Dusk By Saki Analysis

“Dusk,” by Saki (H.H. Munro) – From “The Complete Saki,” by Saki – Section: “Beats and Super-Beasts.”

“Dusk,” is a story by Hector Hugh Munro, who goes by the pseudonym Saki a master of the short story. Most of his stories satirise the entire Edwardian Era and its culture. “Dusk,” is not like any other Saki tale. It does not have the humour; however this also shows his versatility.

“With working nights, I see three things in the sky. At the beginning of my shift I see the sunset, and the eventual sunset. During the near end of my shift I see the sunrise.”

The title of this short story is what attracted me to it in the first place. There is something about this time. This time of change. Children have already headed indoors for a night of washing up, watching some TV with their parents, and then heading to bed. The dogs can be heard crying out and howling. The pavements appear less populated. Lights are on, illuminating the streets. Their pale orange glow reflected dully in the pavement, and the kerbs. Shadows are cast in the alleys. Shifting and scurrying in the lights. The tiniest moth becomes a large bat. People even start to change. More people can be seen in a state of amiss, or in a sense of unassembled appearances.

About the people that crawl out of their homes, their situations, and take up residence in park benches, where earlier that day, a mother had sat, watching her child play in the park, or an old lady dressed up to go to Church, or a wedding, even a funeral. These benches would soon in time become the spots where the aimless, the disposed, the troubled, and the hopeless swimming in despair took up