Assignment on "The story of Ali Baba and the forty thieves"

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Offline mahfuzur rahman

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Daffodil International University



Assignment



                     


Topic: The inner meaning of the story of Ali Baba and the forty thieves


Course Title: Post Colonial Theory & Literature
Course Code: Eng-509





Submitted by:
Md. Mahfuzur Rahman
ID: 093-22-137
Department of English
Daffodil International University





  Submitted to:

Umme Kulsum
Senior Lecturer
Department of English
Daffodil International University










“The Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves”


Summary of the story:

Ali Baba, a poor woodcutter, happens to see and overhear a large band of thieves - forty in all - visiting their treasure store in the forest where he is cutting wood. The thieves' treasure is in a cave, the mouth of which is sealed by magic - it opens on the words "Open, Sesame", and seals itself on the words "Close, Sesame". When the thieves are gone, Ali Baba enters the cave himself, and takes some of the treasure home.

Ali Baba's rich brother, Kasim, finds out about his brother's unexpected wealth, and Ali Baba tells Kasim about the cave. Kasim goes to the cave to take more of the treasure, but forgets the magic words to get back out of the cave, and the thieves find him there, and kill him. When his brother does not come back, Ali Baba goes to the cave to look for him, and finds the body, bringing it home. With the help of Morgiana, a clever slave-girl in Kasim's household, they are able to give Kasim a proper burial without
arousing any suspicions about his death.

The thieves, finding the body gone, realize that somebody else must know their secret, and set out to track him down. The first several times they are foiled by Morgiana, who is now a member of Ali Baba's household, but eventually they are able to ascertain the location of Ali Baba's house.

The lead thief pretends to be an oil merchant in need of Ali Baba's hospitality, bringing with him mules loaded with 40 oil jars, one filled with oil, the other 39 with the other thieves. Once Ali Baba is asleep, the thieves plan to kill him. Again, Morgiana discovers and foils the plan, killing the 39 thieves in their oil jars by pouring boiling oil on them. When their leader comes to rouse his men, he discovers that they are dead, and escapes.

The lead thief, disguised as a merchant, befriends Ali Baba's nephew (who is now in charge of the late Kasim's business), and is invited to dinner at Ali Baba's house. He is recognized by Morgiana, who performs a dance with a dagger for the diners and plunges it into the heart of the thief when he is off his guard. Thus, the story ends happily for everyone except the forty thieves and Ali Baba's brother.


Critical comment:

This is a short story especially for children, besides children the adults also can enjoy the story and learn. The story is taken from the Arabian Nights. The story is very interesting in the sense that Ali Baba can do or have whatever he wants to do with the help of the magical word. Though he is a poor wood cutter all through his life but he is blessed by the cave and also the magical word” Open, Sesame" and “Close, Sesame". We can say it as a fictional story because we can not imagine this type of work is possible for us in a present day. Children may be enjoyed the story very much rather than the adults.

Moral of the story:

The massage of the story is that “the people can't be that greedy of things like money”. If he or she does any thing like kasim then he or she will be failed in their life.