What is the exposition of "The Interlopers"?

"The Interlopers" by H.H. Munro (whose pseudonym is Saki) is a relatively short, short story.  The exposition is essentially the first three paragraphs of the selection, and it tells everything we need to know for the rest of the piece.  The first paragraph sets the mood for the story.  We know the incident takes place in the Carpathian woods, we know at least one of the characters, we know there is going to be hunting involved, and we know the prey:

Ulrich von Gradwitz patrolled the dark forest in quest of a human enemy.

Paragraph two further sets the tone of mystery and suspense by describing two things:  a long-standing feud and an unusually stormy night.  The feud between these two families, and Georg and Ulrich specifically, has been bitter and intense.  The issue is land, something traditionally valued above most other things; so we're not surprised that they're willing to fight and kill to control it.  The storm is such that even the nocturnal animals, such as the roebuck, are running for shelter.  Clearly this is the setting for a showdown in the woods.

The third paragraph begins with the first real action of the story:

He [Ulrich] strayed away by himself from the watchers whom he had placed in ambush on the crest of the hill....

We know there is likely to be a confrontation, and in this paragraph the suspense builds.  The last line of the paragraph is actually the inciting action:

And as he stepped round the trunk of a huge beech he came face to face with the man he sought.

It doesn't take a long exposition for Munro to create a scene, a mood, and an action which prepare us--at least in part--for what's ahead in the story.

What are the main events in "The Interlopers" by Saki?

Saki's short story "The Interlopers" is about a generational conflict between two families, the Gradwitzs and the Znaeyms. As the story opens, we learn that years earlier, the Gradwitzs had legally won control of the smaller part of the forest that bordered the two families' land holdings. The Znaeyms, however, refused to honor the legal ruling and hunted on the land anyway. 

Saki establishes his theme early; although both families own valuable land, they are fixated on that little piece in the middle--people want most what they cannot have. 

So, on the stormy night on which the story begins, Gradwitz suspects that Znaeym is on his land somewhere, and is determined to find him. 

The reader soon sees that, although Gradwitz starts his search as part of a group, he breaks off by himself to seek Znaeym, presumably so that there will be no witnesses that see what happens when he finds him. 

The men soon encounter each other in the forest and, to their credit, they don't immediately shoot each other down. Saki attributes their hesitation to the effect of civilization--men do not easily kill each other.

Then Saki contrives an event, a very unlikely one, to change the course of the story. The storm brings down a tree, which pins both men to the ground. At this point, they finally have no choice but to talk to each other. 

So Saki has his characters lay helplessly. At first they threaten each other, each declaring that their men will soon arrive to save him and kill the other, but both know they might as easily be the victim in this situation. By arranging the plot this way, Saki creates the opportunity for the men to change. Soon we see the change begin to take place. Gradwitz works his wine flask free and takes a drink: 

The wine was warming and reviving to the wounded man, and he looked across with something like a throb of pity to where his enemy lay, just keeping the groans of pain and weariness from crossing his lips.

He offers Znaeym the wine, but Znaeym refuses. However, an idea has taken hold of Gradwitz. 

In the pain and languor that Ulrich himself was feeling the old fierce hatred seemed to be dying down.

The men talk and agree to put aside their feud and become friends. But the story takes an ironic twist when, instead of being found by their own men, they are found by wolves. Saki's message: don't wait too long to set aside your differences. 

What are the main events in "The Interlopers" by Saki?

The main events in the story are the family feud between Ulrich and Georg's families that has gone on for centuries over a virtually useless piece of land that borders each man's estate. They go "hunting", but each is really looking for the other to kill him and end the feud once and for all. The men meet face to face, but a lightning bolt strikes down a tree pinning both men just out of reach of the other. They talk and decide to become friends. They see what they think are their rescuers and each hopes it is his men so that he can be the first to extend the branch of friendship, but it turns out that the "rescuers" are really a pack of wolves. 

See the enotes summary for a more complete layout of events.

What are the main events in "The Interlopers" by Saki?

Short Answer:
In a short story, the opening event is often cited as the inciting event as it introduces a conflict or problem. In Saki's short story "The Interlopers" the incident that generates a problem is the confrontation of the two mortal enemies, Ulrich von Gradwitz and Georg Znaeym.

 _____________

Two generations ago a narrow strip of woodland was reclaimed by the von Gradwitz family from a nearby family named Znaeym, who had taken it illegally. Now it is guarded assiduously by Ulrich von Gradwitz, who patrols it.

...a long series of poaching affrays and similar scandals had embittered the relationships between the families for three generations.

Now, since Ulrich has become head of the family there is a personal and heated enmity between the two men because Znaeym has been poaching. If it were not for this personal hatred the feud might have ended, but it has been exacerbated by the two men's ill will toward each other. On this night, von Gradwitz knows there has been some game taken and he strays from his men hidden in the area in the hope of finding his enemy all alone. As he creeps around the trunk of a huge beech tree, he comes face to face with Znaeym. Just as they are frozen at that moment, staring at each other, both hesitate. There is a splitting crash from the sky and the men are trapped under the broken brush.

What are the main events in "The Interlopers" by Saki?

In Saki's "The Interlopers," more than land ownership at stake is the pride of each of the feuding sides in their enmity over the "most jealously guarded of all...territorial possessions."  For this "neighbor feud" has grown into that of a personal one that has been handed down to Ulrich von Gradwitz since he has become the head of his family.

Even when Ulrich and his archenemy George Znaeym are trapped beneath the branches of beech tree struck by the violence of the storm, they cling to this pride in their feud, boasting each that their men will be the first to arrive and deal with their enemy:

"So your're not killed, as you ought to be, but you're caught, anyway," he cried; "caught fast.  Ho, what a jest, Ulrich von Gradwitz snared in his stolen forest.  There's real justice for you!"

"I'm caught in my own forest-land," retorted Ulrich.  "When my men come to release us you will wish, perhaps, that you were in a better plight than caught poaching on a neighbor's land, shame on you."

As the men lie pinned beneath the tree, there is a "bitterness of possible defeat" that courses through each of them until they finally realize that more is at stake than their prides: other interlopers come--wolves--and now their very lives are at stake.

What is the setting of the short story "The Interlopers" by Saki?

To write a paragraph about setting, you must understand what comprises setting. Setting has two parts to it. Setting tells the physical location. Setting tells the temporal time. Sometimes setting can include nonessential background characters or even background animals. For instance, travelers milling purposefully through Grand Central Station can be part of the setting. Similarly, squirrels chattering and leaping among tree branches in Golden Gate Park can be part of the setting.

In "The Interlopers," the location of the setting is very clearly established for you by Saki's narrator:

In a forest of mixed growth somewhere on the eastern spurs of the Karpathians ... The forest lands of Gradwitz were of wide extent and well stocked with game; the narrow strip of precipitous woodland that lay on its outskirt ....

You can closely read this description, and the rest of the descriptive passages in the story, to get the details for the location, which is that of a forest setting. If you look up the Karpathians, you will be able to pinpoint the setting to the location of the exact country and sector of the country's geography.

The temporal, or time, aspect of the setting is a little harder. It is not stated directly but only inferred. The temporal part of the setting is in at least somewhat modern times because both men have "rifles," not muskets nor bows and arrows, both of which would infer earlier time periods. Yet, it can't be too modern because Saki did not set it in the future from his day and age. Since Ulrich has a "wine flask," we can infer that the setting is around the turn of the 20th century, either late 1890s or early 1900s.

A famous law suit, in the days of his grandfather, had wrested it from the illegal possession of a neighbouring family of petty landowners; ... and a long series of poaching affrays and similar scandals had embittered the relationships between the families for three generations.

When you discuss the setting, be sure to include the fixed setting Ulrich and Georg share. Also include the interlopers who intrude into the background (with the promise of becoming a main part of the upcoming action) like travelers in Grand Central or squirrels in Golden Gate: the interlopers add a new twist to the background of the setting that promises to become unpleasantness in the foreground of the setting.

When was "The Interlopers" written by Saki?

Although "The Interlopers" appeared in 1919 in a Saki short story collection called The Toys of Peace, and Other Papers, Saki died from sniper fire in World War I in 1916, not long before his 46th birthday. Therefore, this short story must have been written prior to 1916.

Saki spent a good deal of time in Russia, Poland, and Eastern Europe in the early 1900s as a journalist, mostly from 1902-1905. He witnessed the Russian Revolution of 1905. After 1908, he left journalism to devote himself to writing fiction.

As it happens, "The Interlopers" first appeared in a magazine called "The Bystander" in 1912. It makes sense that in this period, between beginning his fiction writing career and before the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Saki would've been processing and writing about his experiences with other cultures on the European continent. This story is set in the Carpathian Mountains of Eastern Europe.

When was "The Interlopers" written by Saki?

"The Interlopers" was actually published in 1919 in a book entitled The Toys of Peace, and Other Papers. Although we can't be precisely sure when it was that Saki wrote this short story, we can imagine that he wrote it in the years running up to 1919.

Feel free to refer directly to the eNotes study guide for more information (eNotes always includes the date of publication):  http://www.enotes.com/interlopers

What are two key details from the exposition of "The Interlopers" by Saki?

The exposition of "The Interlopers" by Saki is full of important information and sets the tone for the story. It is a stormy night in a forest, and that can never mean anything good for at least some of the characters in a story. Two pieces of information are revealed which are quite important to the rest of the plot.

First, the narrator establishes the fact that the two main characters in the story are enemies. They are not just simple enemies, but they are the third generation of a family feud over a "worthless strip of land." The courts have ruled on the matter, but there is still contention over ownership between the two families. Now it is a personal feud.

The feud might, perhaps, have died down or been compromised 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, as men each prayed that misfortune might fall on the other....

Second, both of those men, Georg and Ulrich, are in the forest tonight, and they both are interested in human prey rather than animals. They are here to hunt and kill one another. Trouble is ahead.

How does the title "The Interlopers" relate to the story?

In Saki's short story, "The Interlopers," two neighboring landowners who hate each other are trapped beneath a fallen tree. They threaten one another, each saying that his men are nearby, ready to rescue their master and attack his enemy. At length, however, they agree to be friends. When one sees some dark shapes on the horizon, the other asks whose men are coming to free them. The answer is that the shapes are not men, they are wolves.

The word "interloper" means someone who interferes when they are not wanted. This is certainly true of the wolves, who will be ending a beautiful friendship just as it begins. The word is doubly appropriate because the verb "lope" is often used for the long striding gait of wolves or big dogs. It is also rather close to the Latin word "lupus," which means "wolf." From the wolves's perspective, of course, the two men are interlopers in their forest and are to be treated accordingly.

What is the setting of "The Interlopers" by Saki?

Saki's story “The Interlopers” takes place “In a forest of mixed growth somewhere on the eastern spurs of the Carpathians,” and this setting contributes greatly to the drama of the story. Let's look at how this works.

Two men who are sworn enemies are out in the forest on a stormy night. One, Ulrich von Gradwitz, is searching for the other, Georg Znaeym, trying to catch him poaching. The two men meet under a tree as the wind howls and the cold closes in. Just as the men seem to be on the verge of killing each other, they hesitate, and suddenly, a huge tree falls on top of both of them, trapping them. Nature's violence has outdone their own. Nature has proven itself to be stronger than both of them.

As the men lay beneath the tree, they eventually come to an understanding. They will set aside their feud and become friends. They chuckle at how their decision will shock everyone as they wait for their men to find and rescue them. But their men may be too late, for nature seems like it will win again. The wolves are approaching.