Shahrazad uses the stories in hopes to persuade King Shahrayar’s biased view of women in which he thinks they are cunning and tools for outwitting men. Prior to the eighth night, she indirectly tells the king that, yes some women are cunning and evil, but not all of them. And after the eighth night, Shahrazad continues to appeal to Shahrayar’s heart through the Story of the Fisherman and the Demon and the Tale of the Enchanted King.

I believe the purpose of the story about the fisherman and the demon, which concludes to the ending between the fisherman and the king, is to teach Shahrayar to forgive and have mercy on women. In the story, the fisherman had mercy for the demon even when he clearly had the advantage of throwing the demon back into the sea once and for all. And because he had mercy, the jinn told the fisherman to sell four types of colored fish to the king of the city, and ultimately through a collection of unique tales, “the king, the enchanted king, and the fisherman lived peacefully thereafter” (The Twenty Seventh Night, p 80). Therefore, why couldn’t the king have mercy on women like the fisherman had for the demon who is clearly evil?

Shahrazad taught this lesson to Shahrayar through repetition. Through the use of the stories, Shahrazad repeated “spare me, and God will spare you; destroy me, and God will destroy you” (The Sixteenth Night, pg 55). The fisherman and Sage Duncan repeated the quintessential lesson about good for good and bad for bad. She portrayed a perfect example of one having no mercy—King Yunan refused to let the sage live; consequently, he perishes with him.

In the tale of the enchanted king, Shahrazad again attempts to reinforce the idea that some women are evil, treacherous, and unfair. However, this time, Shahrazad teaches King Shahrayar that not only are women the source of his misfortune but can also be a remedy. As the tale of the enchanted king concludes, the king did not immediately kill off the woman; instead, he made her undo the spell on the enchanted king and restore the vacant city to its original form—populated. Thus, Shahrazad taught the lessons by pinpointing the importance of women as the symbol of reproduction and production of laborers, which is a necessity for a thriving city.

And finally the stories start to have an effect on King Shahrayar, as he said to himself, “By God, I shall postpone her execution for tonight and more many nights, even for two months” (The Twenty-Fifth Night, pg 75).