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Comparing Like The Sun And The Open Window

Decent Essays

The two short stories “Like the Sun” by R. K. Narayan and “The Open Window” by Saki (H. H. Munro) the authors both use irony and paradox to explore ideas of honesty and deception. In this essay I will present some details from the two stories and how they relate to the ideas of irony and paradox. Both of the stories have different ways in which the characters go about using the two concepts. First of all, in the story “Like the Sun”, a form of irony could be found when Sekhar’s Headmaster changes his mind about how long he has to get the tests graded. Originally, the Headmaster says that Sekhar can have 10 days to get them all finished, but after Sekhar tells him the truth about how he sings, the Headmaster changes his mind and only gives him 2 days to have all of the tests graded and turned in. That is …show more content…

Mr. Nuttel is supposed to be undergoing a nerve cure. He is going to a formal visit when he is approached by the niece of Mrs. Sappleton, whom he is supposed to be talking with. The niece goes on into telling Mr. Nuttel a story about the tragedy that supposedly happened Mrs. Sappleton. She tells him that the window is always kept open because her family and dog might walk in through it. The niece further explains the tragedy when she tells him that Mrs. Sappleton’s husband, dog, and her two young brothers went off for their day of shooting and they never came back. “They were engulfed in a treacherous piece of bog,” the niece told Mr. Nuttel. Mr. Nuttel got very suspicious and nervous and always looked out the window. This shows a sense of irony because Mr. Nuttel was ordered by doctors “complete rest” and to stay calm at all times, and this story that the niece told him was for sure to get him anxious and nervous. You could find paradox when Vera scares Mr. Nuttel. The following statement: “People scare the ones who need the rest” could be an example of paradox from this specific

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