Teachers often request a shorter work to pair with Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, and yesterday I found one. On the website, AmericanLiterature.com, I stumbled upon H. H. Munro’s “The Open Window,” and my first thought was that this would pair nicely with The Crucible. A young girl, alone with a guest, realizes that he knows nothing about her aunt whom he is visiting, so she fabricates a story about why the French window is kept open, even though it is October. And the visitor believes her. Upon the newcomer’s abrupt departure, the girl tells another lie, but to her aunt about why the visitor left so suddenly. One of the challenges in teaching The Crucible is understanding how young girls can terrify adults with their lies and accusations. “The Open Window” is much lighter and shorter, but it makes the point. Hope this pairing helps in your classroom! [Image is “By the Open Door” by Nikolai Astrup]
