Charles Baxters Scheherazade - Book Report/Review Example

The fact that the wife has to take the bus to see her husband suggests that they could not afford an automobile, which has become a symbol of poverty in our society. Since the woman is telling her husband stories about spending large amounts of money over the course of their marriage, she is allowing him to believe, in death, that they had money while he was alive and, therefore, that they had a happy marriage. Personification occurs in this story by the wife applying the idea of a happy marriage to the couple and making it seem as though this idea represents them.

She wants these ideas to represent both her and her husband as he dies since she believes that giving them these attributes might give him the motivation to live longer. The truth is that these stories are far better than reality since she does not like her life the way it is, which is her reason for making up these stories. This is her attempt to manifest the abstract idea of happiness within herself, her husband, and their marriage. The idea is that her husband will believe the attributes that she gives them in these stories and be happier in death than he was in life.

Metaphor is a power within this story since the title of the story is the name of a Persian queen. This queen had to tell her husband 1001 stories to keep herself alive at night and we can see the same happening with this wife. She does not have anything to live for other than her husband. If he dies, much of her will die with him. Therefore, she tells her husband these stories to not only keep him alive but to keep this final piece of herself from dying as well. The woman in this story represents the Persian queen, as she tells stories to her husband to prevent both of them from dying.

The literary devices found in this short story definitely help the reader relate to them since they provide the reader with some insight into the mind of the wife. She, in particular, is a sympathetic character because she is going so far to keep her husband with her. She feels as though telling her husband these stories on a daily basis keeps him alive and, therefore, keeps her alive as well. Through these actions, we can see the effect that death has on people since she feels as though she will die without her husband around her.

We can also see how far people will go to avoid seeing the difference between life and death firsthand.