Introduction

"'What is your story, and why were you in this jar?' When the demon heard the fisherman he said, 'Be glad!' The fisherman cried, 'O happy day!' The demon added, 'Be glad that you will soon be put to death.' The fisherman said, 'You deserve to be put to shame for such tidings. Why do you wish to kill me, I who have released you and delivered you from the bottom of the sea and brought you back to this world?' The demon replied, 'Make a wish!' The fisherman was happy and asked, 'What shall I wish of you?' The demon replied, 'Tell me how you wish to die, and what manner of death you wish me to choose.' The fisherman asked, 'What is my crime? Is this my reward from you for having delivered you?' The demon replied, 'Fisherman, listen to my story.' The fisherman said, 'Make it short, for I am at my rope’s end.

The demon said, 'You should know that I am one of the renegade, rebellious demons. I, together with the giant Sakhr, rebelled against the prophet Solomon, the son of David, who sent against me Asif ibn-Barkhiya, who took me by force and bade me be led in defeat and humiliation before the prophet Solomon. When the prophet Solomon saw me, he invoked God to protect him from me and my looks and asked me to submit to him, but I refused. So he called for this brass jar, confined me inside, and sealed it with a lead seal on which he imprinted God’s Almighty name. Then he commanded his demons to carry  me and throw me in the middle of the sea.'" (p. 625).

Throughout the history of folklore, the jinn, currently popularized by the more commonly identified name of genie, has been a constantly recurring presence of monstrosity. An early introduction to the figure can be seen above through a portion from "The Story of the Fisherman and the Demon," where a genie rescued from a jar thrown in the ocean's deep unknown torments its rescuer with the question of death. Through a comprehensive literary analysis of this selected portion in combination with reflection upon a unique central object closely resembling the jar described by the genie as its prison, the following exhibit will undoubtedly open up a guiding lamp to those looking to familiarize themselves with the question of how the genie's representation in different works may not be as crystal clear as it may seem. The arbitrary nature and morally grey compass of genies throughout medieval literature led to a growing fascination with their stories that established their place as widely-recognized mythical figures to this day. Presented together alongside other related objects, the jar and the story will work hand in hand to showcase how this point can make a true difference on how we can perceive the meaning of the genie figure as a whole.