Interloper

I personally have never experienced hatred for someone so much that it made my life take a turn for the worst. Although in “The Interlopers”, a short story by Saki, tells a tale of two men, Georg and Ulrich. Georg and Ulrich have had hatred for each other ever since they were younger. They chance upon a very difficult situation, when the two men get trapped underneath a tree together. This incident led them to put aside their differences and become friends, until fate decides that there will be no happen ending for the two men and they both unhappily die. Saki uses situational irony in “The Interlopers” to reveal that having hostility towards someone and hatred and venom in your heart leads to horrible consequences and destruction to ourselves or others. One example of Saki’s use of situational irony to reveal the theme appears when a tree stops them from killing each other by falling on them. Saki states, “And before the moment of hesitation had given way to action a deed of Nature’s own violence overwhelmed them both” page 305. The reader anticipates for both men to start shooting at one another, but instead they get trapped together by a tree. It’s ironic how nature stops the two men from killing each other by trapping them underneath a tree, when the readers are led to think that the two men will harm each other. Having such strong loath in our hearts can never lead to happiness or anything close to happiness. Hatred in someone’s heart can only lead to a downfall in life and others that are around that person. Ulrich and Georg were so focused on harming one another that they became oblivious to the fact that a tree was falling. They set out to kill, but in an act of irony, get trapped underneath a tree together. This shows that when we set out to intentionally harm someone or commit a horrible act, the outcome will the destruction of one self. Another example of Saki’s use of situational irony to reveal the theme appears when Georg and Ulrich are