"Running head: ARABIAN NIGHTSArabian NightsNameInstitutional affiliation ARABIAN NIGHTS2As in many versions of the Arabian Nights, the stories have resonated among manythemes with the standout them being the strength of a woman. This theme takes center stagegiven the plight women face in the Arab world and how they overcome adversity. The mainprotagonist representing feminism in the short stories collection was Scheherazade who put herlife on the line to and became a heroine, saving many women from needless murders in herkingdom. To divert focus and attention from feminism in the Arabian Nights, Naguib highlightshow power corrupts men and turns them into tyrants. A good example is King Shahrayar. Afterthe discovery that his wife was cheating on him, the king executed her for the act of adultery.Since then, the king would take a virgin girl to his bed, every day for three years and kill her inthe morning. In the Arab world, men dominate over women and Naguib tries to highlight thedominance of male chauvinism over feminism. He highlights on how male rulers are dictatorialand anyone who opposes them face execution. In the Arab world through Naguib's eyes, there isno democratic space, all decisions made are autonomous and depend on the whims of the king.Kings can choose who to kill and whose lives to spare. They can do whatever they want with thelives of their subjects without any meaningful opposition. In the Arab world, the role of women is somewhat peripheral as Naguib tries to ascertainthrough his book. While few were portrayed as leaders and heroines, many were portrayed asmere trophies representing beauty, and others as examples of adulterers. However, Naguibchooses to divert from that perspective and address the power of storytelling rather than focusingon the character driving this theme. Through her stories, Scheherazade is able to keep the Kingfrom killing her and other women in the process. Naguib highlights how stories have thecapability of changing people, particularly those in leadership to become sober leaders and make ARABIAN NIGHTS3informed and wise decisions. The same theme is reflected in other stories such as The Fishermanand the Jinni and The Three apples. Naguib draws the attention of the audience to focus on thepower of words as well as highlighting how storytelling was important to the Islamic society atthat particular point in time. Without the aspect of storytelling many lives could have been lost inthe process. As such, Naguib overlooks the role of the storyteller in favor of the impact that thestory has in changing leaders and the society.Naguib's work represents how the Arab world was in the middle ages. Other than theplight and role of women, other themes raised in the book highlight the life of the Arab society.One such theme that Naguib chooses to give importance to is justice. This issue provides aninsight into the underlying systems of justice, and its applications in the Arabian world.However, the human justice system is highlighted as one that is weak and hence the need forsupernatural forces to be introduced so as to bring balance (Reed, 2016). The system was unableto punish criminals and prevent further injustices. As such, supernatural forces were required. Naguib reveals that the injustice in the medieval Arab society by focusing on the acts ofSultan Shahriyar. The author chooses to overlook the heroics displayed by Scheherazade from afeministic perspective. Instead, he chooses to highlight how rulers in the Arab world use theirposition to manipulate the justice system. The dictatorial power exposes the failure of the systemto protect the poor and weak in the society. Naguib tries to highlight that the Arab leadership hasbeen corrupted by an unlimited power without checks and balances and hence lacks credibleleaders who can rule fairly and administer justice (Reed, 2016). Just like the Sultan, the rulingelite in the current Arab world share similar characteristics who manipulate the justice systemsuit their personal whims. ARABIAN NIGHTS4While the efforts of women such as Scheherazade in trying to bring back justice tosociety are applauded, Naguib moves further from her to show the bigger picture. Asaforementioned, the failure by the Arab leadership led to the introduction of supernatural forcesto intervene on behalf of the society, a force which the other introduces. For instance, Sanaan al- Gamali, a merchant is forced to kill the governor but has no recollection of what led to hisactions. A genie led to him to killing the governor. Therefore, the genie plays the role of bothjudge and jury against the corrupt governor. The genie's struggle against corruption and injusticeleads him to choose the chief of police, Gamasa al-Bulti, as his tool of fighting corruption. Thepolice chief, unlike the merchant, acts consciously to fight corruption and the reestablishment ofjustice through the help of the genie. As such, Naguib shows us there is more to his stories thanjust focusing on the role of women as many would have expected him to do. Naguib also highlights how the race was a non-factor in the Arab world and not asperceived in today's contemporary world. Historically, the Muslim world as depicted in ArabianNights had black non-slaves who held powerful positions. There was no color discrimination asthe son borne of a black slave concubine, and a king could inherit the king's throne. While indeedthere are instances of slavery and discrimination against blacks, it does not amount to thenarratives propagated by the western world on slavery. Through Naguib Mahfouz's vision, there is more to Arabian Nights than the womenfactor and hence the reason as to why he pushes her away from the limelight. In doing so,Naguib can highlight other underlying issues such as injustice and corruption. These themesresonate in several stories whereby it is evident that the Arab leadership suppressed its society atthe expense of the justice system. It also highlights the belief and the role of supernatural forces ARABIAN NIGHTS5in the Muslim world. Naguib highlights that the failure by those in power to administer justicemay lead to supernatural forces taking control and administering justice on behalf of theoppressed. The existence of a superior divine means that justice can be administered evenwithout having a trial. Naguib's audience is also exposed to the power of storytelling and how itcan be used as an effective tool to solve ills that afflict the society, particularly among those inpositions of leadership. "