The Storyteller

Goodness is the quality the aunt seems to want to encourage in the children. This vague quality of "goodness" is what the aunt espouses in her story, as she says that the child in her story was saved from danger because the people in her village knew and appreciated how "good" (4) she was. The Bachelor parodies and undermines this quality in his own story, in which a "little girl named Bertha, who was extra-ordinarily good" (5) ends up dying because of the medals given to her for this goodness. Saki asks the reader to question what true goodness means, especially in the moral education of children, and whether it will truly result in good fortune. In essence, we are to decide what's good.

In addition, we see both of the story's adults displeased by the children's curiosity, which to me is the ultimate question of good and bad. In my opinion, children's curiosity should be encouraged and addressed. Why would anyone deter a child from wanting to learn?