"The Interlopers" by Saki

“The Interlopers” is a short story written by the British author H.H. Munro, who went under the pen name of Saki and lived from 1870-1916. The story tells of a conflict between the von Gradwitz and Znaeym families and brings about the idea that foolish hatred can lead to death. “The Interlopers” takes place “somewhere on the eastern spurs of the Karpathians,” a mountain range which goes through several countries in Eastern Europe. It tells of a family feud, and how a representative of each family goes hunting for a member of the other. When they meet, however, they are both trapped under a tree, and they see how foolish they have been. However, their foolishness is still to be punished, as they attract the attention of a band of wild wolves.

The first paragraph of the story sets the scene by telling that “Ulrich von Gradwitz patrolled the dark forest in quest of a human enemy.” We also know that Ulrich is planning on killing his enemy because of the quote “as though he waited for some beast of the woods to come within the range of his vision, and, later, of his rifle.” The fact that it is described as if Ulrich is waiting for a “beast” shows how intense the hatred must be between Ulrich and his mortal enemy. The second paragraph helps us to understand the background of this feud, and who the mortal enemy of Ulrich is – Georg. The argument started between the families when the area rightfully belonging to the von Gradwitz family was being used by “a neighbouring family of petty landowners,” the Znaeyms. The conflict worsened as “a long series of poaching affrays and similar scandals had embittered the relationships between the families for three generations.” This sets the scene for the current conflict, which had “grown into a personal one since Ulrich had come to be head of his family.” This brings about a theme of how unresolved conflicts grow larger and larger until people make up. Saki also states that the feud could have possibly come to an end “if the personal ill-will of the two men had not stood in the way; as boys they had thirsted for one another’s blood.” This supports the central idea by showing how the conflict is quite serious, and seems to be quite foolish, especially since people are willing to kill each other only because one was hunting some game in the other’s land.

The complicating incident is established as the family feud which has brought out both Georg and Ulrich. Slowly, the tension rises, as Ulrich notices “there was a disturbing element in the forest, and” “could guess the quarter from whence it came.” This quote implies that Georg is hunting in the forest, and readers start to have suspicions over which of the two enemies will die. In the third paragraph, Ulrich is wishing that he could just come face to face with his mortal enemy, alone “with none to witness.” Ulrich gets his wish, and Georg appears before him. In the 4th paragraph, the readers wonder who will die. However, Saki shows how difficult it is for one man to kill another, as both men could not “easily nerve himself to shoot down his neighbour in cold blood and without a word spoken.” This is where the conflict comes, and nature takes over. Both men are trapped under a tree, each “stretched on the ground.”

After noting their situation, both men take to taunting each other about what has happened. This can be seen from quotes such as “ho, what a jest, Ulrich von Gradwitz snared in his stolen forest.” Then, the men start arguing about who’s team will rescue them first (“they will be here first and do the releasing”). As they realize their situation, Ulrich offers wine to Georg, but Georg refuses, saying that “I don’t drink wine with an enemy.” It is now that Ulrich sees how foolish their conflict was, and how it has just led them to have issues. This can be seen by him saying “we have quarreled like devils all our lives over this stupid strip of forest” and “lying here to-night thinking I’ve come to think we’ve been rather fools. There are better things in life than getting the better of a boundary dispute.” He also offers to be Georg’s friend. This shows how a resolution seems to be coming, as Ulrich is offering to give up this dispute, and more importantly realizing how foolish they have both been. Georg accepts the offer to be friends, and they decide to work together. It seems like there is a resolution when, after calling for help together, both men notice figures coming toward them. Just when we think the resolution has been reached, it turns out these are wolves. The story ends with the cliffhanger of what will happen to these mortal enemies, reinforcing the central idea that foolish hatred can lead to death. Even though we don’t know for sure, it is likely that the two enemies will now be killed.

This story portrays well how foolish hatred can lead to tragedy, or even death. It also shows how unresolved conflicts grow larger and larger until they don’t even resemble the severity of the original conflict. Although the two men decide to be friends in the end, it seems like their severe hatred has won against them, and they are destined to die because of it.

Saki. The Interlopers. London, The Westminster Gazette, 1919.