Summary

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Summary
Summary (Comprehensive Guide to Short Stories, Critical
Edition)
Conradin, a ten-year-old boy whom the doctor has given less than five years to live, is antagonized by his
cousin and guardian, Mrs. De Ropp, who seems to take delight in thwarting him under the guise of taking care
of him. Conradin finds escape in his vivid imagination and in an unused toolshed, in which he keeps two
petsa Houdan hen, on which he lavishes affection, and a ferret, which he fears and comes to venerate as a
god.

Conradin names the ferret Sredni Vashtar and worships the beast as his god, bringing it flowers in season and
celebrating festivals on special occasions, such as when his cousin suffers from a toothache. When his cousin
notices him spending too much time in the shed, she discovers the Houdan hen and sells it. She is surprised
when Conradin fails to show any emotion at the news, but Conradin changes his usual worshiping ritual.
Instead of chanting Sredni Vashtars praises, he asks an unnamed boon of his god. Every day he repeats his
request for the one wish from the ferret. Mrs. De Ropp, noticing his frequent visits to the toolshed, concludes
that he must have something hidden there, which she assumes to be guinea pigs. She ransacks his room until
she finds the key to the cage and goes out to the shed.

As she goes to the shed, Conradin watches her and imagines her triumph over him and his subsequent
declining health under her oppressive care. He does not see her emerge from the shed for a long time,
however, and he begins to hope, chanting to Sredni Vashtar. Finally, he notices the ferret coming out of the
shed with dark, wet stains around its mouth and throat.

The maid announces tea and asks Conradin where his cousin is. He tells her that Mrs. De Ropp has gone to
the shed, and the maid goes to announce tea to her. Conradin calmly butters his toast, relishing every moment
as he hears the scream of the maid and the loud sobs and talk of the kitchen help, followed by the footsteps of
someone carrying a heavy burden. Then he hears the kitchen help discussing who will tell the young boy the
news as he takes another piece of toast to butter.

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Source: Comprehensive Guide to Short Stories, Critical Edition, 2004 eNotes.com, Inc.. All Rights
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2
Themes

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Themes
Themes and Meanings (Comprehensive Guide to Short
Stories, Critical Edition)
This short, macabre story is chilling in its portrayal of the fiendish young boy. Saki takes the boys point of
view toward the annoying, officious cousin, who, the boy believes, delights in tormenting him. The boy lives
almost entirely in his imagination. The real world is that which is ruled by adults such as his cousin, who are
most disagreeable to him. In this aspect, Conradin seems to be a perfectly normal child at odds with the
demands of the cruel outside world. What sets Conradin apart from other children is his almost pathological
escape from reality and his achieving his revenge through the agency of the wild animal. What is usually only
imaginary to a child is carried to fruition, and the child relishes it.

Conradins veneration of the ferret comes to take up more and more of his waking hours after his cousin has
sold his beloved hen. It becomes an obsession with him, and the reader finally comes to understand that he
prays that the beast will kill his cousin. When the ferret actually kills the cousin, the most shocking thing is
the boys nonchalant, almost happy acceptance of the event. It is the boys reaction to the killing that takes
the story out of the realm of reality.

Although Conradins condition is unusual in that he has been diagnosed as having a short time to live, he
could, to an extent, be perceived as a typical boy escaping in his imagination from the cold world. Even his
adoration of the ferret seems to differ only in degree from what could be considered normal. Sometimes
normal children imagine killing their adult antagonists, and in this case, it could be considered accidental that
his cousin is killed (although Conradin makes no effort to warn her, he fully expects her to emerge from the
shed victorious, as she usually does when in conflict with him). However, the realization that his prayers have
been answered and his cold, calm acceptance of the accomplished fact are shocking.

In a sense, then, the story can be seen as a childs fantasy of getting even with the nonunderstanding world of
adults. It is a kind of wish fulfillment of which many children dream. The horror is that Saki presents it as a
reality, and the boy as fully enjoying the event.

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Source: Comprehensive Guide to Short Stories, Critical Edition, 2004 eNotes.com, Inc.. All Rights
Reserved.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

No part of this work covered by the copyright hereon may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means
graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, Web distribution or information
storage retrieval systems without the written permission of the publisher.

For complete copyright information, please see the online version of this work.

4
Analysis

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Analysis
Style and Technique (Comprehensive Guide to Short
Stories, Critical Edition)
All of Sakis short stories are very short and to the point, and Sredni Vashtar is no exception. Many of his
stories are also as macabre as this one. What distinguishes Sakis stories is his ability to capture the feelings
and attitudes of children toward their elders. That he was reared by two aunts, one of whom acted sadistically
toward children, is probably what motivated Saki to fill so many of his stories with young children and
sadistic elder guardians. His purpose is usually achieved by a quasi-objective narrative stance, in which the
narrator interprets events from the point of view of the young protagonist but pretends to relate events
objectively, as in this story.

The narrator at the beginning depicts the situation as Conradin views it. To him, Mrs. De Ropp represents
those three-fifths of the world that are necessary and disagreeable and real, while the other two-fifths, in
perpetual antagonism to the foregoing, were summed up in himself and his imagination. The fruit trees in the
dull cheerless garden are described as being jealously apart from his plucking, as though they were rare
specimens of their kind blooming in an arid waste. It is an adult narrating the perceptions of a child.

Mrs. De Ropp becomes for the boy the epitome of all that is respectable, and thus the antithesis of all that he
holds dear. When she has sold his beloved hen, he refuses to let her see how deeply he feels the loss, but he is
described as hating the world as represented chiefly by Mrs. De Ropp. His antipathy takes the form of his
devoting his energies to praying more fervently to his animal god.

Saki cleverly omits mentioning the subject of Conradins supplication to Sredni Vashtar, and while the cousin
is in the toolshed to get rid of the ferret, the narrator describes Conradins imagining his cruel cousins final
triumph over him by extirpating the one creature he so venerates. Then, as Saki obliquely informs the reader
of the demise of the hated guardian, his description of Conradin calmly eating and enjoying his butter and
toast heightens the readers sense of shock.

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Source: Comprehensive Guide to Short Stories, Critical Edition, 2004 eNotes.com, Inc.. All Rights
Reserved.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

No part of this work covered by the copyright hereon may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means
graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, Web distribution or information
storage retrieval systems without the written permission of the publisher.

For complete copyright information, please see the online version of this work.