The letter from Mustapha Rub-a-Dub Keli Khan, from the Selections from Salmagundi, was hysterical. The actual narrator from the other letters must have actually written this, to prove the point that he's conveying in the rest of the letters. The satirical tone makes the reader laugh with the absurd situations presented.
I really liked this selection, so I have two quotes from it.
Quote 1- "But, notwithstanding the charms of these infidel women, they are apt to have one fault, which is extremely troublesome and inconvenient. Wouldst thou believe it, Asem, I have been positively assured by a famous dervise, or doctor, as he is here called, that at least one-fifth of them-have souls! Incredible as it may seem to thee, I am the more inclined to believe them in possession on this monstrous superfluity, from my own little experience, and from the information which I have derived from others. In walking the streets I have actually seen an exceedingly good-looking woman, with soul enough to box her husband's ears to his heart's content, and my very whiskers trembled with indignation at the abject state of these wretched infidels. I am told, moreover, that some of the women have soul enough to usurp the breeches of the men, but these I suppose are married and kept close; for I have not, in my rambles, met with any so extravagantly accoutered; others, I am informed, have soul enough to swear!- yea! by the beard of the great Omar, who prayed three times to each of the one hundred and twenty-four thousand prophets of our most holy faith, and who never swore but once in his life- they actually swear!"
Not only did I laugh at this quote, but I also realized it connected with previous selections in the novel. The narrator is always trying to prove that societies standards of everything and everyone-especially women- are completely ridiculous and difficult to obtain. Instead of using an angry tone, though, the narrator tried a different style; by showing how insane societies standards of women are with dramatic diction and an over the top situation, he showed his readers the problem in a very obvious way that is easy to grasp and laugh at.
Quote 2- "One of them, in the zeal of admiration, threw an old show, which gave thy friends rather an ungentle salutation on one side of the head, whereat I was not a little offended, until the interpreter informed us that this was the customary manner in which great men were honored in this country; and that the more distinguished they were the more they were subjected to the attacks and pelting of the mob."
Firstly, I found this quote ironic because of the recent incident when a shoe was thrown at President Bush. I honestly just like how easily the narrator exposed the problems society disregards, and how everyone puts themselves up on a pedestal, especially the well known. When leaders do something that will negatively hurt the people they care for, they will try to express their anger, but they still think they are the best thing that ever could have happened to their country.
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