The original Aladdin is a folk tale composed by an unknown author during the period of the crusades. Aladdin, and many other famous works are gathered in a book full of these stories called, “The Thousand Nights and One Night.” Since this work is so old, and incorporated into such a vast book, no one can pinpoint exactly when and who wrote it. A couple pieces of information are for certain though. As far back as history is documented, the Islamic culture has had an extremely harsh class system. The struggle of classes in Islamic culture was most likely the reason for the writing of Aladdin, and the passing on of its lessons as well. Aladdin is more than just a children’s fairytale, as it is an informative work that depicts the struggle and persecution of the lower classes in Islamic society, especially when view through a Marxist literary lens.
The tale begins by introducing a boy named Aladdin as a thief. In literary works, a thief is normally not portrayed as a hero unless the stealing is done for the common good of the proletariat, like Robin Hood (Carpenter, Prichard). In contrast, Aladdin steals due to his lack of economical assets because of his class standing, and thus, for the good of only himself. Only due to the title of the piece, and events that occur a little later in the piece, can we assume that he is in fact the hero of the story. For the introduction of the tale, though, he seems as though a lowly thief, who is an outcast in society, disliked by members of the community. Aladdin does eventually end up in a jail, which is the unlikely place where the reader begins to root for him.
In the prison is also where the reader is introduced to the antagonist. A man attempts to pose as the brother of Aladdin’s father who recently passed away, and succeeds in doing so. This man is a sorcerer, and due to his higher rank in social class, can get Aladdin out of