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Calluna
Genie of the Messageboard
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Location: Where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain.
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 Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2009 9:11 pm Post subject: Literacy |
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Does anyone else think it's strange that Aladdin knows how to read? In that time period very few people knew how, mostly just the rich. I wonder where he learned?
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Meesh
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| Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2009 11:21 pm Post subject: |
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I also found that very strange as well. There are a few possible ways I came up with, none of which I can really back up but hey:
1. He learned young from his parents. (I could read okay by the age 6 with my parents' help)
2. He, because of his determined nature, found a way to learn or teach himself.
3. He had friend(s) who helped him.
4. He didn't until he met Jasmine. (Maybe he couldn't make out the inscriptions on the lamp because he couldn't read?)
But yeah. Always found it weird too. Like one of those things just thrown in there for plot convenience.
I guess this is in the same vein as the "Why does Aladdin have [good hygiene quality]" questions
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Fidget Goblinweb
Agrabah Citizen
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| Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2009 3:45 am Post subject: |
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Woah, I never noticed that! I always thought he knew how (even if in reality it'd be unlikely) cause during the lamp scene he says: "There's an inscription here....but it's kinda hard to make out."
^Unless he means he doesn't understand some of the words, but when hearing that I assumed he meant that it was too dirty to see the whole thing. 
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Salukfan
Tiger-Clawed Thief
Joined: 18 Jul 2004
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| Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2009 7:14 pm Post subject: |
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Sadira can read too, which is pretty strange. Maybe some of the street kids hung around the Library of Agrabah and learned from someone there?
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Calluna
Genie of the Messageboard
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| Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2009 8:50 pm Post subject: |
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| Salukfan wrote: |
| Sadira can read too, which is pretty strange. Maybe some of the street kids hung around the Library of Agrabah and learned from someone there? |
Those scrolls of hers might be pretty old, too. She's lucky the language hasn't evolved to where she can't read it anymore...
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Calluna
Genie of the Messageboard
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| Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2009 1:57 pm Post subject: |
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| Meesh wrote: |
I also found that very strange as well. There are a few possible ways I came up with, none of which I can really back up but hey:
1. He learned young from his parents. (I could read okay by the age 6 with my parents' help)
2. He, because of his determined nature, found a way to learn or teach himself.
3. He had friend(s) who helped him.
4. He didn't until he met Jasmine. (Maybe he couldn't make out the inscriptions on the lamp because he couldn't read?)
But yeah. Always found it weird too. Like one of those things just thrown in there for plot convenience.
I guess this is in the same vein as the "Why does Aladdin have [good hygiene quality]" questions |
If it was from his mom then where'd she learn?  Maybe Aladdin's family wasn't as poor when Cassim left as we've been led to believe?
If it was from a friend then you run into the same problem... It'd be hard to learn by yourself in that situation, because since almost everyone's illiterate it's not like there are a lot of signs and things around to practice on.
#4 would have been my theory, except for trying to read the writing on the lamp. Not as if it would have been likely to be in a language he would have been able to understand. I wonder what that inscription was; it's never come up again that I know of.
I think the writers just never thought about it; if you live in a time and place where almost everyone can read, then it's hard to remember that that wasn't always the case... The scenes I remember where Aladdin reads aren't really necessary, they could have been changed without affecting the plot much. ("There's something carved here, it's hard to make out" )
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Salukfan
Tiger-Clawed Thief
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| Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2009 8:46 pm Post subject: |
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| Maybe Aladdin's family wasn't as poor when Cassim left as we've been led to believe? |
Cassim did rant that Aladdin "never knew what it's like to have nothing." I think there's definitely a chance that his version of the best doesn't necessarily equal abject poverty.
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Calluna
Genie of the Messageboard
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| Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 6:33 am Post subject: |
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Maybe he managed to bring home a few shares of 40 Thieves treasure before his family disappeared, and Mom got him a tutor?
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AladdinsGenie
Genie of the Messageboard
Joined: 17 Jul 2004
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Location: Tennessee
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| Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 1:27 am Post subject: |
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| Meesh wrote: |
| 4. He didn't until he met Jasmine. |
I am instantly reminded of that recent SNL skit where Jasmine called him on that
But I don't know, maybe those leaves and magical wind that taught Pocahontas English made its way to Agrabah and gave him the power of literacy? I'd say some family or person that probably helped him when he was little with scraps or shelter might have taught him along the way if they knew how to read themselves, but then how he remembered all that for so many years without any practice around is another thing.
....or Genie helped, I really have no idea. I'm just tossing stuff out there |
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Fidget Goblinweb
Agrabah Citizen
Joined: 09 Dec 2006
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| Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 2:19 am Post subject: |
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Speaking of Genie....you think when he turned Aladdin into a Prince it made him literate? I don't know what I'm saying.....just a thought.
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AladdinsGenie
Genie of the Messageboard
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| Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 10:36 am Post subject: |
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| That's what I was thinking. That way if he had to read something to the Sultan, he knew how to because that might have been a big give away he's not really a prince |
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Princess of Agrabah
Fangirlishly Enamored Soul
Joined: 19 Jan 2010
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Location: Al's Hovel
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| Posted: Mon Apr 05, 2010 6:27 pm Post subject: |
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| Meesh wrote: |
4. He didn't until he met Jasmine. (Maybe he couldn't make out the inscriptions on the lamp because he couldn't read?) |
I just figured the lamp was all dusty but that's way more interesting than my explanation. Aww, that'd be cute if she taught him! |
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