Short Stories Summary - The first of Autumn, The open Window, Cat in the Rain, The Verger
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Course
Engels
Level
VWO / Gymnasium
This document not only contains a summary of the short stories "The first of Autumn", "Cat in the Rain", "The open Window" and "The Verger", but also focusses on characteristics of different characters and the setting in which it takes place.
English – The First Autumn, Cat in the Rain, The Open Window and The Verger
Short stories summary
Short stories summary
The First Autumn 1933 published
Characters:
1. Elizabeth: older then her brother (Robert), she didn’t know the father had died, when her
father had a heart hattack life just seems to go on as it did before, she regrets the fact that
the games have been spoiled.
2. Robert: youngest child, he didn’t know the father had died, when his father had a heart
hattack life just seems to go on as it did before, he regrets the fact that the games have been
spoiled.
3. Daddy: died because of a heart attack, has a busy job in the city (he is only home on
weekends).
4. The mother: the mother knew the father was dead, even though she was sad she tried to pull
herself together and pretend nothing had happened, strong woman.
Summary:
The season just changed to autumn, because a week ago all the trees were green as the newly mown
lawn, and then all of a sudden they had begun to turn red, orange and yellow. When the father came
home they played a game called ‘horse’. The father was the horse. When Robert and Elizabeth had
climbed on the father’s back, he lay flat on the ground. The father did not respond on the things that
the childern were saying. They asked him to play an other game called ‘Hunting the Kitty’, but the
father did not respond. Robert went to get the mother, because the father stopped playing. Robert
and the mother tried to scare the father by sneeking up on him while he was laying down. The father
did not respond and they thought that he was sleeping. But when the mother grabbed the father his
hand she did not feel a heartbeat. She dropped his hand (because it was cold she knew he was dead)
and screamed, but the kids didn’t know what was going on. They thought this was all part of the
game they were playing. The mother picked up the dad’s shoe and it in both her hands, pressing it
against her breast (she did this after she released the father was dead). The mother sent the kids in
and she told them to stay in the playroom and not to look outside. She did this because the children
didn't know the father was dead yet and she didn't want them to find out this way.
Setting:
The story took place in autumn. They sat on their lawn. On their lawn was a porch and their lawn was
newly mown (week ago). There was an old tree in the lawn (it was the oldest because 1 Elizabeth:
it’s the one where the squirrels life. 2 Robert: it’s the oldest, because the leaves stay green the
longest). The maples (esdoorn) were orange and gold. The younger strees were the deeper color. The
maples in the yard were turning yellow and purple.
Cat in the Rain 1925 published roaring twenties (1920)
Characters:
1. Wife: American, she likes the hotel-keeper.
2. George (husband): wants to help his wife, loves reading, indiference because he keeps
reading his book. He doesn’t ask why she wants a cat, but he still loves her, he is fine with life
as it is.
1
, English – The First Autumn, Cat in the Rain, The Open Window and The Verger
Short stories summary
3. Hotel-keeper: dignity, the way he received complaints was deadly serious, he liked being a
hotel-keeper, has an old, heavy face and big hands, Italien.
4. Maid: she held the umbrella open for the wife (because it was raining) the hotel-keeper
had sent her, looked after the wife and husband their room, Italien.
5. Padrone (owner): the padron bowed from the desk. Something felt very small and tight
inside the girl. The padrone made her feel very small and at the same time really important.
She had a momentary feeling of being of supreme importance.
Summary:
The American wife stood at the window looking out. Outside right under the window of their hotel
room a cat was crouched under one of the dripping green tables. The American wife wanted to get
the cat. She went down and the hotel owner stood up and bowed at her as she passed his office. The
wife liked the hotel owner, she liked the way he wanted to serve her, she liked his dignity, she liked
the deadly serious way he received any complaints, she liked the way he felt about being a hotel-
keeper, she liked his old, heavy face and big hands. she walked outside with the maid holding her
umbrella until they were under their window. The table was there, washed bright green in the rain,
but the cat was gone. She was suddenly disappointed. They walked back inside along the gravel path.
She walked back inside and while the American girl passed the padrones office he bowed at her.
George was still reading on the bed when she walked back into the room. She was very sad, because
she wanted the kitty so much. She went over and sat in front of the mirror of the dressing table
looking at herself with the hand glass. She wanted to change her look (she wanted to let her hair
grow out), but George likes her the way she is. She doesn’t want to look like a boy anymore. The wife
wants the cat and a settled life. Then the maid stood in the doorway with a big tortioise-shell cat
pressed againt her, the padron asked her to bring it to the wife.
The wife wants to create a settled life, she longs for a home and perhaps for a child. She and her
husband are staying at a hotel in a foreign country, and she is just tired of such a life. She would like
to ‘grow up’ and start building a life of her own. Wandering about, sight-seeing, looking like a boy
instead of a grown-up woman, these things no longer satisfy her. Her husband does not understand
her, but the ‘padrone’, an older and more experienced man, realises what is wrong. Somehow he is
like a father to her, he does the one thing that comforts her (he gave a cat).
Setting:
The hotel was in Italy. Their room was on the second floor and it was facing the sea. It also faced the
public garden and the war monument. There were big palms and green benches in the public garden.
In the good wether there was always and artist with his easel. The war monument was made of
bronze and glistened in the rain. It was raining. The rain dripped from the palm trees. Water stood in
pools on the gravel paths. The doorway was across the square (by the war monument). Outside right
under the window of their hotel room a cat was crouched under one of the dripping green tables.
The green table and the doorway was connected with a gravel path.
The Open Window
Characters:
1. Vera: self-possesed young lady, wild imagination, fifteen years old, niece, Vera said that Mr.
Nuttel ran away because of the spaniel (dog), romance at short notice was her speciality,
inventive.
2. Framton Nuttel: always talks about his illnesses (he has a nerve cure, he has to rest, an
absence of mental excitement, and avoidance of anuthing in the nature of violent physical
exercise), he believed the story Vera told him, he ran away after Ronnie said ‘’Bertie, why do
you bound’’ and he ran after he saw the three figures walking across the lawn towards the
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