Shadow Spinner Essay free essay sample

Often in the old tales, the humblest creatures turn out to be more powerful than you ever would expect. † (pg. 169) In the novel Shadow Spinner by Susan Fletcher, there are three characters who are humble, unfavorable and weak in the beginning, yet develop into most significant, favorable and powerful characters by facing hardships throughout the novel. Marjan is a protagonist and crippled orphan storyteller. She evolves from feeble and unfavorable girl to the most significant heroine of the story who faces her fears and challenges. Dunyazad is another character who develops into brave and devoted person to save her sister, Shaharazad. Lastly, Zaynab is a pigeon keeper who turns out to be cleaver and favorable character who helps Marjan is portrayed as a poor orphan girl with maimed foot who is insignificant and useless in the beginning of the story. â€Å"What’s wrong with your foot? They looked at me as if I were some outlandish creature. We will write a custom essay sample on Shadow Spinner Essay or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page † (Pg. 6) People often treated her differently and teased her as she is nothing but a crippled person because of her outside appearance. She is also considered as bad luck and useless due to her maimed foot. However, as she works with Shahrazad, she becomes a courageous, and useful character who saves both of Shahrazad’s and her life. â€Å"Like n stories, where you could set off on an adventure and come to a land where having a crippled foot or being born poor or woman was so obstacle to living out your dreams. † (Pg. 217) At the end of the novel, she overcomes her fear of Sultan and even faces him to tell him the story that teaches him a lesson that saves her life. It clearly shows how she changed from being poor and handicapped coward to a brave girl by learning to overcome her fear and adversities. Like Marjan, Dunyazad also develops into a brave and loyal character throughout the story to save her sister, Shahrazad ‘s life. She is portrayed as a sister who has no power to elp Shahrazad and always lives in fear of her sister getting killed. â€Å"She waited, then silent. Dangerous. As if I would object to a thing because it was dangerous. As if she hadn’t faced danger every night for nearly three years. † (Pg. 72) Dunyazad and Shahrazad are both living in fear of getting killed every day. Each night Shahrazad tells a story to please the Sultan and if the story is not entertaining, death awaits for her. After almost three years, Shahrazad is running out of stories to tell Sultan and only thing Dunyazad can do to help her sister is to get more stories. â€Å"And this time I am going too. Dunyazad was stubborn- even stubborner than Auntie Chava sometimes gets. † (Pg. 113) She shows her faith and loyalty to her sister by risking her life to go meet the storyteller. She knows how the trip will be dangerous, yet she is willing to go to save her sister, Shahrazad. Zaynab is depicted as a lunatic and odd character who is ignored by everyone, yet the ignorance actually let her protect and help Marjan to be alive. â€Å"Talking to her birds again, I heard someone say down below. Crazy old Zaynab. † (Pg. 59) Most people in the harem believed that Zaynab is just a crazy old lady who only talks to birds. As a pigeon keeper, Zaynab spends most of her time working with pigeons daily but she was clever. â€Å"Zaynab handed me a rolled up piece of paper and a small heavy sack. The message is from me. I had never imagined that she could write! † (Pg. 174) Zaynab plays an important role of saving Marjan and Shahrazad’s lives by helping Marjan escape harem to meet the story teller. As story continues, she is no longer a crazy old lady but an intelligent and witty lady. Marjan, Dunyazad, and Zaynab are three characters who are portrayed as nothing but insignificant cowards, yet transform into a significant and powerful characters who save each thers lives. Marjan who has maimed foot and treated as a crippled and poor orphan learns and overcomes her fear of Sultan and her physical and emotional adversities in the story. Dunyazad also shows her loyalty and devotion to her sister by suffering and risking her life. Lastly, Zaynab who is depicted as a lunatic and unintelligent; eventually shows her cleaver and witty sides at the end of story to help Marjan escaping harem. The novel, Shadow Spinner, teaches a lesson of outside appearance is not important because people can’t be judged by only their appearance.