Preview

Comparing Naguib Mahfouz's 'Arabian Nights And Days'

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
459 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Comparing Naguib Mahfouz's 'Arabian Nights And Days'
In Naguib Mahfouz’s text Arabian Nights and Days, the magical elements within the story reveal Gamasa al- Bulti as a man with strong morals. However, he needs guidance to stay on the righteous path. The magic opens Gamasa’s mind. He transforms into a God fearing man with strong morals. The believing genie pushes him to begin on his jihad and to change from a corrupt police officer to a guide for others on their paths. They believe he is a good man and should be able to start his life over. Gamsa was a sound soul lost in the corruption of society. Gamasa is a greedy police chief. He doesn't understand the importance of God, and discovering his jihad. He “Attacks [the rich citizens] enemies, who are honorable people of sound opinion and judgement”(42) to gain …show more content…
Singam requires that Gamasa must thrive to do just things. Singam “Commends [Gamasa] to the protection of God” (50) in return for saving his life. He has faith that Gamasa can persuade others to find God. Gamasa is finding his way, understanding the importance of fearing God and living according to Him. The genie changes his appearance to solidify the fact that he is a new man and so that Gamsa can leave his reputation of being corrupt. The believing genie says “it is quite impossible for people to recognize you” (50). Singam believes that Gamasa is a good man who deserves a second chance. Gamasa discovers there are better ways to end the corruption than murder. He finds “A punishment that will profit [the men] and will not harm God's servants” (144). He becomes a guide for others on their magical adventures and leads them to do the righteous thing, instead of saving their lives without a lesson learned. The people named him the madman, but in the end they change his name to “Abdullah the sane”, because they are finally able to understand what he is preaching. Gamasa changes his morals about unnecessary luxuries and God through the story. He is able to find God and lead others to find him

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Night by Elie Wiesel describes his experiences as a Jew in the concentration camps during World War II. During this time, Wiesel witnessed many horrific acts. Two of these were executions. Though the process of the executions were similar, the condemned and the Jews’ reactions to the executions were different.…

    • 719 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the early year of 1942, the families of Japanese people are being ordered to start a move to Manzanar, California; the Wakatsuki family is one of them. Many Japanese accept the move because they are afraid of Caucasian aggression, but some simply see it as an adventure. Families have to put on identification number tags on their collars. Riding on buses to Manzanar, Jeanne falls asleep on the bus, nearly half of which is filled with her relatives, and wakes up to the “setting sun and the yellow, billowing dust of Owens Valley.”(pg 19) As they enter the camp, the new arrivals stare silently at the families already waiting in the wind and sand.…

    • 432 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    “In The Heat of the Night” is a gripping murder mystery story that incorporates a major issue of the time it was written at; racism. The original novel (published in 1965), written by John Ball, is a story of Virgil Tibbs, a Negro homicide investigator. The death of orchestra-conductor Enrico Mantoli and a series of other events lead up to him in charge of a murder investigation in Wells, Carolina. This is much to the dismay of Bill Gillespie, the extremely prejudice police chief. The movie version (released in 1967), also features Mr. Tibbs as the leader of a murder investigation. However, the setting is Sparta, Mississippi, and the victim is Philip Colbert, a man planning to build a factory in the town. The movie was very successful, and proceeded to win 5 Academy Awards. Despite this, I find the book is more appealing because the characters are easier to relate to, and have a chance to get well-rounded in a gradual sense. In addition, the plot development steadily makes progress, and is overall less tense, therefore more enjoyable. Both movie and book, however, are quite impressive in the incorporation of racial equality issues, and should equally be recognized as landmarks in American media for this reason.…

    • 1016 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Night by Elie Wiesel and the movie The Boy in the Striped Pajamas show two extremely interesting perspectives towards the Holocaust. Night was a non-fiction novel written by a Jewish boy who was in an actual concentration camp. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas was a movie based off of a fiction novel written by John Boyne that tells the story of a Nazi soldier’s son named Bruno that befriends a Jewish boy he meets at a nearby concentration camp. Within the two stories, there were differences in perspective, mood, and overall message.…

    • 453 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Following a career of your dreams comes with consequences and the realization of who the real supporters in your life are. In the movie A Hard Day’s Night it portrayed the members of The Beatles as a band with a perfect mythical life of mischievous acts and female screaming fans that run after them everywhere they go. While Johnny Cash, in the movie Walk the Line, undergoes a more realistic and factual lifestyle with struggles of being an absent dad and a depressed person that gets dragged into a life-changing addiction. Although A Hard Day’s Night and Walk the Line are similar in symbolizing the motto “follow your dreams” I favored Walk the Line more because it's more relatable in the sense of tough love from Cash’s father.…

    • 559 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Night by Elie Wiesel and "Hangman" by Maurice Ogden both make strong points of view towards the battle between mankind and evil. Wiesel 's personal experiences give the reader very specific and down to the point accounts of the Holocaust. In contrast, Ogden musical poem gives the reader a very indistinguishable idea of what is taking place. One must examine rhyme over and over to be given the full impact of the poem. The battle against evil may be compared on the basis of their narration, their subject, their language usage, and their tone and mood.…

    • 717 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Night - Book Review

    • 1274 Words
    • 6 Pages

    World War II has given way to one of the most horrific events in the history of mankind: the holocaust. The holocaust was genocide of Jews, homosexuals, mentally handicapped, crippled, and gypsies. The holocaust killed more than six million Jews alone. Hitler, the leader of the German empire, and his army of Nazis and SS troops carried out the ruthless actions of the holocaust. Elie Wiesel is a Jew who went through the terror of the holocaust and its concentration camps. He tells his story in his book Night. Night reveals how Wiesel lost his family, faith, and innocence to the evil of mankind during the holocaust. Wiesel believes it is important for people today to read this book because they need to be shown how important it is not to keep silent and let something like the holocaust happen again. I agree with him.…

    • 1274 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The brief but complex stories of "Araby" by James Joyce and, "A&P by John Updike focuses on character traits rather than on plot to reveal the ironies that inherent self deception. The theme for both Sammy from "A&P" and the narrator from "Araby" is the transition from childhood to adulthood, a process that everyone experiences in one's own way and time. The transformation that both characters make from children to adults includes unrealistic expectations of women, focusing upon one girl in particular which he places all his unreciprocated affection, and the rejection they suffer is far too great for them to bear.…

    • 635 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Elie Wiesel's book night tell us the story of the Holocaust that killed so many Jews and scarred the one that did survive for life. Elie Wiesel just so happens to be one of the luckier ones who actually survived being beat, seeing others being beat and killed, seeing babies being thrown in the air and used as a target practice. Children as well as women and feeble men were thrown in pits of fire, most of them alive, although some of them were dead. He even saw is own father being tortured, struggling until his death. Jews didn't have any rights, privileges or control over their own lives. Adolf Hitler and the Red Army (the Germans) took over with violence, weapons, and cold hearts. It is relevant to today because something very important was going on during this time in the United States—segregation. It was almost like the Holocaust but one important factor is what makes the Holocaust very different. During this time the Jewish people did not realize that the conditions were getting worse and worse as the days went on. Their government, the Jewish Council, told their people that there was nothing to worry about and things would soon get better, but they were very wrong. Things only got tougher but the Jews did not want to believe it. What makes this different from segregation in the United States is the minorities, Blacks in particular, knew that things were only going to get worse if they didn't do something about it. This is why political figures such as Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Malcolm X and even President John F. Kennedy were some of the people who stood up for injustice, and segregation, a time when no one other than whites were accepted in the southern parts of the country. MLK and JFK and Malcolm X were assassinated for standing up for what was right.…

    • 561 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Kite Runner Themes

    • 2157 Words
    • 9 Pages

    As a child, he makes a number of major mistakes and terrible choices. But that’s a part of growing up. Amir learned from his rough past not to make the same mistakes twice. He learned that inner conflict must be confronted. He learned that in this world, everything does not come easy. He learned that intermittently a person has to stand firm what is right, even if everyone is against them. He learned not to take things for granted. All in all, he learned how to fight back. Amir’s bumpy past truly compelled him to appreciate his present day existence. Without problems people would not appreciate the enjoyable times they have as much or they would not be as memorable. This book has opened my eyes. I have not had a terrible life, although I have definitely had my ups and downs. When I was four I lost my father, it was a difficult time for considering I was young and it seemed as though just as I was learning more about him he was taken from me. “Good night Khalil, I love you and I’ll see you in the morning, now go to bed.” Those are the last words my dad said to me. I still become extremely emotional every time I remember them because I went to sleep expecting to wake up with two parents and that was not the case when I woke up. After that night I never took another thing for granted because nothing is guaranteed. I live and savor every second…

    • 2157 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the book The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, showed the struggle with guilt that ruined Amir along with his childhood, but also showed he still could have the potential to make the right choice and turn his life around. Amir from a little boy was always suffering of guilt, of what he had not done to save Hassan. Amir had never been able to forgive himself until he started taking steps towards redemption. Amir faced the struggles to accept what he had done and the guilt that tortures him inside everyday of his life.…

    • 699 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Amirs Road to Redemption

    • 556 Words
    • 3 Pages

    There are many themes in The Kite Runner and one of those themes is redemption for Amir. This theme constantly runs through for both Amir and Baba I believe that Amir’s road to redemption starts when he goes to see Rahim khan when Rahim khan is dying and he tells Amir that there is a way to be good again. That is when Amir Relises that he can be redeemed for what he has done to Hassan in the past.…

    • 556 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Have you ever heard of a highly interactive, multiplayer online game called World of Warcraft, or “WoW”? You probably have heard of it, but have you ever wondered why people are so enchanted by this particular game? What could be so special about it? If you have ever asked yourself these questions, you are not alone. Author of My Life as a Night Elf Priest, Bonnie A. Nardi, sheds light on some of these subjects through not only interviewing players of WoW, but by living the experience herself. However, before she even begins to play, she must attain a fresh mindset. She accomplishes this by breaking down barriers, including stereotypes that people may already have of WoW players. As a beginner of the game, she gets to learn the aspects of…

    • 913 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In short stories "The Lady with a Dog" by Anton Chekhov and "Araby" by James Joyce, elements of the setting coaxed characters of "Araby" and "The Lady with a Dog" to indulge in unreasonable love and dreamy self delusion.…

    • 217 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Arabian Nights is a collection of tales from the Islamic Golden Age, compiled by…

    • 1009 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays