In short story “The Lumber Room” by Saki, Nicholas uses his creative thoughts and actions to demonstrate the resourcefulness of children when faced with the actions of overbearing, self-righteous adults.
…but the fact that stood out clearest in the whole affair, as it presented itself to the mind of Nicholas, was that the older, wiser, and better people had been proved to be profoundly in error in matters about which they had expressed the utmost assurance.
Nicholas finds himself “in disgrace” after he outwits the adults in his life during an episode at breakfast in which he places a frog in his bowl. He tricks the adults, who do not believe such a thing could, in fact, be true. While he is “in disgrace” he is excluded from an impromptu beach outing, and left at home with his unimaginative aunt. She imposes restrictions on him, and he is not allowed in the gooseberry garden. This punishment is an example of consequences that do not fit the transgression, and Nicholas is cognizant of this. His aunt wastes her day making sure he does not enter the garden. Unbeknownst to her, Nicolas has dreamed up a plan to make her believe he is in the garden when, in reality, he is enjoying the hidden treasures in the Lumber Room. One might say he is one step ahead of the aunt.
In her haste to catch Nicholas in the gooseberry garden, the aunt falls into a water tank. She screams for help and Nicholas goes to her. He asks her a series of questions about her identity in which he outsmarts her and leaves her there. His use of wit and imagination demonstrates how he outfoxes the woman who punished him in the first place. Children, like Nicholas, are often thoughtful people who rightfully question authoritative tactics.
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