrich von Gradwitz and Georg Znaeym are stuck under a beech tree, and need to escape very soon. To do so, they need to receive help from the only available assets they have; the men they brought with them. However, they use the wrong call to get their men’s attention: “They won’t carry far through the trees and undergrowth,’ said Georg, ‘but we can try. Together, then.’ The two raised their voices in a prolonged hunting call”. By the time Ulrich and Georg realize what they just did, it was too late. There are now wolves running to them, and most likely eating them alive. This is considered to be situational irony, as the readers thought that Once again, the main characters in this story demonstrate why it is essential for everyone to question themselves before performing an action.
All in all, Saki did an amazing job at sending the readers the message that it is never a good idea to do something without giving thought to how the move will affect yourself and others.
