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47 pages 1 hour read

J. A. White

Nightbooks

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2018

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Background

Literary Context: The Story of Scheherazade

Scheherazade is a character in One Thousand and One Nights, a collection of Middle Eastern and Indian tales. One Thousand and One Nights employs a frame story, which is a narrative premise that “frames” the main narrative or a set of stories. The frame of One Thousand and One Nights introduces Scheherazade, the daughter of the vizier of King Shahryar. Shahryar once had an unfaithful wife, and ever since her infidelity, he has married a new wife each night and then killed each bride the next day, fearing that women are always unfaithful. After marrying and killing all the women of noble blood over three years, King Shahryar marries Scheherazade, who believes she can reform him. On her wedding night, Scheherazade tells the first half of a story, stopping at a particularly tense place in the narrative, prompting her husband to keep her alive so that he can hear the rest of the story the next night. She understands that she must maintain his interest in her tales so that he will not execute her; after over a thousand nights of successful storytelling, the king decides to permanently spare Scheherazade’s life. Since Scheherazade’s skill as a storyteller saves her life, her name has become synonymous with the power of storytelling.

Scheherazade’s story is echoed in Alex Mosher’s situation in Nightbooks. Like Scheherazade, Alex possesses “storytelling instincts” that compel him to hide some details of his life and even his creative process from Natacha because “if he wanted to survive, he needed to keep her interested” (24). He understands that his ability to spin a good yarn is what makes him valuable to the witch: If she wants to hear his stories and learn about his life, “The witch wouldn’t hurt him, because if she did, she’d never find out the truth” (83). Scheherazade and her skill are alluded to several times throughout the text. These allusions foreshadow Alex’s survival because Scheherazade survives her ordeal.

Like the king, Natacha seems to hold all the power. Like the king, she thinks little of harming and killing others. In addition, the king and Natacha are both characterized by pride. They believe they are in control—the king because he can execute Scheherazade any time he likes, and Natacha because she can turn Alex into a figurine at any moment. Nevertheless, when faced with a skillful storyteller, neither can maintain the control they crave.

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