1
Powell
Bonnie Powell
Mrs. Powell
Period 2
21August 2015
Singing to the Beat of His Own Choir
In Saki’s short story “Reginald’s Choir,” Anabel and Reginald’s parents try to make Reginald conform to the rest of society, yet his choir demonstrates that their goal failed. Through the failure of the choir, Saki contrasts two different philosophies of life. Each philosophy is represented by the protagonists; conformity is represented by Anabel, and nonconformity is represented by Reginald. Through his scornful tone and contrasting characters, Sakiadvocates Reginald’s individualism.
Saki employs a sarcastic tone, particularly towards Anabel and the other conformists. At the beginning of the story, Reginald’s adage: “Never be a pioneer. It’s the Early Christian that gets the fattest lion” sets the sarcastic tone for the rest of the story(26). Saki continues his characterization of Reginald’s individualism on page 27 when Reginald asserts, “If you abstain from tennis and read Maeterlinck in a small country village, you are of necessity an intellectual.” Here in the presence of the diners, Reginald seems to expose the hypocrisy of his genteel companions. Likewise, in his description of Reginald’s family, Saki points out that the rest of his family uses “primroses as a table decoration” (20). Through this imagery of the fake yet “acceptable” decor, Saki mocks the conformists because of their desire to adapt to society no matter what their personal ideologies may be. This acerbic tone demonstrates his partiality towards Reginald’s free nature.
Saki also contrasts Reginald and Anabel to augment his admiration for individualism. The only direct description of Reginald is that he is “a pioneer” (8) suggesting that Reginald has paved his own way. On the other hand, the author describes many qualities about Anabel, all of which focus on her flat and static nature. For example, he uses the pronoun “it” to refer to Anabel’s fanciful name, demonstrating his distaste for her. He sarcastically relates that Anabel was accounted a beauty and “intellectually gifted” because “she had been twice to Fecamp to pick up a good French accent from the Americans staying there” (10). He even calls Anabel “the vicar’s one extravagance” (8). Despite her socially acceptable accolades, Saki mocks Anabel’s superficial character and the notion that society would regard fake accents as valuable to refute the refinement of empty conformity. In addition, the conversation between Reginald and Anabel revolves around trying to convince Reginald to abandon his nonconformity. She tries to do so by insulting him. Anabel ironically tells him that he is really “incessantly vain in [his] appearance” (77). For a woman who is supposed to be smart and sweet, she does not display any of those qualities. She is, in fact, a vain and empty girl. Her judgmental nature toward Reginald in this dialogue further emphasizes Saki’s distaste for her and her philosophy.
Saki views self expression as important but threatening. His satirical tone enhanced by his characters’ manners of speech and contrasting values convey that he recognizes that the best weapon to fight conformity is to retaliate against those who all think the same. In this way,people can avoid becoming a societal tragedy.