The Sailor-Boy's Tale | Themes of The Marvelous and Initiation

In the following essay, the author examines the themes of ‘‘the marvelous’’ and initiation in ‘‘The Sailor-Boy’s Tale’’ and other well-known stories.

Isak Dinesen always called her stories ‘‘tales.’’ The use of this word served notice that she intended to tell a story of a particular kind. What is a tale? Perhaps it is best defined as a narrative which counts upon a certain simplicity of acceptance from the reader or hearer, an acquiescence in the possibility of strange and unlikely events, especially marvelous ones.

In cultures which have not developed a high degree of rational thought, the marvelous is taken for granted as virtually the essence of the literary experience. This is true also of children, who have always been...

[The entire page is 1221 words long]

Join eNotes

The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the:

Summary and Analysis – Themes – Characters – And much more...

Lookup any word on eNotes with our dictionary. Highlight the word and press SHIFT + D for a definition, or SHIFT + T for a synonym.