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THE SULTANS PARDON


Introduction
The mystery text 3 is a short story describing a man who had been called upon by a
ruthless sultan to witness the verdict passed for her daughter. The decision passed by the Sultan
was to determine if the mans daughter was to be executed or be retained as the Sultans wife.
The Sultan pardons the mans daughter despite his ruthlessness and keeps her as a wife in the
palace. When visiting her daughter in the Sultans palace the man cannot hold back her tears
from the joy of reuniting with her daughter. Though the daughter claims that Shahriyar is a
heartless man his father warns her of rebellious behavior that could lead to her execution. The
man also tells her daughter to stand firm with her religious beliefs no matter what she goes
through. The geographical setting of the story is Africa along the Indian Ocean coast where
Arabs settled . As a result to trade and colonized the people of the area. From the settlement of
the Arabs, the sultans emerged as chiefs who had the authority and acted as the village heads.
The Muslim religion mentioned in the story is also dominant in the said area. The geographical
features of the area including mountain tops and the gentle chilling weather also symbolize the
presence of a large water body blowing cold currents. These features are more prominent in the
coastal area of the Indian Ocean. My goal in this paper is to shed more light on how people
suffered under the reign of colonialism and the breed of ruthless leaders it came with.

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The genre of this text is a short story describing ruthlessness of an Arabian sultan and how he
pardoned a mans daughter after three long years of waiting for judgment.
The short story emphasizes the theme of colonization. The theme is well supported by
the affluence described in the text from the palace perched on top of the mountain to the rose
colored room with shades of red on curtains and the carpet. From a personal perspective, the
affluence came from the wealth of those that the tyrant leader colonized. The tyrannical leader is
said to have no mercy as he is said to have killed an unknown number of virgins and God fearing
people. The colonialism theme is also illustrated when Dandan is escorted by a troop of guards
up the mountain when he goes to see the sultan. Shahrzad who is a daughter to Dandan explains
her fear of the Sultan as she describes that she breathes the smell of blood when he approaches.
The sultans rule is that of oppression as from the text it is seen that Dandans composure
vanished the minute when he was informed of the summoning by the sultan.
The mystery described is similar to the One Thousand and One Nights text outlined in
the syllabus. Both books involve leaders who are tyrants in their states and were ruthless.
(Richard Francis Burton) In both texts, the leaders attempt to kill their wives but end up
pardoning them. Both the texts appear to come from the same region in Africa. The books
mentioned above do not depict heroism as the leaders see the given power to cause humiliation
and pain to those that they lead. Scheherazade, the vizier's daughter, offers herself as a wife to
the king since no other virgins are left in the land. Scheherazade ensures that she tells the king
endless stories that dont end in a single session. This game continues for 1001 days, and the
king pardons her on the day of her execution. (Richard Francis Burton)
In the paragraph where Dandan enters the palace and the Sultan orders, the lamp to be
extinguished can be a symbol of turmoil experienced by the people and the rule of the sultan.

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The darkness is a sign of the suffering and the dark days that are continually being experienced
due to the heinous nature of the sultan. The sultan seeking for the light after the lamp is
extinguished is ironical of his leadership nature in the context of the short story. The statement is
a sign of mockery to Dandan. The statement May God support you in your ruling (Naguib
Mahfuoz) is also ironic as the sultan despises Christians and ends up killing everyone associated
with Christianity in his kingdom. The sultans words Justice possesses desperate methods,
among them the sword (Naguib Mahfuoz) were meant to justify the actions that the sultan had
done in the colonial period. This phrase was intended to be a defensive line indicating remorse
and regret to the victims that had fallen as a result of his harsh rule. Dandan words May God
grant you the enjoyment of everything (Naguib Mahfuoz) is ironic to what Dandan feels. Due to
the fact that the Sultan is a tyrant leader who is a ruthless man in his ruling Dandan has to praise
his actions as this is what the tyrant leaders want to listen to. Praises and more lame praises are
what the colonialists appreciate and honor.
Conclusion
It is evidently clear that the vices that colonialism brought with it led to untold suffering
and pain to all the people who tried to oppose the rule of the tyrannical leaders at the time.
Ruthless leaders led to deaths of innocent people who had any different alignment to what the
leaders themselves thought to be true. The killing of Christians by the sultan is an act of
ruthlessness and lack of appreciation of other peoples religious beliefs by the sultan. The
colonial regime also brought with it slavery as Dandans daughter was taken as a slave when
other virgins who were with her were killed by the sultan. The unopposed leaders displayed
misuse of authority and all they did was amass wealth to themselves not caring about the people
who were under them. The affluence cited in the story of the sultans palace on top of a mountain

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is evident enough of the social status of this tyrannical leader. The colonialists regarded
themselves as superior and supreme beings and not similar to the other people of the land. This
aspect is displayed by the action of Dandan kissing the ground before the Sultan the moment
when he enters the palace. From the above-cited pieces of evidence, it is clear and without the
doubt that colonialism was at its best in the cited village. It is, therefore, evident that the
tyrannical colonialist leaders caused untold suffering to the people they colonized under their
reigns.

References
Mahfuoz, Naguib. Arabian Nights and Days (translated). Doubleday, 1995. Book.
Richard Francis Burton. The Book of the Thousand and a Night (translated). London: Casanova
society, 1923.

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