THINKER'S ALMANAC - December 18

Subject: Imagination - The Narrative Fallacy

Event:  Birthday of Saki, 1870

The narrative fallacy addresses our limited ability to look at sequences of facts without weaving an explanation into them, or, equivalently, forcing a logical link, an arrow of relationship upon them. -Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Today is the birthday of Scottish writer Hector Hugh Munro (1870-1916), better known by the pen name Saki.  Munro was born in British Burma, where his father was an Inspector General for the Indian Imperial Police. Munro later served in the Burma police force himself, but he was forced to resign after he contracted malaria.  Near the end of his life, Munro joined the British Army and served in World War I.  He was killed in 1916, shot by a German sniper in France during the Battle of the Ancre

Munro’s writing career began as a journalist in England, but he is best known for his carefully crafted short stories.  The stories often satirized social conventions and frequently featured surprise endings.  Saki’s stories are often compared to those of American writer O’Henry (1862-1910), whose stories also feature endings with a surprising twist (1).

One particularly brilliant story by Saki is called “The Open Window.”  The story features a character named Frampton Nuttel, who is visiting the country in hopes of finding relief for his nervous condition.  Nuttel, with letters of introduction from his sister in hand, visits the home of Mrs. Sappleton.  While waiting for Mrs. Sappleton to come down, Nuttel talks with Sappleton’s niece, a precocious fifteen-year-old named Vera.  In the room where the two characters are sitting, a French door is kept open, despite the fact that it’s October.  Vera explains to Nuttel that the door is left open because Mrs. Sappleton is under the delusion that her husband and her brothers will return from hunting, despite the fact that the three men died three years ago, sinking into “a treacherous piece of bog.”

When Mrs. Sappleton arrives in the room and begins talking about the imminent return of her husband and brothers, Nuttel listens politely, but based on Vera’s explanation, he perceives his hostess to be deranged.

When Mrs. Sappleton announces the return of the hunters, Nuttel turns and sees three men approaching the French doors, accompanied by their hunting dog.  Thinking he is seeing ghosts, Nuttel leaps up, fleeing the house in horror.   At this point in the story, the reader realizes that Vera made up the story of the hunting tragedy simply to entertain herself.  Next, instead of explaining the trick she played on Nuttel to her aunt, she spins another tale on the spot to explain Nuttel’s odd behavior, saying that Nuttel was spooked by the dog:

He was once hunted into a cemetery somewhere on the banks of the Ganges by a pack of pariah dogs, and had to spend the night in a newly dug grave with the creatures snarling and grinning and foaming just above him.  

The story’s final line sums up Vera’s propensity for impromptu fiction:  “Romance at short notice was her specialty” (2).

The meaning of the word “romance” in the context in which Saki uses it does not mean romantic love.  Instead, in this context, romance relates to the long tradition of Medieval romances — imaginative and extravagant stories of the adventures of heroic characters.  Therefore, if he were writing today, Saki probably would have written:  “Imagination at short notice was her specialty.”  

The reality is that “Romance at short notice” is the specialty of most people.  However, unlike Vera, we’re not always consciously aware of what we’re doing.  We find it very difficult to look at facts without building a narrative to explain them. Psychologists call this the narrative fallacy; in essence, instead of having a Vera to make up stories for us, we make up our own, and then we believe them.  Very seldom do people say to themselves or others, “What might be some alternative explanations (narratives) that would explain this?”  For example, because Mr. Nuttel never questioned Vera’s narrative, she was able to manipulate him, making him believe that he really was seeing ghosts.

In the classic film Twelve Angry Men, a jury spends a hot day locked in a room trying to come up with a verdict in a murder case.  Based on the narratives provided by two witnesses, eleven of the jury members vote for a guilty verdict.  For them, the testimony (narrative) of what happened on the night of the murder becomes fact.  The twelfth juror, however, has the courage to challenge the narrative.  He doesn’t say that the accused is not guilty; instead, he challenges the other jurors to entertain alternative explanations (narratives).  By doing this, they begin to see other possible interpretations of what happened.  As a result, they begin to doubt the original narratives.  Instead of jumping to a hasty conclusion based on a single narrative, they are able to envision other possible narratives. By thinking rationally about these narratives, they arrive at reasonable doubt and -- spoiler alert -- submit a unanimous non-guilty verdict.

Challenge:  Short Notice, Short Fiction: What is something odd that a character might wear or carry, and why would the character wear or carry it?  Practice using your imagination at short notice.  Pick a number at random, from 1 to 7.  Then write the opening of a short story in which you, the narrator, give the backstory of why the character wears or carries the odd item.  Give the character a name, and also establish the setting of your story.

A character who wears a Santa hat in May

A character who wears a toga in January

A character who wears earmuffs in July

A character who always carries a rubber chicken

A character who always carries a cheese grater

A character who carries a guitar with no strings

A character who carries an open umbrella when there is no chance or sign of rain

 

Sources:

1-Encyclopedia Britannica. Saki. 

2-Saki (1870-1916). The Open Window. Public Domain. East of the Web.com.