The Innocents Abroad · Chapter
XXXVIII explained
The chapter describes the travelers' return to Constantinople and subsequent voyage to Smyrna, Asia.
What happens
The chapter describes the travelers' return to Constantinople and subsequent voyage to Smyrna, Asia. It details the sailors' burlesque of the imperial visit, the narrator's irritation with the repeated phrase from the Address to the Emperor of Russia, and the arrival at Smyrna. The narrator reflects on the city's crowded, dirty, and chaotic Oriental character, its biblical significance as one of the seven apocalyptic churches, and the contrast with ruined Ephesus. The chapter also includes observations on sociable Armenian girls, a nostalgic dance memory, and the sight of camel trains that evoke the Arabian Nights.
Themes in this chapter
Satire of Tourism
The sailors' burlesque of the imperial visit and the narrator's irritation with the repeated phrase highlight the absurdity and performative nature of tourism.
Colonialism and Otherness
The description of Smyrna as an 'Oriental' city with exotic costumes, stenches, and chaotic streets reflects a Western gaze that exoticizes and otherizes the East.
Religion and Hypocrisy
The discussion of Smyrna's 'crown of life' and the fate of Ephesus critiques the tendency of pilgrims to find prophecies in the Bible and apply them arbitrarily.
The Past vs. the Present
The contrast between Smyrna's thriving present and Ephesus's ruined state, and the narrator's nostalgic dream of the Arabian Nights, underscores the tension between historical grandeur and modern reality.
Characters to notice
- The Narrator
Describes his irritation with the sailors' burlesque and his observations of Smyrna and its people.
- The Captain
Mentioned in the context of the ship's watches and the sailors' burlesque.
- The Old Travelers
Implied as part of the group of pilgrims and travelers on the voyage.
- Wm. C. Grimes
Implied as a member of the committee that framed the Address, as the narrator mentions being a member.
Key passages
“We are a handful of private citizens of America, traveling simply for recreation—and unostentatiously, as becomes our unofficial state—and, therefore, we have no excuse to tender for presenting ourselves before your Majesty, save the desire of offering our grateful acknowledgments to the lord of a realm, which, through good and through evil report, has been the steadfast friend of the land we love so well.”
We are a small group of American civilians traveling for fun, without official status, and we have no reason to appear before you except to thank you as the ruler of a country that has always been a loyal friend to our beloved homeland.
The opening of the Address to the Emperor of Russia, which the sailors repeatedly burlesqued.
“I never was so tired of any one phrase as the sailors made me of the opening sentence of the Address to the Emperor of Russia.”
The sailors' constant repetition of the Address's first line made me more weary of that phrase than any other I've ever heard.
The narrator's exasperation with the sailors' mockery.
“Smyrna is a very old city. Its name occurs several times in the Bible, one or two of the disciples of Christ visited it, and here was located one of the original seven apocalyptic churches spoken of in Revelations.”
Smyrna is an ancient city mentioned in the Bible, visited by some of Christ's disciples, and it was home to one of the seven churches described in the Book of Revelation.
Historical and biblical context of Smyrna.
“To see a camel train laden with the spices of Arabia and the rare fabrics of Persia come marching through the narrow alleys of the bazaar... is a genuine revelation of the Orient. The picture lacks nothing. It casts you back at once into your forgotten boyhood, and again you dream over the wonders of The Arabian Nights.”
Watching a camel caravan carrying Arabian spices and Persian fabrics through the bazaar's alleys is a true vision of the East, instantly transporting you to childhood dreams of the Arabian Nights.
The narrator's romanticized view of the Oriental scene.
