Confessions & 1001 Nights

It seems that Augustine had love and respect for his mother. Their relationship seemed close and through the text it seems that he admired her faith in God. The way she acted to situations is what impacted Augustine's life. Particularly the way she acted toward her husband was impressive and showed that she had great faith. Despite her husbands temper she never once acted or spoke negatively toward him. Neither did she speak negatively about him or about other people. She was determined to see her husband come to know the Lord as well, which we see she did eventually succeed in doing. Augustine suggests that after her husband's death she acted as a widow should according to 1 Timothy 5 in that "she had been the wife of one husband, had requited to her parents, had governed her house piously, was well reported of for good works. She had brought up her children, being in labor of them as often as she saw them swerving away from You". These lines specifically showed her character as Augustine saw it. When his mother died he says that he was hurt because he was used to the fact that she was always around but he knew that he shouldn't cry because "she had not died miserably". Augustine's mother seemed to be an admirable Christian women who Augustine tried to learn from.

During a time when the Roman empire was beginning to tear apart Augustine took a step toward toward rebuilding the church. Although he was not a Christian until far into his life Augustine's faith was respectable then and even still today. His "Confessions" he thought would express this faith. It is obvious that Augustine was a follower of Christ and relyed on him. He writes that "all good things are from You, O God, and from God is all my health". Augustine seems to have trust in God for everything. Throughtout his writing he speaks to God as his Lord. Through the story he writes of his mother one can see Augustine's true character. Losing a mother is probably one of the hardest things someone has to go through and yet he knows that she is with the Lord and shouldn't mourn for her for she is happy. The way he looked up to his mother for the way she acted especially to her husband when she was not saved showed his character at well. He was truly a man who is constantly wanting to learn more and better himself for Christ. Augustine also includes several references to the Bible and this shows just how much he studied it and practiced
it.

In "One Thousand and One Nights" I believe that vizier's daughter, Shaharazad, can be seen as heroic. She certainly was brave for being willing to marry Shahrayar knowing that for three years he had continued to kill a woman each night. Not to mention if she did live to see the next morning she knew she'd be at risk for he probably had at least some kind of STD. Shaharazad was not phased, despite her father's attempt to persuade her, she was going to risk her life for the others. The percentage of woman that had survived a not with Shaharazad was not exactly in her favor. Because of her skills in storytelling Shaharazad survives. Not only do her stories save her life, but she uses them to teach Shahrayar in order to help the pain of his first wife's infidelity. Shaharazad is quite different than the heroes found in literature at this time. Most significantly she is a woman who stands up against a man. It's not everyday that a man wants to lose to a woman. She was clever and educated and for a woman to be depicted this way was not common. Women were thought to be simply as accessories with not enough sense to ever speak their opinions. She is a unique hero due to the fact that she used her brains instead of her muscles. Other heroes received their honor because they had killed the evil character but Shaharazad had simply deceived him as well as taught him to be better and change his ways.

Within the story of Shahrayar and Shaharazad lies many more tales told by different characters each leading to the other. In the short stories it seems that the themes are the same: the accusing of the innocent but then the prolonging of their death by using a story. Ironically this is what is happening to the women that Shahrayar is killing. In "The Story of the Merchant and the Demon" the demon comes to the merchant accusing him of murdering his son by hitting him the pits of his dates. Although clearly by accident, the merchant will be killed a year later. When he returns to the spot he is to meet the demon three men arrive, only to prolong the merchants death even further by engaging him in a continuous story. Through Shaharazad's story that she shares with her sister and Shahrayar she is not only prolonging her own death, although innocent and undeserving, she is being deceitful as well as teaching Shahrayar a lesson of this unfairness. In the story of the ox and the donkey the donkey gives advice to help the ox with the hard labor he is forced to do but in return the donkey is punished. Because the ox fakes sick the donkey must do his work for the day. The donkey in this tale is the innocent character who receives punishment. Shaarazad's father is the one telling this story to convince her not to go to save others for she should not have to suffer seeing as she has done nothing wrong.