Sinbad a Hero? Week 4 Essay

This week my story unit was the Voyages of Sinbad.  Obviously, as the title would suggest, Sinbad is the main character in this story unit.  The next common and logical assumption is that Sinbad is automatically the hero of this story unit. My perception of Sinbad is somewhat on the fence.  The tales he tells are extremely far fetched and in a fantasy world they are without a doubt compelling. The obstacles he repeatedly encounters and ultimately overcomes are also highly challenging situations to get out of.  Therefore, in the neutral terminology Sinbad would be considered a hero. 

However, the tales are so far fetched that one must wonder how true they would really be considered.  In these stories he escapes death time and time again, without fail.  He never saves anyone else; he is always the lone survivor with no one to refute his stories of successful in the face of danger.  Wouldn’t a true hero make some sort of effort to save the others who faced the same perils as them?  In my opinion a true hero wouldn’t boast so proudly the tales of being a lone survivor; instead they would mourn for those who they were unable to save. 

Female Heroes
Image from WorldPress

My definition of a hero is someone who not only overcomes obstacles for themselves, but for others.  A hero should also effectively be a savior.  Someone who can aid others in their time of need and can assist in the rescue of their companions.  Of course heroes also have a sense of higher morals, higher responsibility, and over all feel compelled to answer to a higher calling.  The natural assumption in reading the Voyages of Sinbad is that because Sinbad is the protagonist that he is automatically a hero.  I don’t mean to say he’s a bad guy or label him as a villain, but by my definition and personal opinion?  Sinbad wouldn’t quite measure up to the definition of a hero. 

Voyages of Sinbad: Reading Diary B

Upon finishing the Voyages of Sinbad story unit, I am thoroughly amused.  This story is far different than what I expected it to be.  This story is also very enjoyable to read and I am very pleased that I decided to read this unit. 

The part of this half of the unit that I found to stand out the most was the encounter Sinbad had with the Old Man of the Sea.  This part of the story kind of reminded me of Yoda in Star Wars.  While Yoda would always seem frail, fragile, and weak in battle he was one of the most successful of the Jedi.  When Yoda would fight he could really manipulate a light saber and navigate a battlefield. 

I also found it very funny how the narrative character Sinbad addressed the believable nature of his story.  The character directly addressed how the fact that he keeps conveniently ended up the only survivor of these scenarios is questionable.  In the typically fashion of individuals who find themselves in these kind of instances he insists that his stories are true and that he is telling the events as they naturally occurred. 

I would love to know the roots of this story and how it came to be.  If they are tales based on a real merchant sailor or fantasy tales that simply came from the collective imagination of a society.  No matter what the origin this was an excellent story unit.

Sinbad and the Old Man
Illustration from the UnTextbook

Voyages of Sinbad: Reading Diary A

This week I have decided to read the story unit on the Voyages of Sinbad.  In a previous assignment I actually selected this story as somewhat of an interest area so I think it is only fitting that I follow up and explore my interests!

This unit is once again different then the units I have read previously.  The point of view of this story unit is told in first person.  It’s the first unit I have read for this class that tells the story from the “I” perspective.  Instead of reading a story as if it is being read to someone else this week feels like the author is directly addressing me. 

I was interested in reading this story because when I was younger one of my favorite movies that I used to watch with my sister was about Sinbad.  The voices of Brad Pitt and Catherine Zeta-Jones brought to life an animated version of some of Sinbad’s tales. I was interested to see how these tales were originally told and how many the movie elected to depict.

The first story in this unit is entitled the FirstVoyage.  This story is actually depicted in the movie version of Sinbad from my childhood.  The movie version and the story unit are different in some regards but they are undoubtedly a reference to the same occurrence.  The story is about how Sinbad and his crew come to reside on an island in the middle of the ocean.  Although it turns out that the island is in fact a giant whale, in the movie it was just a big fish.  It was really cool to see the differences in the telling of the story.  As a child I appreciated the movie version, but now I think the written version is more favorable.    

Sinbad Movie Poster from My Childhood
Image Source: Wikipedia