The Voyages of Sindbad: Story Analysis
For this essay analysis, I will focus on the topic of a recurring motif in The Voyages of Sindbad. This by far, and in fact in probably all of my reading experiences during my life, has the most formulaic repetition of a motif. My reading of The Voyages of Sindbad was definitely a roller coaster experience and especially my opinion of the story. At first, I enjoyed the smooth writing style that was presented and the apt use of description. I had previously read both the Iliad and the Odyssey and I felt like this was a superior story in terms of reading flow, description, and story progression in the sections. However, my enjoyment of The Voyages of Sindbad quickly plummeted as I began to realize that the entire story had a formulaic pattern: Sindbad travels to see, his travel is abruptly stopped, he and/or the people with him are placed in danger which results in his companions being eaten, he finds treasure which he takes with him, and then he is miraculously saved after which he returns home a rich man. There were countless variations of this basic framework in The Voyages of Sindbad but much to my dismay it felt very monotonous reading.
Sindbad and the Old Man of the Sea. Web Source: Stefanmart.de
After I had time to get over my frustration of the reading, I tried to reason why the story was told as such. At first I tried to find perhaps an underlying theme that links these tales together. Maybe these situations were symbolic of an overlying theme or message. I attempted to reason for this but I got nowhere. Next, I thought maybe the stories were supposed to build up into a climax. While one could maybe draw this conclusion since his situations get more convoluted and dire, I don't believe this is the case since he was in danger the entire time. Finally, after much deliberation, I decided that my opinion was the The Voyages of Sindbad was written as such to show the helplessness of man. Having read previously other Arabic texts, I've often seen this idea that man has little influence on the world and only survives. I believe that this is the case for this story as well since Sindbad is just drug along the swift current of his circumstances. Again, I don't have much support for this claim but that was the interpretation I came up with after reading this story.
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